The "Best Books of the Year" contest is organized by the Publishing Association of Russia (PAR) in collaboration with public and state organizations, related by the professional content of the work - co-founders of the individual nominations:

Booksellers Association of Independent States,

Association "Russian textbook"

General Directorate of International Book Exhibitions and Fairs,

Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church,

State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications,

Department of media and advertising the city of Moscow,

"Literary newspaper"

International Fund for Slavic Literature and Culture,

UNESCO Moscow Office

Government of St. Petersburg,

Russian Book Union,

"Rossiyskaya Gazeta"

Russian State Library,

Russian Union of Journalists,

Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation,

Federal Agency "Rossotrudnichestvo"

The Central Committee of trade union of workers of culture.

 

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONTEST

 

PAR Contests mission is to contribute to the growth of professional skills of publishers, to identify and promote the best Russian publications and publishing programs, to improve and spread the editorial practices in regions, to improve books culture, the quality of its artistic execution, to strengthen and develop a beneficial effect of the book on the aesthetic, moral and legal consciousness of society , to expand the information space of book publishing.

 

COMPETITORS

 

Any publishers and publishing structures of various forms of ownership, creative unions, foundations, research institutions, educational institutions, libraries, public organizations can partake in the contest.

 

CONTENTS AND CONTESTS AWARDS

 

PAR contest is held in categories, which are approved annually by special decision of the Board of Publishers Association of Russia.

 

The main categories of the competition are:

 

The best book on humanitarian sciences;

The best publication on natural sciences, engineering and medicine;

The best publication of business literature;

The best publication of classical literature;

The best book for children and youth;

The best educational book;

The best publication of dictionaries and encyclopedia;

The best referential-bibliographic book design;

The best publication of arts and photo literature;

The best book of biographical and historical-documentary type "Dialogue with Time";

The best Book on Russian army and navy;

The best publication of spiritual, historical and religious literature;

The best publication of literature about Moscow;

The best publication of literature about St. Petersburg;

The best book about Russias regions;

The best publication, contributing to the dialogue of cultures;

The best book about Russia;

The best book from Russian foreign publisher.

The announcement of the contest is published in the weekly "Book Review" and other industry media and posted on the PARs website.

All preparations for holding the contest are carried out by PARs Executive Directorate under the general direction of PARs President.

When deciding on which books should be nominated, different things are taken into account, such as the content of the publication, the level of editorial and publishing preparation, availability and quality of the scientific reference material, the level of preparation of the illustrative material, original design solutions and how they match the content, readership address and the purpose of the publication, as well as public or professional significance of the publication.

The contests results are summed at the PAR Boards meeting with the representatives of founding organizations of the contest. Decisions are made by simple majority vote.

When summing up the contests results, reviews and comments on the publications, published in the press or sent to PAR are taken into account, as well as library reviews, experts and public opinion.

Winners of the contest are awarded cash prizes or valuable gifts, the amount of which is set annually by the Board and organizations - founders of the nominations, as well as PAR Diplomas. There are other forms of promotion of the laureates.

In some cases, by the Boards decision, the prize could be awarded to a state or public figure who has made a significant contribution to the development of the domestic publishing.

Special awards may be given to organizations who are not nominations founders, including publishers who didnt become nominees.

Winners and nominees of the contest are announced in the weekly "Book Review", as well as in other industry media and on the PARs website. Books - winners of the contest - are exhibited on the PAR stands at Russian and international book exhibitions and fairs during the course of a year.

 

ORGANIZING AND HOLDING THE CONTEST

 

PAR contest is held annually. Publications issued during the whole calendar year of the contest are accepted, which results in a competition - in accordance with the specified year of manufacture on the title page or on the back of the title page.

To participate in the contest, the following documents and materials are sent to the PARs Executive Directorate:

book or other publication in two or three copies;

recommendation from publishers, companies, public and other organizations and institutions on the nomination of this publication to the contest; - reviews and other materials published in the press, or, in their absence - an internal recommendational review, which reflects the basic qualities of the publication.

Along with these materials a concise information about the author, compiler, artist and about the publication should be provided, in which the following should be indicated:

the name of the publication, publisher, year of publication, circulation;

the full name of the author (co-authors, compilers, etc.), their position, address and telephone number;

complete and accurate name of the organization, institution or publisher which nominates the publication;

Publisher may submit any number of titles in different categories. Several publications, combined into a book series, may be submitted. Multi-volume edition, published during a number of years may be submitted if the final volume was published in the year of competition.

The announcement of the next contest is published in the media and on the website of the Association in October - November of the year, on the results of which it is held. Publications accepted for consideration before March 1 of each year. The competition results are summed in April.

Until February 15, the PAR Board (bureau)v approves the composition of expert councils for each category, composed of experts and representatives from the founding organizations for each nomination. Expert councils are headed by members of the Board.

In the period of February 15 - March 10 advisory councils determine an expanded list of nominees for diplomas (long-list). The head of the expert council announces the works results and competitive scores obtained by each participant of long-list on March 15 at the PAR Boards (bureau) meeting.

The short-list of publications-nominees(no more than five in each category), which is published in the media and on the PARs website, is determined by the Boards (bureau) decision.

The winner of the contest is chosen among the nominee publications at the PAR bureaus meeting by the representatives of the founding organizations for each nomination not later than April 10.

Among the Laureates, the special Grand Prix is awarded to "The publication, which became the highlight of the year", which is chosen by the Boards (bureau) decision.

Decision on the winning publications are not made public until the awards ceremony.

Documents, materials and samples of publications are sent to the PARs Executive Directorate. In each shipments details the specification "for the PARs contest" is required.

Documents, materials and samples of publications, which are not submitted by the deadline will not be considered. Publications submitted for the contest will not be returned.