Trade or industry
IACP Cookbook Awards
International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP)
In short
The IACP Cookbook Awards are run by the International Association of Culinary Professionals and are open to members and non-members alike. Food editors, cookbook buyers, and culinary bookstores follow the results. Publishers and authors enter online during the spring window, and physical copies are due after the entry deadline, so shipping needs planning separately. If you publish with a trade house, ask your publisher to enter; otherwise confirm eligibility and the fee on the entry form, since this record does not carry them.
This cycle closedChecked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Every label is a fact from the official rules, never a judgment about whether the award is worth entering. How we describe awards.
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The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) runs an annual awards program that includes the Cookbook Awards, open to both IACP members and non-members. Entries are made through IACP's Submittable page, with an early-bird pricing period at the start of the window and a separate deadline for physical copies to reach the judges.
For the 2026 awards, entries opened March 18, 2026, and closed April 15, 2026, with early-bird pricing through April 1 and physical copies due April 27, 2026. Eligible works were published between January 1 and December 31, 2025. IACP notes that the Cookbook Awards are exempt from its free-entry period because of their operating and shipping costs, but reduced pricing is offered.
The IACP awards page itself was too long to load fully when this record was prepared, so category names and fee amounts must be checked on the IACP site or its Submittable forms.
Why it may matter
Alongside the James Beard Book Awards, the IACP Cookbook Awards are the recognition most often cited by food editors, cookbook buyers, and culinary bookstores. Entry is open to authors and publishers of any size, and the March-to-April window comes soon after the publication year closes, so a cookbook published late in the year needs its entry copies ready quickly.
2026 cycle: 2026 Cookbook Awards (books published in 2025)
- Eligible publication dates
- January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
- Entries open
- March 18, 2026Checked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Early deadline
- April 1, 2026 (passed)Checked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Final deadline
- April 15, 2026 (passed)Checked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Deadline note
- Entry forms and payment due through Submittable by April 15, 2026; physical copies due April 27, 2026
- Entry fee
- Not confirmed. Early-bird pricing March 18 to April 1, 2026, then regular pricing; the amounts are shown on the Submittable forms and were not visible on the pages checkedChecked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Results
- Nominees announced October 1, 2026 via press release; winners announced November 5, 2026 at the IACP Awards ceremony at City Harvest in Brooklyn, NY (Cookbook Awards)
- Notes
- Last posted cycle; the 2027 window had not been announced when verified
Worth knowing
Our reading, not a rule the organization published. We judge an award on the rubric in how we describe awards.
Fee amounts for the Cookbook Awards were not visible on the pages that could be read; the Submittable page shows the early-bird and regular pricing tiers once the forms are open. As of September 16, 2026 the Cookbook Awards page (iacp.com/awards/cookbook-awards/ (opens in a new tab)) still gave the 2026 dates, entries open March 18 and close April 15, 2026, and the 2027 cycle (books published in 2026) had not been posted.
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 16, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.
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