Regional
Pacific Northwest Book Awards
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA)
In short
The Pacific Northwest Book Awards are given by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, the trade group for independent bookshops in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Winners are chosen by a committee of booksellers, displayed in those shops, and promoted through the association's holiday catalog. One rule decides everything else: the book must be available to bookstores on standard trade terms, with returns accepted. Ask your publisher to nominate and pay the fee; if you are self-published, check your distribution terms first.
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 Pacific Northwest Book Awards are given by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA), the trade association of independent bookstores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and British Columbia. Authors and illustrators who live in those states or in British Columbia are eligible, and a committee of eight booksellers reads the nominations and picks a shortlist and winners.
Publishers, or a nominator acting for the author or illustrator, submit a nomination and pay a non-refundable fee of $75 per title ($50 for PNBA member publishers located in the region). The book must have a valid 13-digit ISBN and be available to bookstores through direct or wholesale channels on industry-standard wholesale terms with a returns policy; short discounts common in print-on-demand arrangements are not accepted. Eligibility is based on the original publication date, so a reprint in a new format does not restart it.
For the 2027 awards, the publication window ran September 15, 2025 through September 1, 2026, nominations closed September 1, 2026, and physical reading copies had to reach all eight committee members by September 8, 2026. The shortlist is announced in September and winners in early January 2027.
Why it may matter
These awards are chosen by the booksellers who hand-sell in the region's independent stores, and winners are displayed in those stores and promoted through PNBA's trade show and holiday catalog. The wholesale-terms rule is the practical filter: a self-published book with a short discount and no returns will not be accepted no matter where the author lives.
2027 cycle: 2027 Pacific Northwest Book Awards
- Eligible publication dates
- September 15, 2025 to September 1, 2026
- Final deadline
- September 1, 2026 (passed)Checked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Deadline note
- Nominations closed September 1, 2026; physical copies due to all eight committee members by September 8, 2026
- Entry fee
- $75 per nominated title, $50 for PNBA member publishers located in the eligible states; non-refundable and paid at nominationChecked September 16, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Results
- Shortlist announced September 2026; winners announced early January 2027
| Tier | Deadline | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Per nominated title | See rules | $75 |
| PNBA member publisher in the region, per title | See rules | $50 |
Worth knowing
Our reading, not a rule the organization published. We judge an award on the rubric in how we describe awards.
The 2027 nomination window closed September 1, 2026. As of September 16, 2026 the awards page (pnba.org/book-awards.html (opens in a new tab)) still described the 2027 cycle and gave no dates for the next one; PNBA posts the next window's dates on that page. Because the publication window ends September 1 and the copies deadline is a week later, a book publishing in late August is on a very tight timeline.
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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