Use meaningful award results

Obtain permission and correct artwork for award seals

Before putting an award seal on the cover, the website, or a listing, get the program's official artwork and read its usage terms; seals are licensed, not free to reproduce.

ConditionalOwner: Author and publisher togetherYou: Do itFee: Some programs supply digital seals free; others charge for stickers or a digital licenseAll publishing paths

Authors often hire help with this: design or production.

Why it matters

A seal used without permission or at the wrong level is a small public error that readers, booksellers, and the awarding program can all see. Using the official artwork with the right wording keeps the recognition credible and keeps you in good standing with the program. Physical stickers and cover updates also take time, so knowing the terms early keeps the update from stalling.

Your part

What you do: Do it. You normally do this yourself.
Who normally owns it: Author and publisher together. Author obtains artwork; publisher applies it to cover and retail images where it controls them
When: After recognition is announced and before the seal is used anywhere (Use meaningful award results: after a result is announced, and at the next cycle)Checked September 13, 2026

How to do it

The full walkthrough

An award seal is the small emblem that signals recognition on a book cover or listing. Programs own their seals and set terms for their use. Some supply digital artwork to winners and finalists at no charge; some sell physical stickers; some charge a license fee for digital use; and nearly all specify which wording goes with which level of recognition (a finalist seal is not a winner seal).

Get the artwork from the program itself, in the levels and formats it provides, and keep the terms with it. Do not redraw a seal, screenshot one from another book, or adapt the winner artwork for a finalist result. Programs do check, and a misused seal is the kind of thing that gets a book removed from future eligibility.

Traditionally published authors need to route this through the publisher, because the publisher controls the cover files and the retailer images. Ask what it needs from you and whether it will add the seal to the cover at the next printing, to the ebook cover, or only to marketing materials. Hybrid and self-published authors handle the artwork and the cover update themselves, and should check that any seal they add fits the platform's cover requirements.

Record the seal license, the level it applies to, and where it has been used, so the seal comes off if it ever needs to.

Where the artwork lives. On most programs' sites it is under Winners, Press, Media, or a page named something like Seals and Stickers, sometimes behind a login the program sends to winners and finalists with the results email. Look there first, and read the usage terms on the same page. If nothing is posted, email the program's administrator: the contact on the rules or entry page, or the address the results announcement came from. Ask for the seal at your level (finalist, winner, or whichever it is) as a vector file (SVG or EPS) for print and a PNG for the web, and for the usage terms in writing. Keep that email with the artwork.

Common mistakes

Using the winner seal for a finalist or honorable mention result.
Recreating a seal in a design program because the official file was low resolution.
Adding a seal to the ebook cover without checking the platform's rules on cover text and images.
Buying stickers before knowing whether the publisher will apply them.

What done looks like

Official seal artwork downloaded or purchased from the program, in the correct level and in print and web formats.
The program's usage terms saved alongside the files.
The publisher informed and asked to add the seal to cover files and retailer images where appropriate.
Exact wording ("Finalist, 2026 X Award") matching the result you recorded.
A note of every place the seal appears.
The artwork came from the program's own winners or press page, or by email from its administrator, in vector and PNG, with the terms saved beside it.

Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.

Ask your publisher

Copy this into an email. Replace the bracketed parts with your details.

Hi [Name], [Book Title] was recognized by [Award] at the [level] level. I have the official seal artwork and usage terms from the program. Could you let me know whether you can add the seal to the cover files and retailer images, and what you need from me to do that? Thank you.

Sources and last checked

Official source: No single official page for this step.
Last checked: September 13, 2026
How confident we are: Verified

Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 13, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.