2025 Southern California Book Festival - Call for Entries


LOS ANGELES_The 2025 Southern California Book Festival  is now in its late registration period for its annual competition honoring the best books of the fall. 

The Southern California Book Festival will consider published and unpublished works in fiction, non-fiction, biography/autobiography, memoir, how-to, compilations/anthologies, photography/art, children’s, cookbooks, poetry, spiritual, young adult, business/technology, unpublished manuscripts, wild card (anything goes!), nature/animals and regional lit. There is no date of publication restriction, but all entries must be in English or Spanish.

Submitted works will be judged by a panel using the following criteria:

  1. General excellence and the author's passion for telling a good story.
  2. The potential of the work to reach a wider audience.

ENTRIES: Multiple entries must be accompanied by a separate fee for each book, although multiple entries may be sent in the same package. Just make sure each entry has a separate entry form.

E-book entries are welcome. You can enter an e-book in three ways:

  1. Send as a .pdf to our e-mail address labeled as “2025 E-book Entry” in the subject line. Please attach copies of your PayPal receipt and entry form to the email.
  2. You can use our “Book Uploader” to send a copy of your work. We accept most e-book formats. Then send an e-mail to us labeled as “2025 E-Book Entry” with PayPal receipt and entry form attached.
  3. Send us a Kindle copy as a gift. Send an e-mail to us indicating that you’ve sent the book, attaching your PayPal receipt and entry form.

*** IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE: Any e-book submission must be accompanied by an email that has the subject line “2025 E-book Entry” with your PayPal receipt or entry form attached. Failure to do so may disqualify you.

In addition to honoring the top selections in the above categories, the Southern California Book Festival will award the following chosen from submissions:

  1. Author of the Year- Honors the outstanding book of the competition.
  2. Book Design of the Year - Honors outstanding and innovative design.
  3. Publisher of the Year- Honors the top publisher based on materials displaying excellence in marketing and promotional materials, as determined by our judges.

FESTIVAL RULES: Southern California Book Festival submissions cannot be returned. Each entry package must contain the official entry form, including your e-mail address and contact telephone number. All shipping and handling costs must be borne by entrants.

NOTIFICATION AND DEADLINES:  We will notify each entry of the receipt of their package via email and will announce the winning entries on our web site. Because of the anticipated high volume of entries, we can only respond via email to inquiries.

Deadline submissions in each category must be received by the close of business on November 25, 2024. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions at our meetings.

TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online here. Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee of $50 in the form of a check, money order or PayPal online payment in U.S. dollars for each submission. Multiple submissions are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by a separate form and entry fee.

Entry fee checks should be made payable to JM Northern Media LLC. We're sorry, but entries must be mailed and cannot be delivered in person or by messenger services to the JM Northern Media offices.

Entry packages MUST include:

  1. One copy of the book
  2. A copy of your official entry form
  3. PayPal receipt or check/money order
  4. Any press/publicity kit (optional)

Please mail package to:

JM Northern Media
Southern California Book Festival
7095 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 864
Hollywood, CA 90028

You will receive a confirmation email when your package is logged into our system and entered into judging.

MORE INFORMATION:
SouthernCaliforniaBKFest@yahoo.com
phone: 323-665-8080
 

E-book entries are welcome. You can enter an e-book in three ways:

  1. Send your book as a pdf file to our SouthernCaliforniaBKFest@yahoo.com address labeled as "2025 E-Book Entry" in the subject line. Please attach copies of your PayPal receipt and entry form.
  2. Send us a Kindle copy as a gift to SouthernCaliforniaBKFest@yahoo.com. Then send an e-mail to us indicating that you've sent the book, attaching your PayPal receipt and entry form.
  3. Use our “Book Uploader” in the "Enter the Competition" page to send a copy of your work. We accept most e-book formats.to send a digital copy of your work. We accept most e-book formats. IMPORTANT: After uploading your book, you MUST send an e-mail to SouthernCaliforniaBKFest@yahoo.com with "2025 E-Book Entry" in the subject line and the title of your book. Please attach a copy of your PayPal receipt and entry form.

Failure to follow these steps on e-book submissions may disqualify you.
 

Enter the Competition

 

 

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