Calling all young South African talents!! Apply now to win a place as the South African finalist for the 2007 International Young Publisher of the Year Award (IYPYA)
Closing date: 02 February 2007
This award will consider applicants working in the following publishing fields:
- Publishing (including e-publishing)
- Agents
- Literary festivals
- Retailing (including e-tailing)
The South African finalist will:
- Undertake a 10 day visit to the UK from 9 – 20 April 2007
- Compete against other finalists from Argentina, Egypt, Hungary, India, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Syria
- Take part in press interviews, publicity and networking events organised by the British Council in South Africa and the UK.
The 2007 IYPYA award winner will be announced at a ceremony at London Book Fair. The prize will have two elements:
- A financial award of £7,500 to be used on a project that both suits the winner’s specific needs and builds a relationship with the UK publishing sector – e.g. It may be used in short training courses or in a postgraduate course in the UK, to help fund a placement in UK industry, to buy rights to UK works, etc.
- An exhibition stand at London Book Fair, which will be provided free of charge by London Book Fair as part of their commitment to this project.
Interested applicants may obtain copies of the application form together with briefing information on this award by either:
Requesting copies from information@britishcouncil.org.za or
Ringing our Customer Services team on 0860 01 22 33 or
Downloading it by clicking here.
Background on the International Young Publisher of the Year Award
Introduction
The British Council will award the International Young Publisher of the Year (IYPY) award for the fourth time – to champion and celebrate the importance of creative entrepreneurs working in the international publishing sector – showcasing individual achievement and potential.
We have already run three successful IYPY programmes in 2004, 2005, and 2006, of which more information (including about the respective candidates and winners) can be found online:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-literature-iypy-2006.htm
http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-literature-londonbookfair2005.htm
http://www.britishcouncil.org/arts-literature-londonbookfair-iypy2004.htm
Publishing sector definition
For the purpose of IYPY participants can be from any of the following publishing fields:
- Publishing (including e-publishing)
- Agents
- Literary festivals
- Retailing (including e-tailing)
Eligibility
A participant must:
- Be between the ages of 25 and 35 years
- Already be working within the publishing industry (as broadly defined above)
- Through their character, drive and abilities demonstrate their potential to be a future leader of the sector in their country
- Be entrepreneurial and have shown their ability to promote publishing in their country
- Have English language skills to IELTS 6 - ‘competent user’ or above. ‘Has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriacies and misunderstandings. Can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations.’
- A participant should not primarily be an academic, writer, author or poet.
How to apply / application process
All applications should be submitted using one of the following methods:
1. E-mailed to information@britishcouncil.org.za OR
2. Faxed to 0860 10 35 25 for the attention of Chantell Hoker OR
3. Delivered to The British Council, 33 Hoofd Street, Braampark, Forum 1, Ground Floor, Braamfontein, for the attention of Chantell Hoker.
4. The deadline for application submissions is close of play Friday 2nd February 2007. No late applications will be considered.
5. 5 and 6 February 2007 – selection process.
6. 07 February 2007 – national finalist announced.
What will be expected of participants
- Active participation in the UK-tour, including research prior to meetings
- Preparation of details of 5 books from their country to bring to the UK, and a ‘Book Pitch’ for one of these books to an audience at the London Book Fair
- These 5 books do not have to be from the finalist’s own publishing house, but can be any book from their country generally which has not yet been published in the UK.
- 20 minute presentation in front of a judging panel, followed by Q&A session.
- Cooperation with British Council in-country and in the UK throughout the planning process- including provision of information, etc., and the UK visit.
- A positive, eager attitude throughout the process
Programme
- 9 April – IYPY finalists travel to UK.
- 10-13 April – meetings in London, Essex, Edinburgh.
- 14–15 April - IYPY alumni seminar – Bringing together alumni from 3 previous award programmes for debate on topics in publishing in emerging international markets and to shape the IYPY alumni network.
- 16–18 April – London book fair. Finalists will take part in the wide range of business networking opportunities at the Fair. They will also take part in a number of British Council activities at the Fair, including the opportunity to promote books from their country, and to attend a number of seminars and networking receptions.
- 17 April – Judging. The selection of the winner of IYPY 2007 will be based on a presentation, followed by a Q&A session.
- 18 April – IYPY award ceremony. The winner will be announced.
- 19–20 April – Finalists to leave UK.
Judging of the overall international winner
The winner of IYPY is decided based upon a presentation made by each candidate an elite judging panel from the UK publishing industry.
The presentation will be 20 minute long, containing both written and visual material. Most candidates thus far used power point to present their material, but it is left to the candidates’ discretion should they choose an alternate format. The presentation will be followed by a 15 minute question and answer session with the judges.
Broadly, the presentation should include:
- Background of their national publishing industry and understanding of current situation/issues within it
- Description of their own publishing work (personally and their publishing house as a whole)
- How their own work sits in context in the national industry/situation
- Their wider vision for their own work and domestic publishing sector – how they are a leader within it
- How the IYPY prize would benefit them and their work
- Inherent within this should be a demonstration of how they successfully marry the commercial and creative aspects or their work – and understanding of business with the creative ability to drive their company forward – to qualify as an ‘international young creative entrepreneur’
The participant will be judged both on his/her good ability to present in public and the content of their application and will also focus on two key elements which are the candidates’ quality, depth, and professionalism.
It is imperative to note that the focus is on entrepreneurship and the winners thus far have been founders of small, independent publishing companies who were risk-takers in their own careers.
The Award
The IYPY award winner will be announced at a ceremony at London Book Fair. The prize will have two elements:
- A financial award of £7,500 to be used on a project that both suits the winner’s specific needs and builds a relationship with the UK publishing sector – e.g. It may be used in short training courses or in a postgraduate course in the UK, to help fund a placement in UK industry, to buy rights to UK works, etc.
- An exhibition stand at London Book Fair, which will be provided free of charge by London Book Fair as part of their commitment to this project.
Ownership of the award
The award has been created by the British Council and all intellectual property rights relating to the award will be vested in the British Council. The partnership of London Book Fair will be acknowledged on all publicity materials and in all reports relating to the award.
The British Council will be free to negotiate with third parties for sponsorship of the award, or in any other way, including title sponsorship for the award.
