Aficionado Award

Aficionado Award - The first international award for original and inspiring publishing initiatives and collaborations

The Aficionado Award is a unique cooperation between its founding members, the Aficionado Community of international publishing professionals, the Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino.

The Aficionado Award is an award designed to connect, support and encourage passionate and dedicated publishing professionals.

The award aims


Formally, the shortlist and winner will be selected by a flexible, dynamic and non-hierarchical group of publishing professionals representative of global publishing: publishers, editors, foreign rights professionals from both the corporate and independent companies as well as agents and scouts. The inaugural community will begin in 2022.

Each member of the community will on one hand be encouraged to talk about the award and share all useful information as widely as possible, while also canvassing interesting suggestions for the award itself. Range is an imperative - initiatives could be newly founded publishing houses or imprints, unique book series, outstanding charitable or innovative book projects, original collaborations in publishing, singular and/or visionary agenting projects, particular book charities or new business models.

Once the deadline has passed, a (rotating) board of three, selected each year from different members of the community will decide on a short list of three candidates. These candidates will present their initiatives at the jury session, which will take place each year at the Salone del Libro in Torino. The jury will consist of all the members of the community attending the session. After the presentations, the floor will be open for discussion.

The winner will receive their award at a dinner on Thursday night at the Frankfurter Buchmesse. The whole community will be invited. Alongside the public and international acknowledgement, the winner will receive funding for all travel and hotel expenditures at the Frankfurter Buchmesse. The hotel and travel costs of the shortlisted candidates during the Salone Internazionale del Libro del Torino will also be covered (18th to 23rd of May 2023).

Please submit nominations for candidates until 31st of January 2023 to


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