FutureBook Shortlists Five for “Most Inspiring Digital Person”

In What's the Buzz by Porter Anderson

From left, shortlisted candidates for the 2013 FutureBook Innovation Awards are Otis Chandler, Richard Nash, Dominique Raccah, Charlie Redmayne, and John Sargent.

From left, shortlisted candidates for the 2013 FutureBook Innovation Awards are Otis Chandler, Richard Nash, Dominique Raccah, Charlie Redmayne, and John Sargent.

By Porter Anderson

FutureBook Innovation AwardsFive high profile individuals in publishing based in the UK and US are shortlisted for the FutureBook Innovation Awards’ Most Inspiring Digital Publishing Person, an award sponsored by Frankfurt Book Fair.

As announced Thursday evening on the Publishing Perspectives Stage in Hall 8.0 of the Frankfurt Book Fair the quintet of shortlisted candidates are:

  • Otis Chandler, Co-Founder and CEO of Amazon’s Goodreads
  • Richard Nash, Vice President of Community and Content at Small Demons
  • Dominique Raccah, Publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks
  • Charlie Redmayne, CEO of HarperCollins UK
  • John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan

These awards — now three years old — were founded by Sam Missingham of The Bookseller, parent company of The FutureBook.

In a statement issued before the announcement, Missingham said, “The quality and diversity of the entries has grown hugely. It is very encouraging to see how much creativity is being embraced across the book business.”

The awards will be presented at The FutureBook Conference in London on November 21.

In addition to the category of Most Inspiring Digital Publishing Person, the shortlists announced Thursday include the following:

Best adult’s digital book (including app, enhanced eBook, other)

  • 40 Years of Queen, Multi Touch Electronic Edition from Stephen Carey , Carlton Publishing Group
  • Black Crown by Rob Sherman from Dan Franklin , Random House
  • Disney Animated from Louise Rice , Touch Press
  • Facts are Sacred from Nick Sidwell , Guardian Books
  • Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences from Grayson Perry: The Vanity of Small Differences App , Hayward Publishing

Best children’s digital book (including app, enhanced eBook, other)

  • Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm from Kate Wilson , Nosy Crow
  • Lucy Ladybird from Sharon King-Chai , Eye Fly High
  • Oz Tales StoryGame from Hau Man Chow , FamLoop Limited
  • Rounds: Parker Penguin from Camilla Reid , Nosy Crow
  • Winnie-the-Pooh from Tim Jones , Egmont Press

Best digital marketing campaign

  • 10 Billion by Stephen Emmott from Kalle Mattila – Community Manager , Penguin Press
  • Dead Good from Lynsey Dalladay – Community Manager , Random House
  • Game of Thrones from Adam Humphrey / Katie Sadler – Digital Marketing Manager , HarperCollins
  • Geek Girl by Holly Smale – Digital Marketing Campaign from Hannah Bourne/Abby Tayleure – Digital Marketing Manager , HarperCollins Children’s Books
  • Gollancz Geeks from Jen McMenemy – Senior Marketing Executive , Orion Books
  • Kiss Me First from Jodie Mullish with Rosanna Boscawen and Naomi Bacon – Senior Marketing Manager , Pan Macmillan
  • The Bone Season – global social media campaign from Amanda Shipp – Associate Marketing Director , Bloomsbury

Best publisher website

  • Drama Online (www.dramaonlinelibrary.com) from Jenny Ridout, Head of Drama Publishing, Bloomsbury
  • www.writersandartists.co.uk from Eela Devani – Writers & Artists, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
  • The Novel Cure (www.thenovelcure.com) from Catherine Cannon , Canongate Books
  • www.roughguides.com from Tim Chester , DK
  • Faber Social (www.fabersocial.co.uk) from Gemma Lovett , Faber & Faber
  • www.pizzapilgrims.co.uk from Orlando Mowbray , HarperCollins

Best reference digital book (including app, enhanced eBook, other)

  • Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for iPad from Max Whitby , Touch Press
  • Discworld: The Ankh-Morpork Map from Sophie Murray , Random House
  • The Animator’s Survival Kit from Henry Volans , Faber and Faber
  • The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank from Kirk Bowe and Jen Porter , Beyond The Story
  • Timeline WW1 with Dan Snow from Tom Clifford , Ballista Media

Best start-up

  • BitLit Media Inc. from Peter Hudson
  • BookVibe from Ramesh Haridas
  • NATIVE from Levon Rivers
  • Snowbooks / General Products Ltd from Emma Barnes
  • Total Boox Ltd. from Yoav Lorch

Best technology innovation sponsored by ePubDirect

  • CourseSmart, Ltd. from Fionnuala Duggan
  • Icontact (creators of BooXtream) from BooXtream
  • Linden Lab from Versu
  • RM Education from Dale Peters
  • Snowbooks / General Products Ltd from Emma Barnes
  • Sourcebooks from Dominique Raccah – Put me in the story
  • Total Boox Ltd. from Yoav Lorch
About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.