ACP Announces Finalists for 2021 “Excellence in Publishing Awards”
BALTIMORE, MD — The Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) is pleased to announce the 2021 finalists for the Excellence in Publishing Awards. The goal of these awards is to recognize the best in Catholic publishing.
Awards will be given for books falling into 14 categories: Biography, Children’s Books: Young Readers, Children’s Books: Picture Books, General Interest, Inspirational, Music: Distinguished Catholic Composer of the Year, Music: Song of the Year, Prayer, Resources for Liturgy, Resources for Ministry, Scripture, Spanish, Spirituality, and Theology. A “Resource of the Year” will be named from among the first-place finishers of the 14 categories.
“The range and diversity of resources that were released during 2020 also was astounding—handheld prayer books to digital resources,” noted ACP’s executive director Therese Brown. “Catholics are using content on a variety of platforms individually, with families, and in small groups. It’s exciting to see where the industry is going.”
“We were particularly impressed with the wide range of titles that were submitted,” continued Brown. “Submissions covered major life moments from birth to death, and perennial Catholic topics like hope and grace.”
The 95 finalists represent 18 different publishers. Almost 61% of the finalists come from 5 publishers—Ascension Press (11), Ave Maria Press (14), Liturgical Press (12), Loyola Press (13), and OSV (8). Ave Maria Press’ 14 titles make up 14.7% of the total finalists.
Each category was judged by a three-person panel, which reviewed and evaluated the entries, reducing the number of finalists to 6-9 titles, all of which will move on to the final round of judging. First, second, and third place winners will be announced in June.