How to Submit
The Midland Authors is now accepting submissions for its annual literary awards, which will honor books by Midwestern authors published in 2020. Please read the following rules carefully before submitting.
2020-2021 Competition Rules
The Midland Authors Awards recognize book writing excellence by Midwestern authors. Three judges on each committee will select one winner that is best in that category. Category winners receive $500 and a recognition award. Judges may also deem up to three honorees as worthy of recognition. Each honoree will receive a commemorative award. All honors are given out at the awards banquet the second Tuesday in May or a substitute ceremony, if necessary.
Follow the directions below to submit a book and pay the entry fee.
- To enter this year’s competition, fill out the online entry form or printable entry form. Include a completed copy with each nominated book. An entry form must accompany each book sent to each of the three judges in its category. That means a total of three forms per title (three judges, three forms, three books). Books unaccompanied by completed entry forms will not be considered.
- Each book entry must have a 2020 publication date that corresponds with its copyright date.
- A book may be nominated by its author or publisher. The author must either reside in, be born in, or have strong ties to one of the 12 Midland states SMA represents: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin. If the author lives outside these states, please indicate any connection to the Midwest on the “comments” section of the entry form.
- Each submission requires an entry fee of $25. To pay by PayPal or credit card, please click here.
- To pay by snail mail, send a check and a copy of our printable entry form (available by clicking here) to Society of Midland Authors, P.O. Box 10419, Chicago, IL 60610. The payment with the form must identify the book title, author, and source of check, so SMA knows which author and book entry to confirm as a paid entry. Copy three more completed forms. One should accompany each book that you mail to each of the three judges in your category. (Do not mail books to the Society’s P.O. Box.)
- For now, we do not consider e-book originals unless accompanied by a print edition.
- Books by deceased authors are eligible, providing they meet the other requirements.
- Submissions must be postmarked by Saturday, January 9, 2021. We urge early submissions. Send entries to the appropriate judges under your category of Contest Judges listed below.
- Make sure your book entry goes to judges in the proper category. (For example, all children’s books go to children’s categories, rather than Poetry or Biography and Memoir, which are for adult submissions only.) Books submitted to improper categories will be disqualified. Any judge who has a conflict of interest with a submission will be recused from discussion of the entry.
For comments, questions, or to confirm an entry has reached the judges, contact Marlene Targ Brill at marlenetbrill@comcast.net.
Enter online and pay entry fee using
Credit Card or Paypal account.
Download printable entry form
and pay entry fee by snailmail.
Contest Judges | Contact Information
SEND 1 COPY OF THE BOOK TO EACH OF THE 3 JUDGES IN THE BOOK’S CATEGORY:
Adult Fiction
Barbara Shoup, 6012 Broadway St., Indianapolis, IN 46220
William O’Rourke, 1063 Woodward Ave, South Bend, IN, 46616
Angela Jackson-Brown, PO Box 568, Eaton, IN 47338.
Richard Frisbie Award for Adult Nonfiction
Joe Gustaitis, 1824 West Erie St., Chicago, IL 60622
Michael Fedo, 12179 Lily St., NW, Coon Rapids MN 55433
Carol Saller, 1469 E Park Place, Chicago IL 60637
Bernard J. Brommel Award for Biography and Memoir
Bob Remer, 5840 N. Kenmore Ave., Chicago, IL 60660
Emilio DeGrazia, 211 W. Wabasha St., Winona, MN 55987
Libby Hellmann, 272 Summerfield Road, Northbrook, IL 60062
Poetry
David A. Radavich, 3800 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215
Chris Abani, 836 Milburn St, Evanston, IL, 60201
Grace Bauer, 1920 Harwood Street, Lincoln, NE 68502
Children’s Reading Round Table Award for Children’s Nonfiction
Judith Schein Cohen, 222 Main St. Apt 405, Evanston, IL 60202
Helen Frost, 6108 Old Brook Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46835
Artika Tyner, 1063 Sherburne Ave., Saint Paul, MN 55104
Children’s Fiction
Laura Hirshfield, 3318 Noyes Street, Evanston, IL 60201
Amelia Cotter, 3130 N. Lake Shore Dr., Apt. 1806, Chicago, IL, 60657
Anne O’Malley, 8519 Karlov Ave., Skokie, IL. 60076