2019 TALKING PICTURES: Selected Books Submissions Guidelines

The 2019 TALKNG PICTURES: Selected Books program will recognize three books in each of the following categories:

1. Contemporary Art and Photography


2. Architecture and Graphic Design


3. Children’s Picture Books


4. Comic Books and Graphic Novels


5. Cookbooks

The jury will make their selections according to the following criteria:

1. The quality of the editorial design, both in its graphic aspects and as an object.

Because the focus of the selected books is the book-as-medium, consideration will be given to all the aspects related to the book’s quality, originality and visual integrity, including its value as an object, its cover, its graphic design, the choice of paper, the paper engineering, etc.

2. The originality and functionality of the rapport between text and images (in those cases where the book contains textual elements).

The common element across all the categories of TALKING PICTURES is the interrelationship between words and images. The jury will therefore evaluate the relationship between text and image on an aesthetic level and in terms of its importance in expressing the sense of the book being considered.

3. The originality of the project.

The jury will evaluate the innovativeness of each book against the current field of published books, as a way of understanding the book-as-medium, as well as the image-text relationship within it. The book’s content will not be considered on its own, but instead in the context of all of the elements that constitute the book-as-medium (for example, a brilliant, traditionally structured photographic catalog will be considered not only for the quality of its photographs, but for the overall quality of the catalog as an object in and of itself).

4. All qualifying books must have a pub date between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 in order to be eligible for consideration.

5. A book can be considered for up to two categories. Please label submissions with both categories to be considered.

Submissions instructions:
Send ONE copy of your book to:

New York Rights Fair c/o Publishers Weekly
BOOK CATEGORY HERE [i.e. “Children’s,” “Cookbook,” etc]
71 West 23rd Street
Suite 1608
New York, NY 10010

With your physical submission you must include this information:

1. Award Category


2. Book Title


3. Authors and Illustrators


4. Publication Date


5. Publisher and Imprint


6. Publisher Contact Name


7. Publisher Contact Email

Additionally, all submissions must be uploaded as pdfs.

Please upload all pdfs with the following title template: PublisherName – BookTitle.pdf

(Note: each category has a unique submission link. Click the name for the category you want to enter):

1. Contemporary Art and Photography

2. Architecture and Graphic Design

3. Children’s Picture Books

4. Comic Books and Graphic Novels

5. Cookbooks

Submissions must be received by February 7, 2019 in order to be considered. There is no limit to the number of books publishers may submit.

Questions? Contact us:
Evan Phail
ephailpw@gmail.com (note that replies might take 1-2 days).