Book awards and prizes: the eligibility gate before any entry (AI-use, print, ISBN, fee, category)

Date: 28 Oct 2026. Topic: e-book launch / PR. Not covered elsewhere (index had 'award' only as a side mention). A shortlist is free press and a lasting "shortlisted for" line on the cover and sales page; a wrong entry is a public disqualification. The gate is the skill.

What 2026 rules actually say (primary sources, read 28 Oct 2026)

Wales Book of the Year 2027 (Literature Wales; news post 16 Sep 2026 + Submission Pack .docx): - Open to "Publishers and self-published authors". Books first published 1 Jan-31 Dec 2026 (year printed on the inside cover). Deadline 5pm Tue 24 Nov 2026; physical copy + PDF by 27 Nov. No entry fee is stated in the pack. - Categories in English and Welsh: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction (memoir, biography, social history, travel writing; "primarily academic or factual" work only with a strong narrative, plus a 250-word statement), Children & YP. 12 awards, £14,000 total; shortlist of 3 per category in spring; ceremony in summer. - Wales link (one of): written in Welsh; Welsh-born or schooled in Wales; resident in Wales; or "clear relevance to Wales and Welsh culture" (250-word statement). - Not eligible: "Work that is written, co-written, or edited using Large Language Model (LLM) AI tools"; the publisher signs a confirmation of this, and Literature Wales may call a meeting where AI use is suspected. Also out: ghostwritten work, work "mainly composed of interviews or quotes", translations. - Must be in print from the shortlist until the ceremony; send 1 physical copy (up to 6 more on request) + PDF (no EPUB). The form asks for an ISBN, cover image, author photo, blurb, bio and AI sheet. Shortlisted authors must attend, do press and make promo videos.

The Selfies 2027 (BookBrunch; theselfies.co.uk, read): for self-published books from 2026; open now, closes midnight 12 Jan 2027; entry £40 (via a BookBrunch subscription with code SELFIES2027); categories Adult Fiction, Children's, Memoir only; English only, international entries accepted. Prize £750 per category plus BookBrunch profile and PR. Judged on story, production, cover/blurb and "an effective and creative marketing and publicity strategy".

AI enforcement is real (2026, from search snippets, not opened): The Bookseller reported the Ink Book Prize pulled a shortlisted title over suspected AI in the illustration design; two New Zealand authors were disqualified from the 2026 Ockham Book Awards over AI-generated cover designs. So the AI test reaches covers and images, not only text. Jane Friedman's round-up notes some US awards (IBPA) do not ban AI-assisted work: rules differ, read each one.

The gate (run per award, per book; all must be YES)

1. Window: first published inside the award's year (date printed in the book)?
2. Format: does it accept e-book-only? If "in print" or "physical copy" appears, an e-book alone fails.
3. AI clause: does the text, edit, translation, cover or any illustration involve generative AI? If the rules ban it and the answer is yes or unsure, stop. Never sign a false confirmation; disqualification after shortlisting is worse than not entering.
4. Category fit: read the category definition word for word (e.g. "social history" counts for WBOTY Creative Non-fiction; a "reference book" does not).
5. Territory/link: the author or subject link the rules ask for.
6. Identifiers and assets: ISBN, cover/author images with credits, blurb, bio, AI sheet.
7. Cost and duties: fee (zero-spend rule: any fee is the project lead's decision), extra copies, attendance, press.
8. Who signs: the publisher/author confirms. That is the person, not an agent. Record the result per award in a dated table: award, deadline, fee, verdict, the failing clause quoted.

Making it pay without entering

• Build an award calendar (deadline 6-8 weeks out, so print/ISBN lead times fit).
• A book that is eligible next year is planned now: a human-written, human-edited title with original photography, printed on demand with an ISBN, published in the calendar year.
• Never imply a book was "submitted to" or "eligible for" an award on a sales page unless it is true.

How we apply it to Cedwyn

Checked 28 Oct 2026 against the Cedwyn e-books (/ebooks/, 22 URLs): - Wales Book of the Year 2027: do not enter the current e-books. Their text is drafted and edited by our own AI agents, which the rules exclude outright (covers not checked here; if any are AI-made that fails too) and the publisher would have to sign away; most are e-book-only with no printed edition or ISBN; several are mainly records and quotes, a stated exclusion. Wales link and "social history" fit would otherwise pass. - The Selfies 2027: no history/heritage non-fiction category (Memoir only); £40 fee breaks zero-spend. Not entered. - The route that could work (a decision for the project lead, not taken): a Creative Non-fiction title he writes himself (his own voice, his own edit, real photographs), printed with an ISBN and published by 31 Dec in its award year. For the 2028 award that means a 2027 publication. Cedwyn's automated books stay as reader products; award entries need a human-only manuscript. - Add the dated gate table to the project workspace; the programme office review can carry "award-eligible human-written title" as a proposal in QUEUE-after-framing.md.

Sources

• literaturewales.org (read)
• literaturewales.org (read in full: eligibility, T&Cs, entry form)
• theselfies.co.uk and theselfies.co.uk (read)
• selfpublishingadvice.org (read; 2026 round, global entry)
• thebookseller.com (snippet only; page answered 429)
• Ockham 2026 AI-cover disqualification (search snippet only, not opened)
• janefriedman.com (snippet only)

Raw Markdown: book-awards-eligibility-gate-ai-print-isbn-wboty-selfies.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json