ASBPE Awards of Excellence Competition
Frequently Asked Questions

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Download this year’s entry form (204K PDF).

Eligibility

Q. Why must an editorial and design entry be from a magazine that accepts advertising and be listed in SRDS (Standard Rate and Data Service) Business Publication Advertising Source?

A. There are several reasons.

1) SRDS might be the primary source advertising agencies use to determine placement of their clients’ advertising. Hence, it contains listings of a very large number of business magazines, a list we can use to ensure that a magazine entry is not a “house organ” or “magaletter,” or other “pseudo” publication. Be aware that our newsletter and digital categories do not have any SRDS or advertising requirements.

2) The requirements also help eliminate those intensely “academic” technical, peer-reviewed journals published by professional societies.

3) We also use SRDS to help us verify circulation statements made on the entries.

Q. We publish several new magazines that carry advertising and list the salesforce in the masthead, but the publications are not listed in SRDS. Can they still participate in the ASBPE competition?

A. In the Editorial and Design divisions of our contest, we will make an exception only for magazines entering the New Publication category, provided they carry advertising. It’s reasonable to let them enter before they have the time to be listed in SRDS.

Q. We have not registered with SRDS yet. May we enter the Azbees now and provide you with the SRDS information later? The deadline for submitting the SRDS number and category is April 15.

A. Yes, you may. The deadline for submitting the SRDS number and category is two months prior to the national Azbee Award banquet. We check SRDS numbers when we get the judging results back and only check the winners.

Q. I need to know if our magazine is a member so I can determine our entry fee.

A. Neither magazines nor publishing companies are members of ASBPE. We are a professional society of more than 700 editors and writers who work on business, trade, and association magazines, newsletters, and digital publications. Membership is by individual only. The individual submitter must be an ASBPE member to get the discount and only the publication that the ASBPE member works on may get the discount.

Q. I work for a daily (five days a week) newspaper that covers metro legal issues. We meet the criteria for membership and awards, except by definition. We are neither a magazine nor a newsletter. We do, however, focus on a single industry (law) and we do have special sections.

A. Our contest is not open to specialized daily newspapers such as yours, only business, trade, and association magazines and newsletters on a less frequent basis. However, that does not mean your staff could not participate in other ASBPE activities especially with a local chapter, or even join the organization.

Payment

Q. What forms of payment do you accept?

A. We accept checks, MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.

Q. I have created an online account, but I have not found an online payment form. Where is it?

A. You will be taken to the payment form after you have submitted all your entries, so you can pay for all of your entries at once.

Q. When I pay online, will I receive an automatic receipt for my credit card payment?

A. Yes. After you pay, you will get a link that shows your entries and the total amount you were charged.

Q. I submitted my entry forms via mail, not online. Can I get a receipt for the charge?

A. Yes, you can. We cannot issue receipts until the card has actually been charged, which can sometimes take several weeks. When the charge appears on your card, please contact Competition Headquarters at info@asbpe.org, via phone (630-510-4588), or fax (630-510-4501) or with the amount charged and the transaction date from your credit card.

Q. I submitted my entry online and my credit card hasn't been charged yet. Why not?

A. Submitting your entry is simply a process of transferring the information to Competition Headquarters. Your card is not charged until your physical entry is received, checked in, and the amount charged is verified. This process might take weeks, even a couple of months. Do not worry if the charge does not show up right away.

Q. We’ll have about 18 or 20 entries that we'd like to pay for by credit card. The entry form says to submit one charge to cover all payments. On which entry should this payment be made?

A. For each entry, the instructions state to secure an entry form to each duplicate copy of the entry, and an additional loose copy of the entry form for payment. You can put the total payment on whichever of these extra loose copies ends up at the top of your package. You will still need to enclose an extra, loose copy of each entry form, but you only need to pick one to put the payment information on.

Award Notifications

Q. When will I know if I won?

A. All winners will be notified by telephone, fax, or e-mail, usually in late April or early May. We will contact the person who submitted the entry. It will be up to that person to inform anyone else at your publication who needs to know.

Q. How will I know if we have not won an award?

A. We will post a list of finalists for each category at the ASBPE Web site in late April or early May. The top three publications in a given category will usually be listed.

Q. Do you have award logos that can be used in our publication mastheads and other promotional materials?

A. Yes, each year after our awards banquet, we post logos at our Web site. We also e-mail the submitter of your entry forms telling that person where to find them. Please contact your submitter for the URL or e-mail us at info@asbpe.org.

Judging

Q. I won a regional award. Does that mean I am moving on to the national competition?

A. Here’s how it works. All entries for a given category are automatically entered into the national competition and the regional competition for that category. (However, for some categories we only give out a national award, e.g. the Magazine of the Year.) The top entries overall will receive the national awards. The top entries in each region will receive the regional awards, provided they have not won a national award in the category.

Q. What categories are eligible for only national awards?

A. Magazine of the Year, Government, all the Web, Newsletter, and E-Newsletter categories. At the discretion of the judges and competition management, sometimes a few other categories might only have national winners.

Q. How are the entries judged?

A. Each category is judged by at least two separate judges depending on the number of entries in a given category and the importance of the category. For example, in our Magazine of the Year award, we have had as many as six judges.

Our judges are business publication editors and writers, designers, consultants, and academics who are on the front lines doing hands-on business publication editorial and design work. Truly your peers. They are not glamour people.

In most cases, judges have at least a month to evaluate the entries. Their scores are averaged together to get one “complete” score.

Our judging criteria are second to none. Each category is judged on four or five major criteria, which are listed in the Call for Entries brochure. However, each of these has important “sub-criteria.”

Significantly, most of our editorial categories have a design/presentation component, and our design categories have an important editorial component. You can’t have one without the other, if you want to communicate clearly and quickly. For example, you might have a great looking cover but if the cover lines are not well written, then a judge might argue that the cover was ineffective.

The judge’s decisions are final.

Q. How many people actually judge the entries to ensure that the decisions are unbiased. Because the trade editorial community is close-knit, we wanted to make sure personal experiences with editors, both positive and negative, would not be a factor (whether intentional or not) in the decision process.

A. Each year we have about 50 people judging our competition. At least two people judge every category. Some categories have more judges. No one may judge a category they have entered themselves. It is always possible in any contest, no matter how it is done, that some judges might know some of the people who have entered. The judges understand the bias issue, and they evaluate the entries professionally.

Q. Do the judges change each year?

A. Generally, about half the judges change each year. We try to balance continuity with fresh perspectives, but in all cases the judges are thoroughly qualified. We are always looking for new, experienced people. If you wish to be considered, please send your background information to info@asbpe.org.

Submissions, Category Questions

Q. We have a Web feature we would like to enter, written for the site, but later running in the magazine. Can we enter that?

A. Yes, you may enter the Web article in the appropriate category in the Web division, provided it is published on the Web first. But may not enter it in a category in another division, e.g. Editorial.

Q. We have a print feature we would like to enter, written for the magazine, but later running on our Web site. Can we enter that?

A. Yes, you may enter the print article in the appropriate category in the Editorial division, provided it is published in the magazine first. But you may not enter it in a category in the Web division. It may be entered in the Design division, however.

Q. We have end-of-year issues that have cover dates 2006/2007 and one coming out in a week or so, cover date 2007/2008. Which of these two issues can be entered in the 2008 (30th annual) awards program?

A. The rules call for issue date (cover date), not mail date or printing date or publishing date (whatever that is). In this specific case, in which the issue date spans two different years, you may enter whichever one was mailed in 2007. If both of those issues have a 2007 mail date, both may be entered. However, you will need to state such on the registration form and in your 250-word statement.

If we didn’t say mail date in this very specific instance, it is possible the same materials could be entered twice, in two different years, which would not be appropriate.

Q. The issue date rule seems clear, however, we have a quarterly magazine that bears an issue date of Winter 2008, but was published (mailed) in late December 2007. I want to make sure that the content for this issue would only be eligible in nextyear’s competition. Please clarify.

If issue date on the cover says January 2008, that is not acceptable this year. Enter it next year.

Q. If a person is no longer with a company but wrote an article worthy of submitting for an award, may that person still enter the article or section in the contest?

A. Yes. But it would be considerate for you to tell the editor of the publication that you are entering the material.

Q. We have a new department on original research. Should we enter this in the “Regular Department” category or the “Original Research” category?

A. The answer to this is determined by your calling the entry a department, rather than a feature article. The “Original Research” category calls for the original research to be in the form of a feature article. However, this original research article still may be appropriately entered in the “Regular Department” category.

Q. We are an association magazine and want to enter the “Regular Column” category but don’t know which one, the “Staff-Written” or the “Contributed.” Our writer is a staff person for the association and is listed on the magazine masthead as such, but is not an editorial staff person of the magazine itself.

A. This entry should be submitted in the “Regular Column-Contributed” category because the writer is not on the editorial staff of the publication.

Q. What is the difference between a regular column, staff-written (category 13) and a signed editorial (category 15)? Can a chief editor enter category 13, or is this meant only for other staff editors? Category 13 says: “columns should interpret or comment on issues pertinent to the magazine's readers.” Can’t that also describe an editorial (category 15)?

A. Yes, this appears to be confusing. However, there is a major difference between an editorial and a regular column, staff-written. The editorial is a column that provides the viewpoint of the magazine itself, not of the individual who writes it, much like in a newspaper. In a magazine, the top editor on staff would usually write the editorial, but it could be written by the publisher as well, or the executive director of an association in the case of an association magazine.

We established the “Regular Column, Staff-Written” category because we realize that editorial staff members (even the top editor) may also write a personal column that could be rewarded.

And yes, the content of each may be virtually the same. Who’s to say?

Q. Who is to say if I enter a column as staff written but it gets shuffled over to the Signed Editorial category? Does the contest chair make the decision? The contest judges? The ASBPE staff? If I enter one category and it gets switched to another, am I notified? Can I withdraw my entry and get a refund of the entry fees?

The “who's to say” statement meant that it is, of course, up to the editorial staff to decide on the content of the columns and editorial.

If you enter a column as staff written, it would be highly unlikely that it would get shuffled over to the Editorial. It’s your call as an entrant to make the right entry decision, not ASBPE’s.

However, ASBPE does reserve the right to move an entry from one category to another, if appropriate. Sometimes people do enter the wrong categories, but it is very, very rare, perhaps the result of typing the wrong category. The judges and contest chair would make the decision. We don’t normally inform the entrant in advance, because of time issues, etc., but if the entrant won in the new category, of course, we notify then. Entry fees are not refundable.

Q. Can a news section be entered in the “Regular Department” category?

A. No. There is a special category for news sections.

Q. It says in the rules that you may not submit the same material in more than one category. Is that just within Editorial, Design, and Web, or between those overall categories too? Meaning, if I submit something for the “Feature Article” category under Editorial, does that mean I can’t submit the same article for “Feature Article” under Design?

A. If you had a case history article, you could conceivably enter it into either the feature article or the case history categories, but not both. However, it should be entered in the “Case History” category so that we are judging “apples to apples.”

If you have a feature article, you may enter the article in both the editorial feature category and the design feature article categories. You may cross “divisions.”

If you enter the Magazine of the Year category, you may submit any part of any of the submitted issues in another Editorial or Design category. Remember that Magazine of the Year is limited to one entry per magazine.

These crossover issues only apply to print magazines entered in the Magazine of the Year category and the Editorial and Design divisions. Division crossovers are not allowed for Web, Newsletter, or E-Newsletter categories.

Q. You say “advertorials” are not accepted. How do you define these?

A. The best definition of “advertorials,” including special advertising sections or special advertising supplements, can be found at www.magazine.org/editorial/guidelines. Simply put, an “advertorial” should not be produced by the magazine’s editorial and art staffs because it is advertising. Therefore, it may not be entered.

To enter our categories, the editorial and design staff must have complete editorial and design control over the section or supplement.

Q. Would an article, story, etc. written by one of a magazine’s advertiser, or someone employed by a one of a magazine’s advertisers, be eligible for any of your editorial focused awards?

A. Given the answer above, this might sound contradictory, but such an entry may be eligible. Many editors often ask a representative of one of their magazine’s advertisers to write an article. This is especially true in smaller technical publications because the advertiser has the technical expertise to write on the topic. In this case, however, the editor has complete control over the article’s development, writing, editing, and presentation. This kind of article may be submitted in the appropriate categories.

Q. Regarding the new Original Research category, we do an annual study that has grown so large that we now publish it in two parts. Should both those parts be submitted as one,or would that be considered two separate articles for the purpose ofthese awards?

A. Given the category description, it needs to be one article. We’ll look at the description for next year and perhaps change it then.

Q. We have a three feature stories packaged under a single theme in one issue (10 pages total). The Feature story category refers to submitting one story, but the Feature Series category refers to being in multiple issues. How should we submit this?

Technically, you may not enter the three in the Series category and only one of the three in the Feature article category (unless the other 2 can be considered sidebars). However, have you considered it for the Special Section category? And could one of the other two articles be appropriate in another category, e.g. case history, individual profile?

Q. My question relates to the individual profile category: If the story is a legitimate profile piece but profiles three individuals, all of whom share oversight of a single company, may it be entered in the profile category (6)? Or must it be entered as a feature article (2) instead?

A. You’ll need to enter the article in the feature category since you are profiling more than one person. Or it might be appropriate in the Case History category, if it fits the requirements there.

Q. This question refers to the requirement for the “latest” issue of the magazine associated with the Web site entries to be submitted. For our Web News Section and Web Publication entries, the Web sites change daily; should we submit the most recent 2008 issue with those entries, or should we submit the last issue of 2007? We are a weekly magazine.

A. It should be the latest issue you have in 2008, because judges will be looking at relatively “real-time” Web sites.

Q. Can I submit one story from a special section or feature series package in the Feature Article category?

Yes, you may submit one of the articles in the series or special section in the Feature Article category. If it were not part of a series or a special section, however, you would only be allowed to submit an article in one category from the Editorial division.

Q: In the print magazine design category #41 (Publication Redesign), does the redesigned issue submitted have to be the very first issue of the redesign?

A: Yes. It must be the first issue of the redesign. The design may have been tweaked in subsequent issues. If everyone enters the first redesigned issue its a fairer comparison. The exception would be if the first redesigned issue were a special issue or directory (see next question).

Q. Regarding the Publication Redesign category, the rules say to enter the first issue of the redesign and the issue immediately prior to the redesign. It also states that if the issue prior to the redesign is a directory, the issue before that should be submitted instead.

If the first issue of the redesign was a special issue in which certain departments and other content don’t match what is in the issue immediately prior to the redesign, should I enter the last issue before the redesign and the second issue of the redesign (the first issue after the special issue)? Or should I just enter the first issue of the redesign, even though it was a special issue?

A. The purpose of this category is to be able to judge regular, not special, issues. In this case, you should enter the first regular issue showing the redesign and the last regular issue of the old design. Be sure to say what you are doing in your 250-word statement so that the judges will understand.

Q. Would a themed issue that is tied to various department sections in the publication qualify in the Special Section category? For example, we have feature stories running throughout the book in various department sections on a single theme. The issue also features a cover story on the topic. These stories are clearly tied together with a logo. However, they are not packaged together as one whole special section.

A. All your articles would not qualify as a special section because all the articles are not packaged together as a section and some of them are apparently departments. The Special Section category is for feature articles appearing together in a section. However, if you have two features packaged next to each other, then those could be submitted in the special section category.

Entry Preparation, Forms, Shipping

Q. Are digital files mandatory for any electronically submitted Azbee award filing, or can we send in hard copies? And what's the procedure for that?

A. This depends entirely on the category.

There are some categories that will instruct you to print a copy of the electronically-submitted entry information to submit along with your hard copy.These categories include: all design categories, magazine of the year, any editorial categories that require submission of entire publications. All digital categories and the editorial categories that allow for electronic entry, must be entered entirely online, or entirely hard copy. You may not electronically submit information about an entry, then mail in a hard copy in a category that does not require a hard copy.

Q. What type of PDF should I prepare for entry submissions?

A. We require low resolution (from QuarkXPress: medium quality, low resolution; from Adobe InDesign or Distiller: smallest file size) PDFs that are 72-96 pixels per inch and small in size so that they may be downloaded quickly and viewed on a computer monitor or projector.

Q. Is it OK to submit a PDF for a print editorial entry from a tabloid? Will a printout of such a file be shrunk down and too hard to read?

A. It is acceptable to enter a PDF from either a tabloid-sized or regular-sized publication. It will be up to the individual judges whether they choose to print off the entries or look at them on their computer screens. If the judges choose to print the PDFs, the judges will do so realizing that some of the quality and/or size may be lost in the printing.

Q. In the “Editorial Entry Form and Submission Guidelines,” editors are directed to place individual entry pages in clear acetate protectors. This might work easily for standard-sized pages, but I want to submit editorial content from a tabloid-sized magazine. Do tabloid-sized clear acetate protectors exist? If not, do I fold the tabloid-sized entry pages to fit the clear acetate protectors?

A. This is a problem we do have from time to time. From watching the entries come in over the years, several tabloid-sized magazines have been able to find the sheet protectors in the proper size. Some tabloid-sized magazines simply fold their magazine pages and put them in standard size protectors. Neither one will get you disqualified. It is much easier for the judges to read the entries if you can find the proper size protectors, so that is preferable. If you are unable to find the right size, it is fine to submit folded pages in the protectors. It is a good idea to try not to make the judges do extra work.

Q. Are we required to mount design entries on poster board?

A. No. The entry preparation rules have changed. We now ask that design entries not be mounted, but instead placed in nonbounded, transparent (not translucent) plastic sleeves.

Q. The entry fee covers just one entry, correct? So, if I wanted to submit two entries for the category of How-To Article, it would be double regular the entry fee?

A. Yes, that is correct. The fees are per entry.

Q. For the print submissions, it says to place individual entry pages in clear acetate protectors, then place the entry in its own separate envelope. Do I place each page in an individual protector, or place all the pages from the article in one protector? For instance, if the article is five pages, would there be five acetate protectors in the envelope or place all five pages in one protector?

A. If you have a five-page article, for example, it would be best to place each individual page in its own clear acetate protector. Of course, two pages can be placed back-to-back in one protector. We want to make the work of the judges go smoothly and not have them have to take the pages out of the acetate protectors in order to read the article.

Q. When we place our material in a clear protector, may we have all the pages on the right-hand side with a colored piece of paper affixed to the back of the page? This way the pages are read on the right-hand side only (pages are not in spread layout).

A. Yes, that is acceptable.

Q. We'd like to pay for the entries by credit card. We’ll have about 18 or 20. The entry form says to submit one charge to cover all payments. On which entry should this payment be made?

A. For each entry, the instructions state to secure an entry form to each duplicate copy of the entry, and an additional loose copy of the entry form for payment. You can put the total payment on whichever of these extra loose copies ends up at the top of your package. You will still need to enclose an extra, loose copy of each entry form, but you only need to pick one to put the payment information on.

Q. Will ASBPE confirm that it has received my shipment?

A: We always suggest that entrants ship their submissions via a service that provides a tracking mechanism. Another method is to purchase the “return receipt requested” service from the Post Office. We generally receive more than 2,500 entries, and as we move closer to the entry deadline, we accept about 100 packages per day. It generally takes a month to process the stacks of boxes containing all the entries. Unfortunately, we would not be able to confirm receipt of entries until at least month after the deadline date. Meanwhile, if you track your shipments or buy the “return receipt” you will have your answer more quickly.

Q. In the Magazine Editorial categories, the rules specify that individual entry pages be placed in clear acetate protectors. What type of protector is this referring to? Should each page be in a separate clear folder, or each entry?

A. Any type of transparent protector will do. But don’t put the entire article in one transparent sleeve. That means the judge will have to take all the pages out. We want to keep it easy for the judges. You may, however, place the front and back sheet of an article in one sleeve. For example, if you have a four-page article, you may place pages one and two, back-to-back, in one sleeve, so that you see page two of the article when you turn the sleeve over, just like you’d do in a magazine.

Q. On the Print Editorial Entry Form it says I should place a one-page typed statement that "discuss(es) any enterprising work and its significance or impact on readers." Should that be the same for all submissions or specific to each entry?

A: It should be a separate statement for each entry.

Q. Why do I have to prepare so many copies of my entry in separate envelopes?

A. Envelopes are forwarded to multiple judges, so each envelope should function as one complete entry.

Submitting Entries Online