General Conditions

1. Only the work entered on the accompanying entry form and submitted with four original copies of the work can be considered for the awards. Books and other material will not be returned. All works must be written in the English language, or have parallel English text. A separate form must be used for each work.

2. All works nominated (except scripts) must be published works in book form. It is not necessary for the work to have been published in Western Australia.

3. All works entered must have been published or produced between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007. Only books published for the first time are eligible.

4. Scripts will be assessed on their literary merit and not the merits of a particular production. To be eligible, scripts must have had their first professional production / screening / broadcast between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007 (inclusive) or, in the case of film and television scripts, completed production between those dates. A film or television script shall only be entered once in the Awards. Where scripts have not been published they must be submitted bound and typed. Four copies must be submitted. Where music has been a major component of the work, four cassette copies should be included.

5. The closing date for entries in all categories is Friday 4 January 2008.

6. Works may be submitted by writers, publishers or literary agents. The writer’s permission must be obtained and at least one author's signature must appear on the entry form.

7. Entry is open to writers who fulfil at least one of the following conditions:

1. Born in Western Australia
2. Usual place of residence is Western Australia
3. Has been resident in Western Australia for a minimum of 10 years at some stage, although not currently resident in WA.
4. Whose work has Western Australia as its primary focus. If a work has a joint author who does not fit into one of the above categories, then the work shall still be eligible providing that one of the joint authors does fit into one of the above categories.

8. Works of joint authorship are eligible for these awards. Joint authorship is defined here as meaning co-authors, editors, illustrators, translators, etc. However, anthologies of poetry or short stories by more than 3 different authors and brought together by an editor, are not eligible.

9. Books developed specifically as curriculum material are not eligible.

10. Prize money of $7,500 will be awarded to the winners of each of the following categories: Fiction, Poetry, Children’s Books, Writing for Young Adults, Scripts, and Non-Fiction. It is the responsibility of the nominee to indicate into what category the work is being entered. However, the judges reserve the right to consider the work in another category. No work may be submitted for consideration in more than two categories.

West Australian History Award
An additional prize of $7,500 will be awarded to a significant historical work that makes a major contribution to the understanding of Western Australia's past. The winner will be selected by the judges from entries for the 2007 Awards.

The Premier’s Prize
A special prize of $20,000 will be awarded to an overall winner, selected from the winners of the seven categories. The purpose of this award is to support and encourage writing in Western Australia.

11. The judges will reserve the right to exclude from consideration any work which does not comply with these conditions.

12. The judges will not be required to make awards in all categories if they do not consider the nominated works to be of sufficient merit.

13. The decision of the judges will be final and no discussion or correspondence will be entered into concerning their decisions. It is anticipated that the winners of the 2007 Premier’s Book Awards will be announced at a function to be held in May or June 2008.The Centre for the Book in the Alexander Library Building promotes Western Australian writing and celebrates the book. Shortlisted authors and category winners may be asked to participate in events such as talks and readings to further this aim.

A copy of the Guidelines and Official Entry Form can be downloaded in pdf format (you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader if you do not already have this software) or are available from:

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards
State Library of Western Australia
Alexander Library Building
Perth Cultural Centre
Perth, Western Australia 6000

Tel: 08 9427 3150
Fax: 08 9427 3152
E-mail: doug.george@slwa.wa.gov.au