General Information

Nautilus Book Awards 2023 Season closed Feb 10, 2023.

Winners were announced April 28, 2023. Please visit our home page HERE for the PDF.

Our 2024 Season opens September 1, 2023 - February 1st, 2024

We welcome those of you who are both returning and new to Nautilus. We're happy you are here!

We will be accepting eBooks in our 2024 season- criteria to be announced. Please sign up for newsletter to stay apprised of the upcoming changes.

General criteria for eligible Nautilus Entries :

  • eBook or print book, in English, with ISBN.
  • Publication date &/or Copyright during either 2022 or 2023 shown on or near Title page of book.
  • High-quality writing.
  • Your book articulates a message related to the category selected.
  • Published version of your book title only. "Advance Reader or Sample Copies" are not accepted.
  • Expresses one or more of the four Nautilus values, described below under Nautilus Mission.
  • Book is not a prior entry to the Nautilus program (contact us if special accommodation is needed).

** Please note individual feedback on your submission is not possible at this time.

The Four Nautilus Values

To recognize, promote, and celebrate books that support any of our Four Pillars:

conscious living & sustainability, health & wellness, spiritual growth, and social change & social justice.

These four aspects of the Nautilus Mission are an integral part of the assessment that each Reviewer Team uses in recommending the Finalists in their category, and that the Final Review Team then references to select extraordinary books as Award Winners in each category.  A book does not need to express all four qualities of the Mission in order to be selected as an Award Winner.  However, books that are infused with two or more of the qualities will generally earn a higher rating.  Our Reviewers are dedicated to their task -- to  recognize excellent books that radiate pulses of wisdom, love, hope, collaborative spirit, and creativity - and to celebrate the authors who share these energies with their readers!

To see an overview of books from past years that have been recognized with a Nautilus Award, go to the Nautilus Winners webpages and Winners Archive.

During each Season, we accept Entries in 35+ genre Categories.

We accept entries in 35 subject categories (a few with A and B segments, see Categories webpage), and 8 of those categories are for Children, Mid-Grade Teens and Young Adults.

We accept Entries from Self-publishers, Small Presses (2- 10 Titles annual, and from multiple authors), Hybrid-publishers, and traditional Larger publishers (more than 10 books annually) in the English language.  Nautilus does not accept e-books as program entries at this time.

Each year the Nautilus Book Awards presents three honorary awards that we acknowledge and recognize:

  • Best in Small Press
  • Best Self-Published book
  • Best in Children's Literature

Please note: A book cannot be entered for these Special Honors.  All qualified, paid submissions from a Small Press, Self-Publisher, or Children's book become candidates for the "Best of..." awards.

Instructions for Entry

We will be providing more specific instructions this summer as we develop the process for submitting eBooks in addition to physical book copies. It's worthwhile to note that we will have an online Submission Process that will be similar to last year whereby each Entrant completes their registration online and submits payment via credit card.

Accepting eBooks and using an online submission format will allow us to reduce the price again this coming 2024 Season (Sep 1, 2023- Feb 1, 2024). We're hopeful this choice will be helpful to Entrants, reviewers, postal carriers, trees, and Nautilus Staff alike.

We thank you for considering Nautilus Book Awards!