Entering a writing or publication competition
Writing and publication competitions recognise individual work, books and complete publications. Eligibility can depend on audience, publication year, edition, membership, byline and entry limits, while judging can include writing, design and communication effectiveness.
Recognition and selection
Writing competitions can add professional credibility, and an award description on a résumé or an award logo on a website can distinguish a writer from colleagues. A suggested starting point is to review the previous year's work, select the strongest material and submit it to one or more competitions.
Medical-writing awards
In 2007, AMWA's Eric W. Martin Awards included lay-audience articles, professional-audience articles and monographs. AMWA also ran competitive awards for full-length books, with its 2007 Medical Book Awards funded by the Dr. MaryAnn Foote Foundation.
For the 2008 Eric W. Martin Award, the entry requirements were:
- Enter a monograph, a print or electronic article for a lay audience, or a print or electronic article for a professional medical audience.
- Be an AMWA member named in the work's byline.
- Submit work published in calendar year 2007; articles must contain at least 500 words.
- Exclude brochures and self-published electronic articles.
- Limit entries to one per person in each category.
- Include a $20 entry fee, completed form and four copies with each entry by 1 February 2008.
Later entry terms were:
| Award year | Categories | Eligible publication year | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Monographs; lay-audience articles; professional-medical-audience articles, in print or electronic form | 2008 | 1 February 2009 |
| 2010 | Public/healthcare-consumer articles; professional-medical-audience articles, in print or electronic form | 2009 | 2 February 2010 |
| 2011 | Public/healthcare-consumer articles; professional-medical-audience articles, in print or electronic form | 2010 | 4 February 2011 |
| 2012 | Published articles for lay-public or professional-medical audiences | Not specified | 3 February 2012 |
The 2010 and 2011 rules listed two article categories but also referred to monographs in their publication-year requirement.
Medical-book awards
AMWA's 2008 Medical Book Awards recognised authors of nonfiction and fiction English-language medical books in three audience categories: physicians, other healthcare professionals (formerly Allied Health Professionals), and the public or healthcare consumers (formerly Trade). Eligible books were first editions or significantly revised subsequent editions released in 2007, with entries due on 29 February 2008 and requiring a $50 fee, completed form and two copies. The entry limits were inconsistent: authors were permitted more than one title in each category, while another requirement limited entries to one per person per category.
The same three audience categories continued in the following years, with these terms:
| Award year | Writing eligible | Edition and release requirement | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Nonfiction and fiction | First or significantly revised edition released in 2008 | 26 February 2009 |
| 2010 | Nonfiction | First or significantly revised edition released in 2009 | 26 February 2010 |
| 2011 | Nonfiction and fiction | First or significantly revised edition released in 2010 | 25 February 2011 |
| 2012 | Published books | Not specified | 27 February 2012 |
In 2012, eight books were honoured; the journal reviewed each category's first-place winner and directed readers to the awards website for honourable mentions and special recognitions. Each audience category had its own judging committee.
Research on the profession
The AMWA Award for Best Published Research on Medical Communication recognised published research documenting medical writers' and editors' added value, with a 31 March 2012 deadline. Underwritten by several members, it aimed to foster that research and show the profession's value.
Publication-excellence competitions
The 2009 EXCEL Awards, run by the Society of National Association Publishers, judged more than 1,200 magazines, newsletters, scholarly journals, electronic publications and websites on editorial quality, design, general excellence, most-improved and other criteria; entries were due on 20 February 2009. A later call again labelled the awards “2009” but specified an entry deadline in mid-to-late February 2010.
The 2008 APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, the twentieth annual competition, judged editorial content, graphic design and overall communication effectiveness in 110 categories, including newsletters, magazines and journals, annual reports, brochures, manuals, reports, electronic and video publications and websites. Corporate, nonprofit, freelance and agency communicators could enter, paying $69 per entry as subscribers to Writing that Works, the newsletter whose editors sponsored the competition, or $89 as non-subscribers. The 2009 and 2010 calls likewise offered 110 categories to writers, editors, publications staff and business and nonprofit communicators, with deadlines of 16 March 2009 and 17 March 2010 respectively.
What judging rewarded
In 2008, ACOG Today, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' newsletter, won EXCEL gold for newsletter general excellence and silver for newswriting for a second consecutive year; it had also won general excellence in 2006. Judges praised timely, practical, well-written content, clean and attractive design, and integration of images and text. The Oncology Nursing Society's Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing won APEX recognition for most-improved magazines and journals, its website won in the website category, and Breaking the Silence on Cancer and Sexuality was honoured in health/medical materials while Antineoplastic Agents: A Chemotherapy Handbook, second edition, was honoured in books/e-books.
The 2012 AMWA physician-category committee chose Mayo Clinic Gastroenterology and Hepatology Board Review from nineteen books for readable, interesting content and high writing and production standards. It praised clear, succinct prose, defined terms, clear pictures and graphs with explanatory captions, further-reading lists, a comprehensive index, and case-based multiple-choice questions with detailed answers and explained abbreviations.
The AMWA Journal won a bronze 2009 EXCEL Award for general excellence among scholarly peer-reviewed journals, one of 181 awarded publications from nearly 1,000 entries; general-excellence winners were recognised for writing, content, graphic design and overall packaging. Its December 2011 green-themed issue then won a 2012 APEX award in Green Magazines and Journals, in a competition with more than 3,400 entries, marking its second award.