Magawards unveils new lineup and opening of entries for 40th anniversary awards in 2017

The National Magazine Awards Foundation unveiled a new lineup of awards for 2017, marking the organization's 40th anniversary of recognizing and celebrating Canadian creators. Submissions open today and the deadline for entries is January 20 (the early bird deadline is January 13). [Complete release.]

The deadline for nominations for the Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement is March 1. The NMAF’s most prestigious individual prize since its inception in 1990, this is an award that recognizes an individual's innovation and creativity through contributions to the magazine industry. [Disclosure: I was a winner of the award a few years ago.]

The awards will feature 25 categories, including 14 writing awards, 7 visual awards and 4 integrated awards. In most categories, there will be a maximum of 10 finalists determined by the jury. The top two will win the Gold and Silver medals. All other finalists will receive Honourable Mention. 

New  this year:

• Each candidate for Magazine of the Year will be measured by four general criteria -- quality, innovation, impact and brand awareness -- and its success relative to the magazine's editorial mandate. The submitter of each entry in this category will need to complete an application form providing details supporting each criterion. There will be five finalists and one over all winner. Note: Final deadline for this category is January 27.
• A new Foundation Award for International Impact will be awarded to a Canadian who has made a significant contribution to a field of magazine journalism beyond the borders of Canada.
• The NMAF has announced changes to its judging process, including more robust criteria and scoring procedures, and an amalgamation of the two-tiered judging system for written categories. 
• A new written category has been created especially for the B2B community (which no longer will have the Kenneth R. Wilson Awards). 'Best Professional Article’ will honour outstanding magazine writing dealing with subjects, practices, events or developments of importance to a professional industry, to recognize excellence in business-to-business journalism.
• Last month the NMAF announced an expanded program for the 2017 Digital Publishing Awards, featuring 22 categories recognizing excellence by the creators of Canadian Digital Publications, including online and tablet magazines. Submissions for the Digital Publishing Awards will open on January 2. 
• Freelancers can save 50% on entries through the Freelancer Support Fund
• Magazines with under $200,000 in annual revenue may be eligible for the small magazine rebate, equivalent to 1 free entry (essentially enter at least one, get second one free.)

Nino Di Cara, the NMAF president said

“For our 40th anniversary year, the NMAF challenged itself to make our awards programs more valuable and more prestigious to Canadian creators. I’m grateful to our participants, partners and stakeholders for consistently reminding us how important the NMAF brand is as a leader in our industry, and for guiding us towards a stronger and better National Magazine Awards. We look forward to honouring your work this year, and establishing new benchmarks of excellence in journalism.”

[Consult the Guide to the 40th National Magazine Awards for detailed information on particular aspects of categories, judging, submission rules and deadlines.]