Dear publishers,
Each year at The Gospel Coalition we review or spotlight more than 200 books, culminating with our annual book awards where we select winners in the following 11 categories:
Popular Theology: Translates theological concepts for the average church member
Cultural Apologetics: Investigates current events and cultural narratives to consider how they intersect with the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel
Biblical Studies (Academic): Covers the academic disciplines related to New Testament, Old Testament, hermeneutics, and biblical theology
Theological Studies (Academic): Focuses on academic exploration of disciplines related to systematic theology, philosophy, or ethics
Ministry: Focuses on pastoral practice, evangelism, ecclesiology, and apologetic methods for the local church
History & Biography: Explores events or individuals who have shaped our world
Christian Living: Provides practical tools to encourage discipleship and sanctification in various areas of life
Children’s (Picture Books): Aimed at early readers or prereaders and combines illustration and language to communicate deep truths about the Christian faith
First-Time Author: Fits into any of the categories but is written by an author who hasn’t previously published a book
Devotional Literature: Intended to be engaged incrementally as a means of encouraging discipleship
Missions & the Global Church: Emphasizes the ongoing or historical work of God outside North America
Per TGC’s foundation documents, we seek books that meet the following criteria:
1. offers gospel-centered argument and application;
2. includes faithful and foundational use of Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament;
3. fosters spiritual discernment of contemporary trials and trends; and
4. encourages efforts to unite and renew the church.
Books selected for an award will be featured at our 2025 TGC Conference in Indianapolis (April 22–24, 2025). (See the 2023 award winners.)
Publishers can submit up to two books per category; they can also nominate the same book in multiple categories, though no book will be chosen in more than one category.
Please notice that some categories have shifted this year. For example, we will not evaluate group or individual Bible study materials this year.
We will only consider titles published between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024, and only titles published in the United States. The deadline for publisher nominations is Friday, July 5.
There is a $50 entry fee for each title nominated (in each category). To help streamline this process, we’ve set up an online form that will allow each publisher to nominate books online and submit all payments at the same time. Entry fees are nonrefundable. (Note that you can only submit up to 10 books in each form, though you can submit multiple forms.)
Once nominations are submitted on the form, please email a PDF of each title to BookAwards [AT] thegospelcoalition.org. (If the file size is too large, please send a link to Dropbox.) We may request physical copies of the books to facilitate the initial judging process.
If your book is selected as a finalist, your publicist will be informed by Friday, August 23. Physical copies (even galleys or ARCs) will be requested for finalists.
We will announce the winners near the end of the year.
The Gospel Coalition