Annual Eligibility
Currently a book must be published "between December 1 of the previous year and November 30 of the current year." Its publisher must complete a nomination by June 15 and mail copies to the panelists by August 1. The panelists read all the valid nominees "over the summer" and the panels compile shortlists in September.
The pre-war awards were announced in the winter, usually February, and described with reference to the year of publication, if any; for example, "National Book Awards for 1939" announced February 1940. The 1950 to 1983 awards, as the National Book Foundation now labels them, were presented in the spring to works published during the preceding calendar year. From 1984 the NBAs are presented in the fall, usually November, to books published roughly during the current calendar year (November to October, in 1984). It appears that books published in the first ten months of 1983 were never eligible.
Read more about this topic: National Book Award
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