Current Winners
Congratulations to our 2023 winners! Our judges worked hard to select from the abundance of great submissions.
Our annual awards program highlights stellar nonfiction articles, essays, books, and content marketing writing in a variety of categories.
While some awards are offered only to members, others are open to all freelance writers, regardless of membership. Nominations may be made by the authors themselves or by someone else. All entries must be published by a freelance, nonfiction writer in the calendar year preceding the award year.
ASJA’s award season is generally held each winter and spring. Nominations usually open in December and close in February. Judges consider entries through early spring, and the announcement of winners often coincides with ASJA’s annual conference in mid-spring.
In an effort to encourage and acknowledge the work of incarcerated journalists, entry fees were waived for their work for the 2023 awards.
Congratulations to our 2023 winners! Our judges worked hard to select from the abundance of great submissions.
When big news hits — like the Covid Pandemic — journalists move into high gear. Periodically, ASJA offers special awards programs to recognize this important work.
Our annual awards program highlights stellar nonfiction articles, essays, books, and content marketing writing in a variety of categories.
All articles and books considered for an award must have been published in the preceding year, unless otherwise noted.
Information about about the 2024 Awards coming in late 2023.
Information about about the 2024 Awards coming in late 2023.
ASJA member Howard Eisenberg established the Arlene Eisenberg Memorial Fund to honor his late wife, the author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and other bestselling books that made a difference in the lives of mothers worldwide. Income generated by the fund allows ASJA to give monetary awards to winners of Arlenes, which are awarded annually for articles and once every three years for books. The winning book or freelance article must have “made a difference” by inspiring positive action within a locale or community, society, or the world. In the past, the award has been given for articles or books that inspired readers to do such things as lobby for legislation or form an advocacy group. Past winners have also stirred officials to launch an investigation, correct an injustice, or remove a hazard.
The Arlene Article Award is presented annually for an article published within the prior two years.
To be considered for an Arlene, articles must be:
This award honors ASJA’s third president, a noted investigative journalist. Articles entered should demonstrate outstanding writing and organization, plus new or previously unrevealed research. Or, if the topic frequently gets attention, the article should show it in a new light.
The work of any writer may be nominated, so long as it is freelance-written and published or released in the United States during the eligibility period. (Staff-written work does not qualify.)
If the work was supported by a grant or payment from a foundation or other organization, or if the author was otherwise aided (such as in data collection or statistical analysis), we ask that this be noted at the time of submission, along with the time period for any such support. This is solely for the purpose of establishing that the work was freelance-written.
These awards honor writers whose articles, produced on a freelance basis, have demonstrated excellence in writing, research, and clarity of presentation.
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These awards are for nonfiction books written by independent (not staff) writers that are deemed significant, exceptionally well-researched, and skillfully written.Books must have published in the United States during calendar year 2022. Entries may be written by an individual author or may be collaborative works. Self-published books, eBooks, and traditionally published books may be nominated.
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Please note: Only PDF or eBook submissions will be accepted.
These awards honor writers whose articles, produced on a freelance basis for an organization — a brand, business, nonprofit, hospital, university, or association — have demonstrated excellence in writing, research, and clarity of presentation.
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The June Roth Memorial Fund was established by her late husband to honor our 31st president, a well-known medical writer. Income generated by the fund provides monetary awards to ASJA members whose articles or books represent exceptional achievement in health and medical writing. The June Roth Article and Book Awards are offered every year.
From time to time, an ASJA member offers exemplary service to the organization, reaches a notable career achievement, or demonstrates special contributions to the media industry. In these moments, ASJA members and leaders can nominate such members for the special awards listed below.
This is up to you! We’ve tried to make the categories as clear as possible. Please enter the one that you think sounds right based on your piece and the awards category descriptions and the guidelines.
If an article has been entered in a category that is obviously incorrect—for example, a food article is entered into the book category—that will be addressed before judging begins. There is always the possibility of refining and clarifying categories and the guidelines as needed for next year and beyond.
Yes.
Volunteering to be a judge is a lot of fun because you get to read amazing work written by your peers. To sign up to be a judge, click here.
When you sign up, you can list category preferences, but categories aren’t guaranteed. That’s because assigning judges can be a bit of a chess game since judges aren’t allowed to judge a category they themselves have entered.
After all submissions are in, the Awards Committee assigns judges to each category. The Awards Committee then reaches out to judges with next steps.
Once all judges are assigned, the Awards Committee contacts each panel to give them the links or pdfs for the articles they will be judging. Then it’s reading time!
Each panel also selects a head judge. This judge will be responsible for communicating a winner and runner-up to the Awards Committee.
If a category has many articles, there will be a Panel A and Panel B, even a Panel C, so that the judges aren’t overwhelmed. In this case, the articles are divided up among the panels and each Panel picks a top choice for the pieces they read.
Then, the top choices from each Panel are read by all and a winner and runner up are chosen. Each panel may decide how they want to communicate throughout the judging process—via phone, over email or video call.
The most important piece is that the Awards Committee is notified of a winner and runner-up for each category by the end of the judging period.
Yes! You cannot, however, judge a category that you’ve entered a piece into.
Yes. There is not a separate category for Q&As. Please use your best judgment as to which category to enter. For example, a Q&A with a chef about her restaurant seems like a good candidate for the Food & Drink category.
From time to time, ASJA members go above and beyond to serve members and other professional freelance writers.