Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year

ぶっくせらー／だいあぐらむしょう

British humor literature award that annually honors the 'oddest' title among English book titles. Operated by The Bookseller magazine.

Humor literature awardBritish literature awardSatirical/Ironic award

Established: 1978
Organizer: The Bookseller (magazine) — Operated by diarist Horace Bent who also creates the shortlist
Category: Literature and General Literary Arts
Selection Method: Vote
Target: Open
Frequency: 1 per year
Announcement Period: around November–December
Status: Active

Description

Humor award established in 1978 to liven up the Frankfurt Book Fair. Originally conceived by the Diagram Group, now annually awarded by The Bookseller. Winners are selected based on the 'oddness' of the title, and since around 2000, the final decision has been made by public vote. There is no substantial cash prize; main benefits are side prizes like champagne or claret (wine) for nominators and promotional effects for the winning books.

Prize

Main Prize: A magnum of champagne or claret (bottle) is given to the nominator. Winning books and authors receive significant promotional effects, but there is basically no cash prize.

Magnum champagne or claret to the nominator
Promotional and sales promotion effects for winning books and authors

Selection

Selection Process

Stage	Judges	Pass Rate	Announcement
Nomination	Accepts nominations from readers, librarians, publishers, booksellers, SNS (e.g., Twitter), etc.	—	Recruitment is often conducted via The Bookseller or related SNS
Shortlist creation	Horace Bent (The Bookseller's diarist) narrows down candidates and creates the shortlist	—	Shortlist is announced in The Bookseller
Final vote (decision)	Since 2000, final decision by public vote (on The Bookseller's website)	—	Winner announced on The Bookseller website and various media
Early selection method (historical)	From inception to 1990s, decided by panel review (judges)	—	At that time, announced based on committee decision

Nomination

Judges Accepts nominations from readers, librarians, publishers, booksellers, SNS (e.g., Twitter), etc.

Announcement Recruitment is often conducted via The Bookseller or related SNS

Shortlist creation

Judges Horace Bent (The Bookseller's diarist) narrows down candidates and creates the shortlist

Announcement Shortlist is announced in The Bookseller

Final vote (decision)

Judges Since 2000, final decision by public vote (on The Bookseller's website)

Announcement Winner announced on The Bookseller website and various media

Early selection method (historical)

Judges From inception to 1990s, decided by panel review (judges)

Announcement At that time, announced based on committee decision

Criteria

Primarily emphasizes the oddness of the title (oddness of title), with the title itself as the review target, not the book's content
Title must be in English notation (content language irrelevant)
Nominators cannot nominate their own works
Titles intentionally created to elicit laughter are generally rejected
Judges and voters are usually recommended to judge based on the title alone, without reading the rest