New Mexico Press Women have many book awards with upcoming deadlines. 

2021 Zia Book Award:
​Each year the award rotates to one of three categories: children’s literature, nonfiction, and fiction. To accommodate this schedule, a book published in the last three years is eligible. The 2021 award is open to nonfiction books published in 2018, 2019, or 2020.

Finalists will be invited to attend the award ceremony on Mar. 20, 2021, in Albuquerque (or online if necessary) and speak about their books. Finalists will receive either the Award or an Honorable Mention. To be eligible for the Award, the author must attend the ceremony.

The entry fee is as follows:
If sent by Dec. 31, 2020:
• $25 for NMPW members
• $30 for nonmembers

​If sent after Dec. 31, 2020:
• $35 for NMPW members
• $50 for nonmembers
Entries must be postmarked no later than Jan. 11, 2021. An acknowledgement letter will be emailed upon receipt of the entry.

NMPW New Mexico Communications Contest:

​The annual New Mexico Communications Contest recognizes excellence in print, broadcast, electronic or Internet media, photography, marketing, public relations, graphic arts and journalism in New Mexico. Contest winners are announced in spring and awards are presented at New Mexico Press Women’s annual banquet. First place winners advance to the national contest.
The purpose of the contest is to improve professional skills by recognizing excellence in communication. The message is what is important. The message — how well it communicates, how it is directed to its target audience, how well it achieves its objectives — is the judging standard.

NMBA tried something new at the November virtual luncheon meeting--Speed Networking Sessions! We noticed that it is challenging to have meaningful conversations and connections online in our group luncheon meetings, and so at the November meeting we tried out randomly assigning present members to small groups of four or less where they were able to chat and network for around 10 minutes and then rejoin the main meeting. After 1 0r 2 sessions with four members, we had a few 15 minute rounds with only 2 people in each group. Members had a wonderful time connecting with others in the group who they may be old friends with, or even meeting for the first time! It was a great exercise and we plan to continue to incorporate a few speed sessions into many of our virtual luncheon meetings going forward. If you plan on joining the luncheon meeting, please be sure to RSVP HERE beforehand.

The annual gala is something that NMBA members look forward to--getting dressed up each year and catching up with their fellow members--but this year we had to think of new ways we could safely host the event. In hopes of obtaining some sense of normalcy, we decided to continue the event but with a twist: it would be held virtually. Despite the obstacles, the gala was a success! We had members from all across the country, many of whom had never been able to attend the annual gala before because of the physical distance. In total, we had around 50 members log onto the virtual meeting and vote for board members.

​Along with membership voting, the main attraction of the gala was the announcement of the winners of this year’s Southwest Book Design and Production Awards. Jared Gann and Sandi Wright put together a presentation that featured the winners and images of their books that played as they announced the winners. They also created lovely certificates for all winners and finalists that were mailed out after the announcement. It was a great turnout and it was nice to see everyone, even if it was virtually! ​