By Edward James Olmos

Have you written a book, had it published, and want to bring more attention to it? We have an avenue that might be of interest to you: The International Latino Book Awards are the largest Latino book and cultural awards in the world. The Awards celebrates books by and about Latinos written in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The Awards are produced by Empowering Latino Futures/Latino Literacy Now, a 501c3 nonprofit organization I co-founded with Kirk Whisler in 1997.

Over the past 22 years we have honored the greatness of 2,897 authors and publishers from across the USA and Puerto Rico, as well as from 18 countries outside the USA. The Awards honored 257 books in 95 categories in 2019. The Awards honors the best Children and Youth Books, Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Design, Translation, eBooks and Audio books published each year. Over 40% of the winners come from small publishers or are self-published.

To enter is very simple. Your book needs to have been published in 2018, 2019, or 2020. For the entry form please go to www.LatinoBookAwards.org. The entry deadline is May 19th .

Five quick reasons to consider entering the Awards:

The Award Winning Author (AWA) logo is the mark of quality in publishing for Latinos – and others.

The Awards have grown every year in number of entries, winners, and, most importantly, in respect. Last year’s press releases on the winners was downloaded by press in the USA, Latin America and elsewhere 780 times.

The Awards is now held in conjunction with Latino Publishing University where authors and publishers can learn more about succeeding in the audience development, marketing, distribution, content and production issues related to books.

We have an Award Winning Author Tour after the winners are announced and events like the Latino Book & Family Festivals (67 th have been produced).

We have a new partner that can help with your book’s publication and distribution.

Winners have included major literary luminaries like Isabel Allende, Rudolfo Anaya, Paulo

Coelho, and Gabriel García Márquez to Alma Flor Ada, Oscar Hijuelos, Jose Luis Orozco, Luis Rodriguez, and Victor Villaseñor. Major winners from other fields have included Gloria Estefan, Cheech Marin, Linda Ronstadt, and Carlos Santana to Henry Cisneros, Oscar de la Hoya, Jorge Ramos, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Just as important, the Awards have honored hundreds of less known authors. More than a half the winners are first time authors. These authors are the future of books by and about Latinos. We look forward to your participation.