Awards: Types & Awards Packets

Special Recognition | Medals | Awards Packets

Each year, MWSA presents special recognition awards to especially noteworthy authors and their works.  The list of awards varies each year, but is generally made up of the following:

• Founder's Award

  • Award recipient determined by MWSA Founder, Bill McDonald

• President's Award

  • Selected by the MWSA President

  • Click here for details.

• Writer/Author of the Year Award

  • In March of 2018, the MWSA Board of Directors renamed the MWSA Author of the Year Award to honor long-time member, Mike "Moon" Mullins. The award is now the MWSA Mike Mullins Memorial Writer of the Year (WOY) Award.

  • Click here for details.

Special Recognition Awards are a separate function handled by the Board of Directors and awarded during our annual conference.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal Awards

Medals are awarded each year based on the averaged numerical scores of the three reviewers assigned to each book. Because books are scored against our standard—and not against each other—we may award more than one of the same medal in each genre.

MWSA announces our medal winner results in two steps:

• Awards Finalists: After our submission window closes and all books are scored, MWSA announces each year's Finalists.

  • Being designated as a Finalist means that the submitted book scored high enough for a Bronze, Silver, or Gold medal.

  • Announcement of Finalists (names and books) should occur about 4-6 weeks after the close of each season.

• Medal Awards Announcement: Medal winners are announced during MWSA's annual membership conference.

Contents

All medal winners receive an awards packet, which is presented to the author during our awards ceremony/banquet. Each package contains:

• One medal and ribbon

• 50 book stickers*

• Award Certificate

See our Promotional Materials page for stock images and other items you can use for your book marketing efforts.

* Book stickers will not be available for the 2027 season and beyond.

Details: Mailing, Extra Contents, Dues Requirements

Mailing your package

If the author cannot attend the ceremony, MWSA will mail the package to an address in the United States at no additional charge.

• MWSA will work with winning authors who need packages mailed overseas on an individual basis.

Extra Materials

• If an award-winning book has more than one author, additional medals and stickers can be purchased in our online store.

• The purchase must be completed before the awards ceremony if you'd like us to present the extra award materials during the awards banquet.

Keeping Dues Current

• Authors who’ve been notified that they are finalists must keep their MWSA dues current through the time of the season’s awards banquet.

• For information on renewing your MWSA membership, please visit the membership section of our website.

6/2/2026