What is the National Book Award?

The National Book Award is a literary award given annually by the National Book Foundation. The award is given in four categories, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry and children's books. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges which consists of five authors who work in each of the four categories for a total of 20 judges.

Publishers are sent forms to fill out and submit to the foundation in order to nominate the books they think represent the best of their category. The panels of judge then read all the books submitted and narrow their choices down to the top ten by September, then narrows it to five by October. The final winner for each category is then decided in mid-November.