Entry portal to open: January 31, 2024
Early Bird entry deadline: February 26, 2024 at 4PM
Entry deadline: March 11, 2024 at 4PM
Early Bird fee: $40 per entry
Regular fee: $50 per entry
Small circulation (<1,000) and freelance Early Bird:$35
Small circulation (<1,000) and freelance Regular: $45

AMPA member magazines are eligible to receive the second entry submission FREE. Your free entry must be submitted as a separate transaction, upload your entry, select Pay by Cheque and add “Free Entry” the notes. You will not be invoiced for the free submission.

• Entries are restricted to AMPA-member magazines, with the exception of the Emerging Writer and Best New Magazine categories.
• All entries must be original work dated 2023.
• Entries must be the work of Canadian content creators (citizens and permanent residents/landed immigrants).
• It is the responsibility of the magazine to enter according to the guidelines. Entries that don’t conform to the rules or fit category definitions may be disqualified without notice. In this case, entry fees will not be refunded.
• Judges reserve the right to not grant an award if, in their opinion, no entry merits one.
• All decisions made by the judges are final.
• AMPA reserves the right to cancel any category that does not receive enough submissions to provide a legitimate competition. In this case entry fees will be refunded.
• AMPA reserves the right to use the winning entries in the awards program for exhibit, educational purposes, online and/or in a publication of collected work, but not for sale or profit.
• Except where stated, there is no limit to the number of entries submitted in each category. Finalists will be listed to a maximum of 10.
• Advertorial and/or promotional content is inadmissible.
• Awards are open to staff and freelance contributors.
• Both print and online entries are eligible unless the rules indicate otherwise.
• With the exception of the fiction and poetry categories, all written submissions must be non-fiction.
• The same written work may not be entered in other written categories unless the rules indicate otherwise (see Alberta Story, Emerging Writer).
• Awards are for articles published as “first rights” only.
• Achievement in Publishing, Editor of the Year and Volunteer of the Year nominees must be current residents of Alberta.

Awards categories are adjudicated by a panel of three industry professionals. Judges do not adjudicate categories in which they had any involvement with the submission (as author, creator, editor, publisher, etc.), nor do they adjudicate entries in which their name appears on the masthead.

Judges must have substantial work experience relevant to the category being adjudicated, as well as meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• Currently or previously employed in the periodical industry
• Currently or previously employed in a related field, including but not limited to journalism professors at the post-secondary level, individuals working as freelance writers, photographers, illustrators and editorial designers
• Possessing experience as a judge in a comparable awards program
• Have expertise as a past winner or finalist in a comparable awards program

Each entry is judged equally on: 

• Style and Creativity (10 points)
• Content (10 points)
• Impact (10 points)

Judges in all categories receive written instructions and an explanation of the process and the scoring procedure. Judges are responsible for the selection of finalists by first working individually to evaluate and score the entries. If no clear gold and silver winner emerges from the aggregated scores, judges proceed to a second round, via a moderated conference call, to determine finalists and silver and gold winners. The panel’s decision is final.

Conflict of Interest

A judge shall be considered ineligible to adjudicate on a panel in which: their name appears on the masthead of the magazine entered in that category; is entered as a writer or other contributor in that category.

Category Review

AMPA reviews its award categories annually. Stakeholders are welcome to provide feedback on the clarity of category descriptions, relevance, and omissions.