History
In 1982, Bookbuilders West established the Distinguished Service Award. This honor went to individuals who
- exemplified the ideals of Bookbuilders West,
- maintained the highest personal standards of craftsmanship and devotion to their work above and beyond the regular call to duty,
- demonstrated interest and service to the Bookbuilders community, although not necessarily to the Bookbuilders West organization as such,
- were known for something extra they had given to the job or to book building, whether it be unusual talent, brilliance, innovation, integrity, devotion, or helpfulness to others, and
- had universal appeal to all segments of the publishing industry.
The honoree was selected by a DSA committee consisting of current/former presidents and past DSA recipients. After BBW transitioned to Publishing Professionals Network in 2012, the organization continued to present the DSA.
Changing Times and the Distinguished Service Award
As local and national publishing have become intertwined via social networking and virtual connectivity, so have PPN’s mission and focus expanded. In 2021, PPN shifted the nature of this award to recognize a wider community of publishing professionals who exhibit commitment to our joint goals of advancing our trade and making publishing more welcoming to all who wish to join.
Updated Selection Criteria
Candidates for this new variation of the DSA are individuals who demonstrate some combination of the following criteria:
- exemplification of the PPN mission to provide support, educational resources, and opportunities to all individuals involved in, or interested in joining, book and book-related publishing,
- devotion to, and support of, the highest possible standards for developing and crafting books and book-related publications,
- something extra brought to the publishing community, whether it be unusual talent, brilliance, innovation, integrity, devotion, or helpfulness to others, and
- a tangible contribution toward increased diversity, equity, and inclusion within the publishing industry.
Updated Selection Process
- PPN requests nominations from the broad publishing community through email blasts and social media. These requests include links to a simple nomination form.
- The nomination form includes fields for brief essays and supporting information/references/links as available.
- PPN committee members review all entries and winnow the group down to the top choices based on updated selection criteria (above).
- Top choices are put to a vote via online balloting by the same audience that supplied the nominations.
The honoree is named at the PPN Book Show.
Recipients
1983 | Lon Driggers | 1984 | Al Lindenbaum | 1985 | Charles Goehring |
1986 | Bill Ralph | 1987 | Fran Mitchell | 1988 | Roy Wallace |
1989 | Patricia Brewer | 1990 | Karen Judd | 1991 | Bill Ketron |
1992 | Casimira Kostecki | 1993 | Elliott Derman | 1994 | Jonathan Peck |
1995 | Gordon Johnson | 1996 | Chet Grycz | 1997 | Detta Penna |
1998 | Paul Butzler | 1999 | Gary Head | 2000 | Arlene Cowan |
2001 | Don Smith | 2002 | Tony Crouch | 2003 | Karen Richardson |
2004 | Rebecca Swee | 2005 | Michele Bisson Savoy | 2006 | Michael O’Brien |
2007 | Stephen Thomas | 2008 | Mary Lou Goforth | 2009 | Sandy D’Amato |
2010 | Leslie Austin | 2011 | Elise Gochberg | 2012 | Andrea Helmbolt |
2013 | Mike Johnson | 2014 | David Zielonka | 2016 | Duncan McCallum |
2016 | Duncan McCallum | 2017 | Tona Pearce Myers | 2018 | Scott Norton |
2019 | Brenda Ginty | 2020 | Johanna Vondeling |