The Publishing Innovation Awards honors innovation

As eBooks and other kinds of digital publication evolve, it's hard to know which are doing the most with the newest technologies. While there is no definitive standard about what makes a good eBook  let alone what makes a good innovation, seeing what is recognized through an award ceremony is a good indicator of who is doing good things that grab attention.

The Publishing Innovation Awards (PIAs) is just such an award ceremony. Judged by many of the top people in the eBook field, it is an exciting forum for seeing good examples of the latest and greatest coming from major publishers in the eBook and digital book space.

Here's how they describe their own awards:

The Publishing Innovation Awards honor the most innovative eBooks  enhanced eBooks  and book apps in 14 categories. It is the mission of the PIAs to highlight excellent publishers/authors, encourage new thinking, and improve the reading experience in the digital age.

Previous winners include Desserts from AllRecipes.com as the Digital First Ebook Winner and Decoded by Jay-Z for Transmedia Project. You can check out their website for the rest of the winners.

What I like most about their mission is that they are trying to "improve the reading experience in the digital age." With a mission like that, I know that they are choosing to highlight books not just because they are looking to pick winners and losers, but because they are in the business of highlighting great innovation to help all of us who are working toward the same goals see what can be done.

It's encouraging to see that a book from a cooking website and a multi-media project from a hip hop icon are two of the winners. Authoring digital content and eBooks is something that people outside of what we classically think of as an "author" is happening, and often the influences those new authors bring from their fields can burst open new opportunities for the rest of us.

What is the best eBook innovation you've seen in the past year or so?

Image courtesy of screenshot via New Jersey State Library