A small, quietfoundation
for American reading.
The American Book Awards Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, incorporated in the State of New York on the fourth day of December, 1980, and seated, since that day, in the borough of Brooklyn. It has, at present, seven full-time employees, four part-time employees, twenty-five annual jurors, and eleven trustees. Its work is the annual reading, honoring, and public celebration of the finest literature produced in the United States.
The foundation was created to give a public shapeto a private conviction: that reading is worth the same annual attention as sport, cinema, and the news of the moment.
It was funded, in 1980, by an initial gift of forty thousand dollars from Katharine Whittemore and the sale of a small collection of Faulkner first editions donated by Marion Deutsch. It has been funded, in the forty-five years since, by the recurring gifts of about three thousand readers, by the sale of ceremony tickets, by the sale of anthologies, by the small ongoing licensing of the Reading Room, and by a modest endowment.
It has never accepted, and does not currently accept, funding from any commercial publisher, agent, or industry body. It has, on three separate occasions, returned donations of over one hundred thousand dollars each because they were, on close reading, tied to a book the panels were considering. We hope to be, in this small way, the reader's foundation.
Eleven trustees.
Two founders. One granddaughter.
The board meets on the first Sunday of each quarter, in Brooklyn. Terms are three years, renewable once. Trustees are not compensated. Two of the eleven current trustees were also present in the founding room in November 1980.
Four point one
million dollars.
Our operating budget in the fiscal year 2025. Roughly two-thirds of the total was distributed to writers and readers. Our full audited accounts are available on this page as a signed PDF; a short summary is below. We publish this in the register of a small institution, not a large one, because we are one.
The audited accounts are signed each January by our independent auditor (McKay & Pryor, LLC) and published, in full, on the first Monday of March. We are, in short, a small foundation, honestly kept.
One book, one reader,
one dollar at a time.
Roughly forty percent of our budget comes from about three thousand recurring donors, each of whom gives, on average, one hundred and eighty-seven dollars a year. If you are among them, thank you. If you are not, and you would like to become one, three simple tiers, or any amount at all, are below.
The Reader.
Sixty dollars a year. About the cost of a hardcover novel. Roughly what one thousand of our recurring donors give. You underwrite the reading of about forty-three books in the fiction submission.
The Steadfast.
Three hundred dollars a year. Roughly what the median donor gives. You underwrite one juror's paid reading day per year, or one longlisted book's small-press reprint stipend.
The Patron.
One thousand two hundred dollars a year. About what one patron ticket costs. You underwrite one no-charge ceremony seat per year, or one longlisted author's honorarium.
All gifts are tax-deductible under 501(c)(3). We do not sell, rent, share, or trade donor names. We write, once a year, in December, and once a year, in June, and no more.