Why the Non-Obvious Book Awards Are Partnering With Inc. Magazine

It is almost time to share our picks for the 2023 Non-Obvious Book Awards Longlist but this year, we're doing something much bigger than we've ever done before.

I'm so thrilled to announce that I will be collaborating with the entire team at Inc Magazine on this initiative and it really is the perfect home for the awards. For more than four decades, Inc has been publshing insights to help business owners and CEOs start, run and grow their businesses. We are proud to be partnering with this amazing brand and joining their legacy to help businesses run better.

What Qualifies Us To Select The Best Books?

Books are a major part of my life, and as the lead curator for our awards program I believe I have a unique perspective on them because of the multiple roles I have been able to experience within the publishing space.

As an author, I have written nine books (including three bestsellers). As a publisher, I have worked with and advised over 100 authors (note - for fairness purposes, books that I have worked on personally and my own books are not eligible for this awards program). As an educator, I have recorded over 60 videos on publishing topics for my Non-Obvious Crash Course on Book Publishing & Marketing. As a reader (and English major in college), I can't even count how many books I've consumed. And as an evaluator of books, I have written over 100 reviews, interviewed dozens of business authors and curated my signature annual Non-Obvious Book Awards for the past eight years.

Bottom line, I love every aspect of books and publishing. More importantly, my entire team and I understand all the elements that go into making a successful book from the writing and research to the design and layout. In evaluating books for our list, we consider all of these elements and every book submitted is evaluated fairly regardless of author background, geography, publisher or book topic. Ultimately, the biggest question we are trying to answer is whether a book is truly non-obvious and stands out among the 1000+ titles we consider each year.

When Will The 2023 Selections Be Announced?

Next week, instead of our usual digital announcement of the top 100 business and non-fiction books of the year that make the Non-Obvious Book Awards Longlist ... I'm happy to share that I'll be doing this from the stage at the Inc 5000 Conference in San Antonio on November 1st.

Our shared goal is to use this platform to bring you the absolute best books of the year that you should consider reading.

How Do We Evaluate Books + What Makes The Non-Obvious Book Awards Different?

Two things set this book awards program apart from most others. To start, we don't accept any entry fees and any book can be submitted as long as it's publication date is between November 2022 and October 2023, the book has some application for business professionals, and it is available in print (no ebook-only titles are considered). The second factor is that we're always seeking the NON-OBVIOUS perspectives and so many of the books we select may seem unusual and would often be ignored by other book award programs.

This year along the way to selecting our top 100 books, we considered more than 1000 titles from over one hundred publishing imprints. The competition this year was harder than ever before and our evaluation process is nearly complete (read more about our methodology and how we choose the winners here).

What Will This Non-Obvious + Inc Partnership Include?

This is part of a wide ranging new partnership that we just announced between the Non-Obvious Company and Inc. Magazine where I will be writing a monthly column in the print magazine that features a "non-obvious" business title each month (the first edition of this column should be in the November print issue on newstands globally starting next week).

In addition, we will be aggregating book related content and a compilation of video interviews from my Non-Obvious Book Review show all available on an exclusive landing page on the Inc website.

Do Books Still Matter?

The world may be getting noisier, but this makes great books even more important to feature and share. The smartest and successful people in business are also avid readers (whether its a print book or in audio). I have seen this pattern in everyone from startup founders to CEOs of large corporations.

The best ideas of humanity have always been shared through books. Logically, we should all read more - but it's not always easy to pick what to read or find the time to do it. At least we can help with that first challenge.

How Can I Participate And Suggest Books?

Did you read any amazing books this year? I'm always interested to hear your suggestions for books we may want to consider either for the awards program or for my monthly column - and we'll continue to bring you our best and most non-obvious recommendations of books we love.

About the Non-Obvious Book Awards

On November 1st, our Non-Obvious Book Awards Longlist will be announced (top 100 titles). A month later in early December, we will announce the Shortlist selections (top 10) and 5 "best of the year" winners of the Non-Obvious Book Awards and then throughout the next year we will be featuring fascinating and unusual books every month.

See Winners of the 2022 Non-Obvious Book Awards >>

I'm looking forward to this new partnership and all the books we will discover together. Non-Obvious ideas can change the world ... and great books are full of them.