ASJA Opens 2025 Awards April 1 and Welcomes Your Entries

Tuesday, April 1, is the opening date for submissions in the 2025 ASJA Awards for nonfiction articles and books by freelancers. As co-chair of the ASJA Awards committee, along with Rita Colorito, I’m eager for you to submit your best work.

The ASJA Awards honor the best articles, essays, books, and content marketing pieces published in 2024. The only exceptions are submissions for The Arlenes: Articles That Make a Difference, and June Roth Memorial Award for Outstanding Medical Book, which must have been published in 2023 or 2024 (see additional details below.)

Entries open April 1 at 8 a.m. Eastern time, and must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 16. Get more information and submit entries here.

Winning an ASJA award is not just prestigious, it could be a career boost. Just ask ASJA member Christina Hernandez Sherwood, who won the 2024 B2C Blog or Article Award for her Penn Medicine piece, “Right From the Start,” on addressing racial disparities in maternal health.

“It was incredibly gratifying to be recognized for a story that meant so much to me personally,” Sherwood said. “My ASJA award also gave me professional distinction, which is priceless at a time when freelancers need to distinguish themselves more than ever.”

Judges will review and assess article entries through June 24 and book entries through August 29.

Speaking of judges, we could use a few more. Last year, 70 people judged the ASJA Awards and Rita and I expect to need about that number this year. Both members and nonmembers can serve as judges. If you can judge and haven’t told us yet, please email either Rita Colorito ritacolorito@gmail.com, or me, reisenberg315@gmail.com, and include your phone number.

Once we have secured all our judges, we’ll assign them to categories for judging. Volunteer judges can enter the awards contest; they just can’t judge the categories they’re entering.

2025 ASJA Awards Categories

The 2025 ASJA articles and book awards are available in dozens of categories. Descriptions are listed on the ASJA site. Here’s a thumbnail look:

The 2025 Special Category Article Award: Environment/Climate Change/Sustainability. This one-time journalism award is given to the best article or series of up to three articles written by a freelancer in 2024 about the environment, climate change, or sustainability. Entries should reflect strong reporting and insights about the environment, climate change, or sustainability either globally, nationally, or locally. Prize: $500.

The Arlenes: Articles That Make a Difference. These awards were established by ASJA member Howard Eisenberg (no relation) to honor his late wife, Arlene Eisenberg, the author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and other bestselling books. The Arlene Eisenberg Memorial Fund lets ASJA give a monetary award, which in 2025 is $1,000. Winning articles must have “made a difference by inspiring positive action within a locale or community, society, or the world” and have been published in 2023 or 2024. The Arlene Book Awards are granted once every two or three years and will be back in 2026 for books published in 2023, 2024 or 2025.

The Donald Robinson Memorial Award for Investigative Journalism. This award honors ASJA’s third president, who was a noted investigative journalist.  Entries should be articles that include in-depth, original research and reporting, and demonstrate outstanding writing and organization, as well as new or previously unrevealed research. If the topic frequently receives attention, the article should show it in a new light. The 2025 prize is $1,000.

June Roth Memorial Awards for Outstanding Medical Article and Outstanding Medical Book. The June Roth Memorial Fund was established by her late husband to honor ASJA’S 31st president, a well-known medical writer. The award recognizes journalism articles or books that represent exceptional achievement in health and medical writing. Unlike other ASJA Awards, the June Roth awards are for ASJA members only. The June Roth Book Award is for books published in 2023 and 2024; articles must have been published in 2024. For 2025, the prize amount for the June Roth article and book awards will be $1,000 each.

Outstanding Article Awards. These journalism awards spotlight freelance-produced articles exhibiting excellence in writing, research and clarity of presentation. Categories include: Personal Platform, Online Writing; Business Writing; Excellence in Reporting; First-Person Essays; Wellness, Fitness & Sports; Food and Drink; Health; How-To (Service); Lifestyle; Opinion/Op-Eds; Profiles; Reported Essays; Science, Social Change; Technology; Trade; and Travel.

Outstanding Book Awards. Books must be nonfiction and written by independent writers, either individual authors or collaborative works, published in 2024. The books must be deemed significant, exceptionally well-researched, and skillfully written. Self-published books, ebooks, and traditionally published books may be nominated. Judges will consider a book’s overall significance, the quality of the author’s research, and the skill of the author’s writing.

The book categories are: Biography/History; Children/Young Adult Nonfiction; General Nonfiction; Memoir/Autobiography and Service/Self-Help. Only PDF or ebook submissions will be accepted.

Outstanding Content Awards. These awards honor writers whose freelance articles — produced for a brand, business, nonprofit, hospital, university or association — display excellence in writing, research, and clarity of presentation. Categories include: B2B (Business to Business) Blog or Article; B2C (Business to Consumer) Blog or Article; and Long-Form Content (B2B and B2C content of more than 2,500 words published in print or digital publications).

2025 ASJA Awards Application Details

Writers may enter up to 10 entries, though each article or book may be entered in only one category. Writers can submit articles as a PDF or upload the URL as part of the online submission process. Books can be submitted as PDFs or ebooks through the online submission portal.

ASJA will use the Eventbrite platform for submissions. To submit an entry, you must have an existing Eventbrite account, which is free to create. If you find it difficult to submit an awards entry, please contact Eventbrite support.

ASJA members receive discounts on entry fees, one of the many benefits of being an ASJA member. For ASJA members, fees are $40 per article entry and $60 per book entry. For non-members, fees are $60 per article entry and $90 per book entry. Entries can be paid for by credit card only.

Get more information and starting April 1 submit entries here.

Wishing you the best of success with your 2025 ASJA Award entries!

**

Richard Eisenberg is a freelance writer and editor and co-host of the Friends Talk Money podcast. He’s a co-chair of the 2025 ASJA Awards.