Snyder Book Collecting Contest

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Do all the entries in a collection need to be books?

A. You may include materials other than books such as movies, music, graphic novels, ephemera, etc. The items you include must be physical objects that you own and can produce for display. Regardless of format, each item you include must speak to the overall theme of your collection.

Q. Can I submit a collection with fewer than 25 items?

A. For best chances of success, we recommend having 25-50 items, or as close to that as possible. Keep in mind that many of the competing entries will be this size. However, judging will primarily be based on the strength of the collections as expressed in your essay and annotated bibliography. It's difficult for us to fully understand a collection's strength without the information from these entry materials. You know your collection better than anyone so we will leave it to your best judgment to determine if your collection is strong enough to compete with the larger collections.

Q. Can I submit a collection with more than 50 items?

A. Since you must submit for display all items cited in your bibliography, you may have difficulty displaying a larger collection due to space limitations. You will not be disqualified if you submit more than 50; however, we suggest you limit your selection to 50 items and mention in your essay that this is a sampling of your larger collection.

Q. What is the difference between a bibliography and an annotated bibliography?

A. For the purposes of this contest, a bibliography is a list of the items in your collection, that includes information such as author, title, publisher, etc. An annotated bibliography is a brief paragraph that accompanies the citation. Typical annotations are 2-4 sentences in length and include the special interest of the work to you and/or your collection and a brief summarized description. At least 10 of your entries must be annotated.

Q. Do you have to include rare and expensive 1st editions or signed copies to have a strong collection?

A. Not at all. A collection's strength is based on how well each item supports the overall theme of the collection, not on the monetary value of the materials.