Posted in: Comics | Tagged: eisner awards, Laura Jones, sdcc, thought bubble

The Eisner Awards, Now Run By Laura Jones, Opens Submissions For 2026

The Eisner Awards, now run by the Operations and Programming Coordinator at San Diego Comic-Con, Laura Jones, opens submissions for 2026

Laura Jones, the Operations and Programming Coordinator at San Diego Comic-Con with a Sociology degree from Sonoma State University, is the new administrator of the Eisner Awards for 2026, succeeding Jackie Estrada after thirty-five years of running the most prestigious English language award in the comic book industry. Here she is at Thought Bubble in 2022.

And that comes as San Diego Comic-Con has now announced that submissions are being accepted for consideration by the judges for the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. The tentative categories include

• best short story
• best single issue/one-shot
• best continuing comics series (at least two issues must have been published in 2025)
• best limited comics series (at least half of the series must have been published in 2025)
• best new comics series
• best limited comics series
• best publications for kids and teens
• best anthology
• best humor publication
• best U.S. edition of international material
• best graphic album–new
• best graphic album–reprint
• best reality-based work
• best graphic memoir
• best adaptation from another medium
• best digital comic
• best webcomic
• best archival collection
• best writer
• best writer/artist
• best penciller/inker (individual or team)
• best painter (interior art)
• best lettering
• best coloring
• best cover artist
• best comics-related book or periodical
• best scholarly/academic work
• best publication design.

"The judges may add, delete, or combine categories at their discretion. Publishers may submit a maximum of five nominees for any one category, and the same item or person can be submitted in more than one category. Each imprint, line, or subsidiary of a publisher may submit its own set of entries. Creators can submit materials for consideration if their publisher is either no longer in business or is unlikely to participate in the nomination process. Only ONE copy of each book needs to be submitted, even if it is being nominated in multiple categories. In addition, pdfs of the works are welcome. The cover letter should list the items being submitted and in what category, and it should include both a mailing address and an email address for the person or company submitting the material. (Guidelines for preparing submission letters are provided with the downloadable pdf of the Call for Entries.) There are no entry fees. All physical submissions should be sent to Eisner Awards, Comic-Con International, 4375 Jutland Drive, San Diego, CA 92117, before the deadline of March 13. No submissions should be sent directly to judges.

"The best digital comic and best webcomic categories are open to any new, professionally produced long-form original comics work posted online in 2025. "Digital comics" are complete issues of comics or graphic novels that are available for online viewing or for download. "Webcomics" are comics stories that are serialized online (such as a daily or weekly) and/or that use formats other than the traditional comic book page and take advantage of being online (horizontal, scrolled, etc.). The URLs and any necessary access information should be emailed to Laura Jones: laura@comic-con.org

"The Eisner Award nominees will be announced in May, and online voting will be available to professionals in the comics industry, including creators, editors, publishers, distributors, and retailers. The results will be announced at the awards ceremony at Comic-Con on Friday, July 24. A printed submission letter should accompany your Eisner Awards submissions. In addition, it is helpful to send a copy via email to laura@comic-con.org (preferably a Word file but can also be a pdf). If you have questions about the most appropriate categories for particular publications, please feel free to email laura@comic-con.org  Note that ultimately, it will be up to the judges to make the final decisions about what items go in which categories. The categories listed in submissions letters are suggestions."

Do:

• List submissions in the order of the categories listed on the Call for Entries.
• List multiple submissions within a category in alphabetical order.
• For publication-related categories (comics' series, kids' categories, graphic album, etc.) provide the title plus the writer and penciller/inker (but do not include the colorist, letterer, cover artist, editor, etc.).
• For individual-related categories (writer, writer/artist, penciller/inker, painter, etc.) provide the titles of all the works you are submitting by that person.
• Provide a separate cover letter for each imprint if you have multiple imprints.

Don't:

• Type anything in all caps.
• Use boldface (italics are okay for titles of works).
• Use any special formatting (bullets, indents, numbered lists, boxes, unusual fonts).
• Include ISBN numbers for titles.
• Nominate creators in the individual categories for work that is a reprint (and not original in 2025).
• Nominate graphic novels or kids' books in the "series" categories (continuing, new), as those categories are for comic books only.
• Nominate single issues as "short stories." A short story must be within an anthology or bigger work or else appear online.
• Provide blurbs/descriptions/background about the works being submitted.
• Include stickers or other PR materials.
• Try to contact any of the judges.

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