The British Book Awards are organised by Publishing News, the main trade jornal for the British publishing industry and claim to be the the Oscars of British books, with the individual awards commonly known as 'Nibbies'.
The British Book Awards began in 1990 with awards in the categories of Author of the Year, Children's Author of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Travel Writer of the Year. Since that time the number of categories has grown, although there is a certain lack of consistency from year to year as the categories change in accordance with the whims of its commercial sponsors. (As these are industry awards they are driven by commerical considerations to a much greater extent than other British literary awards and prizes.) A number of awards have made on a purely one-off basis including that for the Fastest Selling Biography of All Time awarded in 2004 to My Side by David Beckham, the Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year given to Terry Pratchett in 1994, and the Bestseller of the Year whose sole winner was Delia Smith's Christmas in 1991.
Publishing News also organises the British Book Industry Awards, which recognises the achievements of the publishing industry itself and includes such categories as the Harlequin Mills & Boon Direct Bookselling Company Of The Year and the Bowker UK Chain Bookselling Company of the Year.
Current and past award categories include;
References
http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk/