The awards celebrate innovation across the international publishing industry, with this year’s 12 finalists selected from 42 submissions spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
Pellerin was shortlisted for its reader-backwards approach to publishing and its ambition to rethink both how publishers connect books with readers and how they work with authors.
Launched in February 2026, Pellerin has built its publishing model around a selective list of experienced authors, guaranteed marketing investment for every new title, sustained digital discoverability and active long-term management of books and backlists. Its bespoke Pellerin Dashboard also gives authors near real-time access to sales, marketing and royalty data, bringing greater transparency to the author-publisher relationship.
In announcing the shortlist, the international jury said:
“Pellerin Books has built a trade publisher ‘from the reader backwards’: a selective list, a guaranteed marketing investment for every title and active management of each book throughout its commercial life.”
The jury particularly highlighted the Pellerin Dashboard, describing it as “a level of transparency that could inspire other publishers.”
Jessie Sullivan, Co-Founder and COO of Pellerin Books, said:
“We built Pellerin because we believed there was an opportunity to rethink publishing around how readers discover books today, while also creating a more transparent, long-term relationship with authors. To have that model recognised internationally in our first year is incredibly exciting — particularly to see the jury highlight both our reader-backwards approach and the transparency we’re trying to bring to publishing.”
Pellerin is one of four companies shortlisted in the Start-Up category. The winners of the Digital Publishing Awards 2026 will be announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair on 7 October.
