Vote for the 2010 Galaxy National Book of the Year

The star-studded award ceremony for the 2010 Galaxy National Book Awards was broadcast on More4 TV recently. Showcasing the best of British publishing and celebrating the titles that boast both wide popular appeal and critical acclaim, the winners of each of the eight categories will become a finalist with the chance of winning the Galaxy Book of the Year, for which the public become the judges. In the five weeks before Christmas there will be a TV series on More4 profiling the winners of the 2010 awards and a vote for viewers to select the overall Galaxy Book of the Year with the final result to be announced on 13 December. Literary veterans Terry Pratchett and Martin Amis took home awards for Outstanding Achievement, in recognition of their unrivalled contribution to the publishing industry. Terry Pratchett said: "I'm amazed, you find something that you like doing and do well and keep on doing it and suddenly they give you an award, when all I was really doing was having a lot of fun."

Stephen Fry beat off big competition in the hotly contested Biography category, claiming victory over rival authors who included Tony Blair and Lord Alan Sugar. He won the prize for his second volume of memoirs, The Fry Chronicles, which was named Tesco Biography of the Year. Best children's book was Zog by the creators of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Their tale about an accident-prone dragon beat comedian David Walliams's book Mr Stink. Hilary Mantel emerged in front of Maggie O’Farrell, David Mitchell and Kate Atkinson to collect the highly prized Waterstone’s UK Author of the Year accolade.

Jonathan Franzen was awarded the Galaxy International Author of the Year prize for Freedom. Franzen snatched victory from an array of literary luminaries, amongst whom were Stieg Larsson and his posthumous thriller The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest and Christos Tsiolkas’ controversy invoking The Slap. Political commentator Andrew Marr landed the More4 Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award for The Making Of Modern Britain, ousting opponents including Antonia Fraser and Bill Bryson.

Guardian newspaper columnist Yotam Ottolenghi tasted victory as his cookery book Plenty out performed celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater in the Tesco Food and Drink Book of the Year category. David Nicholls’ One Day was named Popular Fiction Book of the Year, ahead of an acclaimed line up of nominees which included Jilly Cooper, Dorothy Koomson and Phillippa Gregory.

As well as the numerous established faces vying for gongs the awards also celebrate emerging talents – this year’s National Book Tokens New Writer of the Year went to ceramic artist Edmund de Waal, with his collection of family memoirs, The Hare With Amber Eyes. There is a new, free iPhone App developed for the Galaxy National Book Awards. The App contains full details of the 48 fiction and non-fiction books shortlisted for the awards. The public can vote for one of the eight finalists between November 13th and December 13th, when the winner will be announced. Further information can be found on the Galaxy Facebook page and on the Galaxy National Book Awards website, where you can find details of how to cast your vote. More info...