Romantic Novelists' Association Names Its 2026 Romance Industry Awards Shortlists

What was announced? The Romantic Novelists' Association has named the shortlists for its 2026 Romance Industry Awards, the prizes that honour the people behind romantic fiction rather than the books themselves. The UK association published the shortlists on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, and the winners will be revealed at a ceremony in London on November 4.

There are seven categories this year: Publisher, Editor, Agent, Romance Narrator, Romance Champion, Rising Star, and Library or Librarian of the Year. Nominations were open to the RNA's membership of almost 1,000 authors and industry professionals, and to non-members as well. A panel of independent judges then picked the shortlists.

How the judges chose

For most categories the judges looked at three things: how the nominee supports individual writers, how it supports the genre, and whether it finds new ways to do either. The narrator award ran on different criteria. Judges assessed how well each narrator created believable and distinct character voices, handled accents and cultural references, read with fluency and expression, and carried the emotional tone of the book.

"The dedicated industry professionals who bring romantic fiction into readers' hands are the unseen champions of our genre," said RNA chair Seána Talbot. "The RIAs exist to shine a light on them."

The shortlists

Names are listed alphabetically, as the RNA gave them.

Publisher of the Year: Audible; Boldwood; Evermore; One More Chapter (HarperCollins UK); Pan Fiction (Pan Macmillan); Storm; Tor Bramble.

Editor of the Year: Sanah Ahmed (Orion Fiction, Hachette UK); Lizzie Brien (Bookouture); Jennie Macey (Mills & Boon); Laura Palmer (Pellerin Books); Ajebowale Roberts (Tor Bramble, Pan Macmillan); Phillipa Walker (Penguin Michael Joseph); Maddie Wilson (Avon, HarperCollins UK).

Agent of the Year: Maddy Belton (Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency); Liza DeBlock (Greenstone Literary); Marina de Pass (The Soho Agency); Meire Dias (Bookcase Literary Agency); Safae El-Ouahabi (RCW Literary Agency); Emily Glenister (DHH Literary Agency); Laura Macdougall (United Agents).

Romance Narrator of the Year: Emily Atack; Simon de Deney; Penelope Freeman; Laura Kirman; Stuart Martin; Pagan McGrath; Henrietta Meire.

Romance Champion of the Year: Lily Aurelia of Read with Aurelia (content creator); Happily Ever After Bookshop (festival and pop-up bookshop); LoveStoriesEtc. (festival); Lyndsey of Happily Ever Ginge (bookstagrammer); Main Character Books (bookshop); The Spicy Librarian (bookshop); Ian Wilfred (author).

Rising Star of the Year: Tia Davis (Joffe Books); Cara Digby-Patel (Transworld, PRH); Ceri Jones (Ulverscroft); Maisie McCormick (Bloomsbury); Rachael Nazarko (Mills & Boon); Kallie Townsend (Hodder & Stoughton); Niamh Wallace (Boldwood).

Library/Librarian of the Year: Sinéad Ennis, The Irish Librarian; Hackney Community Library Service; Hampshire Library Service; HMP Downview Library; Manchester Central Library; Newry, Mourne and Down Library Service; Y Lolfa Llyfrgell GCG Library.

A few names worth noticing

One audiobook shows up twice. Emily Atack and Stuart Martin are both on the narrator list for their reading of The Code of Love by Katy Summers, which Audible published, and Audible is also up for Publisher of the Year. Summers won the RNA's Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers in 2025.

"It's been such a joy to play and fall in love with these incredibly deeply drawn characters that Katy writes," Martin said.

At least one shortlisted editor works at a very young house. Laura Palmer co-founded Pellerin Books in January 2026, after more than twelve years as a publishing director at Head of Zeus.

The Rising Star list also shows how wide the work behind a romance novel runs. It includes editors, a publicity manager, and Ceri Jones of Ulverscroft, who buys large print rights, including for the Linford Romance imprint. Kallie Townsend, a senior publicity manager at Hodder & Stoughton who helped set up Hodder's romance brand and community list MIDNIGHT, put it simply: "I feel like I'm in a romance novel right now!"

Booksellers and readers get their own category, too. The Spicy Librarian describes itself as Europe's largest independent romance bookshop, and Main Character Books is an independent romance shop in London's Spitalfields Market.

Why it matters for authors

It's a map of who champions the genre. If you write romance and plan to query, the Agent and Editor lists are a ready-made shortlist of people the industry rates for supporting romance writers. Read their bios on the RNA page before you send anything, and check what each one is currently acquiring. PT's guide to how literary agents work covers the basics.

Narration is being judged as a craft. The narrator criteria (distinct voices, accents handled with care, emotional tone) work as a checklist for any author casting an audiobook.

Libraries and indie shops count. Seven library services and several romance bookshops made the lists. For self-published romance authors, those are real routes to readers, not just a nice extra.

The winners will be announced at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at 11:30 a.m.

Sources

• Romantic Novelists' Association: RNA Announces the 2026 shortlist for the Romance Industry Awards (October 14, 2026)
• Romantic Novelists' Association: The RNA Industry Awards