Pratham Books was declared Publisher of the Year at the recently announced Publishing Next Industry Awards 2017. The Awards, now in its 4th year, seek to recognise innovation and leadership of publishing professionals and others in the book trade. Niyogi Books came runners up in this category.

This year several new categories were introduced, especially for Indian languages. While Invisible Libraries by Yoda Press was declared winner in the Printed Book of the Year (English) category, Adhyathma Ramayanam Kilippattu by Palm Leaf Innovations won the Printed Book of the Year (Indian Language Category). The Gene (Allen Lane) and Baaghbaan–Nindiya Chor (Harper Hindi) were runners up in these categories respectively.

In the children's book categories, When I Grow Up I Want to be a Tiger (Speaking Tiger) and Muezza and Baby Jaan (Puffin Books) were winner and runners up respectively in the Children's Book (English) category while Mujhe Ghar Mil Gaya (Mumbai Mobile Creches) and Akal Aur Uske Baad (Eklavya Publications) were winner and runners up respectively in the Children's Book (Indian Language) category.

In the Illustrated Book of the Year category, a category introduced for the first time this year, Rehearsing Freedom (Leftword Books) came up winner, while Taj Mahal: Multiple Narratives (Om Books) was declared runner up.

The Awards also recognises the merit of several professions within the publishing industry, besides publishing companies themselves. The Cover Design of the Year (English) award, presented to the book designer, was won by Bena Sareen for the cover she designed for How I Became a Tree (Aleph Book Co,), while Harshad Marathe was runner up for his cover of Mohanaswamy (HarperCollins India). In the corresponding category, Cover Design of the Year (Indian Languages), Mugdha Sadhwani won the Award for her design of the cover for Achanak Ek Kavita (Yatra Books) while Pooja Ahuja was declared runner up for her design of the cover for Akbar (Rajkamal Prakashan).

The newly introduced Editor of the Year Award was won by Shantanu Rau Choudhury (Harper Collins), while Simar Puneet (Aleph Books) was declared runner up. The winners were presented with a trophy while the runners up will each receive a certificate.