It’s nearly time to begin preparing entries for the Press Club’s annual Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards competition. Here’s a brief description of how the contest works.

In January, the Press Club will distribute to members (and any other journalists or PR professionals in the Bay Area) a “call for entries” that lists the categories and rules for the contest. The call for entries will also be posted on this Web site: www.penpressclub.org. The contest is open to both members and non-members.

The rules and categories will not be much different from last year. Here’s a list of last year’s winners.

The contest period is for work done in the previous calendar year.

The deadline for entries hasn’t been set, but it usually falls at the end of February.

The Press Club will accept entries from online, TV, radio and magazine journalists as well as PR professionals.

The contest is judged by press clubs in other U.S. cities.

First, second and third place winners are informed via-email that they have won an award and are welcomed to attend the Press Club’s awards banquet. The date of the banquet has not been set, but in previous years it has been held in late May or early June.

Last year the Press Club received 519 entries and handed out 224 awards.