The National Magazine Awards Foundation announced a revamped set of categories last week that are designed to increase the value and prestige of the awards. There are 25 categories this year, including 14 writing awards and 7 visual awards. Instead of focusing on subject matter, the new categories are defined by form. They include such categories as long-form feature, essays and personal journalism.

There's also a boost for freelancers this year in the form of the Freelancer Support Fund. Freelancers can submit their first two entries for writing or visual awards at a rate of $50, discounted from the regular rate of $95. The creator of the winning entries in the writing and visual award categories receives a prize of $1000.

Awards submissions opened last week and the deadline for entries is January 20th. For more information, see the Magazine Awards website.