Packt Publishing is celebrating its fifth year in existence by crowning an author of the year for 2009. All authors releasing a book through Packt in 2008 were eligible for this distinction. Voting was opened to the public and through this process the field was whittled down to six finalists.

The competition has served as a reflection of the quality work being done within the Drupal community. Of the 81 titles under consideration, covering a wide range of IT disciplines, two of the final six authors wrote books on Drupal. Aaron Winborn was recognized for his book "Drupal Multimedia" and Matt Butcher for "Learning Drupal 6 Module Development". The vote will now go to a panel of experts who will determine the winner based the quality of the author's work and its contribution to the tech community.