The Fourth Annual GCLS Literary Awards

Guidelines And Nomination Forms

2008 GUIDELINES

1.  Eligibility for submission requires:

a. First edition books printed in the English language.

b. Published in hardcover or soft cover.

c. Have a street date between December 1, 2006

    and November 30, 2007.

d. Be readily available for purchase in the United States.

e. Must contain significant lesbian content, characters, and/or themes.

2.  Nominations must be postmarked by February 29, 2008.

3.  Self-published books are eligible for nomination

4.  Paperback reprints of previously published hardcover books are not

     eligible for nomination.

5.  Subsequent editions (2nd, 3rd editions) are not eligible.

6.  Publishers, authors, fans, publicists, or other individuals are eligible to

     submit any lesbian titles for consideration.

7.  The number of awards in each category will be determined as follows:

8.  In the event that only one book is nominated in a category, the nominated book,

if possible, will be assigned to another category for the Judges to consider. If the book is not applicable to another category, the administrative fee will be refunded and the books returned.

9. Nominations must include the following to be complete and eligible for consideration:

a.  Completed Nomination Form.

b.  Three (3) copies of the nominated book for each category.

c.  An administrative fee of $20.00 for each category in which a book

     is nominated.

d.  All elements (form, books and fees) must be postmarked by

     February 29, 2008.

10.  Books may be nominated in a maximum of two (2) categories. Example: A

book may be nominated in the Mystery category as well as Debut Author. One form, two fees, and 6 books are required for nominations in two categories.

11. With the exception of eligibility for Debut Author shortlisting, no book will be

shortlisted in more than one category, and no book shall be eligible for an award in more than one category (except for Debut Author). If a book is nominated in two categories it will go through the judging process in each of those categories, and if it is ranked high enough to make the shortlist in both categories, the category in which the book ranked higher will be the category in which the book is shortlisted. If the ranking in both categories should happen to be a tie, the Awards Administrator shall follow the Tie-Break Protocol cited below.

12.  Each category will be judged by three individuals. Judges may be

authors, booksellers, librarians, book reviewers, or other members of the literary community considered eligible by the GCLS Awards Administrator. In no case will a publisher, editor, or employee of a publisher, or author, or any member of the GCLS Literary Society Board of Directors be eligible to serve as a Judge.

13.  In 2008, the judging process will be administered by Ann German, The

GCLS Awards Administrator. (Please see Selection of Finalist and Winners section for more detailed information)

14.  Awards will be announced at the GCLS Literary Awards Ceremony during the

2008 GCLS Literary Conference on August 2, 2008, in Phoenix, Arizona.
 

Please Note: It is possible that more than one entity would nominate a particular book. If that should happen, the administrative fee will not be returned or pro-rated but will be used toward defraying administrative costs.

Copies of nominated books become the property of the Golden Crown Literary Society and will not be returned to the publishers or authors. Books not properly nominated will not be eligible for entry for the Awards and cannot be returned. Publishers will be asked to provide a current e-mail (or mail) address for any author whose book is selected as a finalist in order that a notice of the Awards ceremony can be sent to each author.

The decision of the Golden Crown Literary Society as to eligibility of any book shall be final, and no correspondence shall be entered into in relation to eligibility. The decision of the Judges, who will remain anonymous until after the Awards are announced, shall be final, and no correspondence will be entered into with publishers, authors, fans, or any agents concerning the judging process.

Nominations forms should be mailed to the following address:
 

2007 GCLS Literary Award Categories

Lesbian Mystery
Includes Mystery, Thriller, Intrigue, Action, Adventure

Lesbian Speculative Fiction
Includes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal

Lesbian Romance
Includes Love Stories, Romantic novels

Lesbian Erotica
Includes Erotic Novels, Anthologies

Lesbian Dramatic/General Fiction
Includes Drama, Sagas, Coming Out, Historical Fiction, Literary Novels, all general fiction

Lesbian Anthology (Non-Erotica)
Includes multi-author collections of Fiction, Drama, and/or Nonfiction

Lesbian Short Story/Essay Collections (Non-Erotica)
Includes Memoir, Creative Nonfiction, Essays/Commentary, Short Stories of all lengths

Lesbian Poetry
Includes single or multi-author collections of poetry.

Lesbian Debut Author **
This award is given to a new author, who has not previously published a book, in any genre, in print form, under any name. Debut author nominees may have previously had short stories contained in anthologies. E-books, for the purpose of this award, are not considered published books.

In the event an author published multiple titles during the nomination period, the FIRST published book must be the one nominated in this category.

Non-Eligible Authors Include:

• Author X is a contributor to ABC Anthology, edited by Editor A.

• Author X has an E-book published in a previous year.

• Author X has previously published scientific/technical manuals outside of the creative fiction/non-fiction realm.

• Author X is also a professor or researcher who has one or more published journal articles book-length technical/research works.

Non-Eligible Authors Include:

• Author X is a contributor, along with Authors Y and Z, to ABC Short Story Collection where the three contributors are listed on the book as authors.

• Author X has had a book published in a non-lesbian genre.

• Author X has a previously published book in any genre under a different name.

If you have a question regarding a specific author’s potential eligibility for the Debut Author award, please email the Awards Administrator as far in advance as possible so a determination can be made.


 

Additional Categories

Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award.
The Ann Bannon Popular Choice award is voted on my members of the Golden Crown Literary Society. To be eligible to vote in this category, members must have a non-expired, active membership on December 31, 2007. Members joining the Golden Crown Literary Society after December 31, 2007 will not be eligible to vote for 2008 and must renew their membership to be eligible to vote in 2009.

There is a $10.00 nomination fee, however, no books are required to nominate for this category. All other criteria for nomination is applicable. Nominations may be made by submitting a nomination form, postmarked by February 29, 2008.

GCLS Trailblazer Award
The trailblazer award for lifetime achievement is presented each year to a single author in recognition of the contributions she has made to the field of lesbian literature. Nominations may be made by submitting a nomination form, postmarked by February 29, 2008.

The author must have met the following criteria to be eligible for The GCLS Trailblazer Award:

1. Written lesbian-themed works that have positively impacted the growth and visibility of the field of Lesbian Literature.

2. Published a significant body of work.

3. The author must have been writing over a period of at least 10 years.

While nominations for the Trailblazer Award are eagerly solicited from any member, this is not an award open to the popular vote and is chosen by the Executive Director in concert with the GCLS Board of Directors.

GCLS Director’s Award
The GCLS Director’s Award is presented to a single GCLS member in recognition of contributions made to the GCLS during the past year and/or to the ongoing mission of the organization over a longer period of time. To be eligible for this award, the member must be a GCLS member in good standing. Nominations may be made by submitting a nomination form, postmarked by February 29, 2008.

While nominations for the Director’s Award are eagerly solicited from any member, this is not an award open to the popular vote and is chosen by the Executive Director in concert with the GCLS Board of Directors.
 

The GCLS LITERARY AWARDS JUDGING PROCESS

AWARDS ADMINISTRATION
The Awards Administrator is selected each year by the Executive Director and serves independently and outside the jurisdiction of the GCLS Board of Directors. Under no circumstances is any board member allowed contact with the Awards Administrator regarding the awards prior to or during the evaluation period.


SELECTION OF JUDGES:
The Judges shall be selected by the Awards Administrator with the input and approval of the Executive Director. They are sworn to secrecy, and agree not to disclose their appointment until after the awards ceremony. Judges shall not know the identity of the other Judges in their categories. Under no circumstances shall any Judge discuss, debate, or request input from anyone during the evaluation period. In addition, they may reveal to no one except the Awards Administrator any aspect of their judging process before, during, or after the judging. Any infraction will be cause for immediate removal from the evaluation process. The administrator may, at her discretion, remove a Judge from the evaluation process if she finds any evidence of partiality or incompetence.

A Judge shall:

• judge only categories in which she herself is not nominated;

• judge only categories in which books by her partner or relatives are not nominated;

• agree to adhere to the timelines established by the Awards Administrator.

A minimum of 3 Judges in each category will read, evaluate, and score the books in the assigned category. The results submitted by each of the three Judges for each category will be tabulated by the Awards Administrator to determine the overall ranking of each books in that category so that the final shortlist can be arrived at.
 

SELECTION OF FINALISTS AND WINNERS:

While every judging process has elements of subjectivity, the process used by the Judges in the GCLS Literary Awards greatly reduces the prospect of favoritism. Each Judge is provided one new, clean copy of each book in for his or her particular category, along with one scoring sheet for each book to be scored.

The scoring sheet is comprised of 9 sections containing a total of 35 sub-questions which are identical across all genres. An additional section, that contains 5 sub-questions, specifically addresses the genre of the book. Each book must be scored in the category for which it is a finalist. For example, a romance with a mystery sub-plot, if nominated in the mystery category, must be evaluated in the subsection reserved for a mystery.

The ten sections, which total 200 points possible, included in the evaluation are:

• Initial Evaluation (10 pts)
• Opening sequence (15 pts)
• Plot and Premise: (30 pts)
• Setting (20 pts)
• Character/Characterization: (25 pts)
• Dialogue (15pts)
• Narrative (20pts)
• Style (25pts)
• Overall Impression (15pts)
• Specific questions regarding the genre (25pts)

After the Judge evaluates each book, the score sheets are totaled and returned to the GCLS Awards Administrator. Scoring will be accomplished computing the average of the three Judges’ scores with a total possible score for any single finalist book being 200 points. The top three (3) scorers in each category, as validated by the Awards Administrator and confirmed by the Executive Director, shall be considered equal winners.

Tie-Break Protocol.

• In the event of a tie between the third and fourth ranked books, the Awards Administrator will evaluate the two books in question. The administrator’s scores will be added to the totals of the original Judges’ scores for each book and the numbers will be re-averaged, to determine the winner.

• In the event there is a second tie, each Judge will be asked to rank the books in question on a scale of 1-10. These three scores are averaged to determine the winner.

• In the event of a third tie, four awards will be given in that category for that particular year.

Only in the case of an obvious disproportionate score may the Awards Administrator make contact with a Judge concerning his or her evaluation of a book, and only then to validate that Judge’s submission for a particular book.  The Executive Director, at the request of the Awards Administrator, may provide input for clarification and validation procedures only. Neither the Awards Administrator nor the Executive Director shall ever divulge to anyone the specifics of the numerical rankings for the winners. The Judges’ decisions are final. Neither the Awards Administrator nor the Executive Director will entertain objections or challenges with regard to the judging or the judging process.

Upon completion of the judging, the Awards Administrator shall ship the Judges’ final scoring sheets to the Executive Director, who, upon receipt, will store these records for a minimum of 7 years.

The decision of the Golden Crown Literary Society as to eligibility of any book shall be final, and no correspondence shall be entered into in relation to eligibility. The decision of the Judges, who will remain anonymous until after the Awards are announced, shall be final, and no correspondence will be entered into with publishers, authors, fans, or any agents concerning the judging process.

** Denotes an expansion of the term debut author as it pertains to the GCLS Literary Awards eligibility. This expansion was made on December 11, 2007, after the initial release of the guidelines on December 10, 2007

2008 GCLS Literary Awards Administrator

Ann German

EAGerman@aol.com