History of the GCLS Awards: 2005

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History of the GCLS Awards: 2005 - Present

Early on, the GCLS had few resources, so the Awards started out simple. Since then, we've attempted to expand categories to include a greater variety of books and to honor a larger number of the talented authors writing lesbian fiction.

Here is a history of what we've added since 2005:

2005 - New Orleans

We had 3 awards plus the Trailblazer Award to start:

Romance/Erotica
Mystery/Adventure/Thriller
Sci-fi/Fantasy/Paranormal/Horror
Trailblazer Award (TB Award)

2006 - Atlanta #1

In addition to TB Award and the three original Romance/Erotic, Mystery/Adventure/Thriller, Sci-fi/Fantasy/Paranormal/Horror, we added:

Debut Author

2007 - Atlanta #2

In addition to Trailblazer Award, Debut Author, and Mystery/Adventure/Thriller, we changed:

Sci-fi/Fantasy/Paranormal/Horror to "Speculative Fiction"
Romance/Erotic to "Romance"

And we added:

Erotica
Dramatic General Fiction
Anthology/Short Story/Essay Collections
Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award
GCLS Directors' Award

2008 - Phoenix

In addition to Trailblazer Award, Director's Award, Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, Debut Author, Mystery/Adventure/Thriller, Speculative Fiction, Romance, Erotica, Dramatic/General Fiction, we expanded Anthology/Short Story/Essay Collections into:

Anthologies (non-erotic)
Short Stories/Essay/Collections

And added:

Poetry

2009 - Orlando #1

In addition to Trailblazer Award, Director's Award, Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, Debut Author, Speculative Fiction, Erotica, Dramatic/General Fiction, Anthologies (non-erotic), Short Stories/Essay/Collections, and Poetry, the Romance category was split into four categories:

Traditional Contemporary Romance
Romantic Suspense/Intrigue/Adventure
Historical Romance
Paranormal Romance

And Mystery/Adventure/Thriller became:

Mystery/Thriller

2010 - Orlando #2

There are no additions to the Awards for this year. In addition to the Trailblazer Award and Director's Award, we have: The Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, Debut Author, Speculative Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Erotica, Dramatic/General Fiction, Anthologies (non-erotic), Short Stories/Essay/Collections, Poetry, and the four romance-based categories: Traditional Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense/Intrigue/Adventure, Historical Romance, and Paranormal Romance.