To help ensure that our judges have enough time to thoroughly read - and fairly judge - each book, a "tiered" deadline calendar has been implemented. The nomination due date will be determined by publication date.

Please note: The Awards season begins in late-summer/early-fall each year. All dates listed below follow this seasonal calendar:

• The Nomination Process runs from August to mid-January the following year.
• The Judging Process runs from October to mid-April the following year.
• Judges' scores (genre categories), member votes (popular choice categories) are gathered and tabulated in April.
• Finalists are posted/announced in late-April/early-May.
• Awards are engraved and prepared between mid-May and late-June.
• Awards are presented to winners at the Annual Conference.
  
  

Genre (Judged) Nominations

Finalists will be announced on the website early May as each category is tallied and finalized. Finalists will also be notified via email.

*Book cover images are due at the time of nomination.

Special Awards Nominations

Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award and Tee Corinne Award for Outstanding Cover Design

• Nominations must be received NO LATER THAN December 31

• Fees paid by credit card or PayPal are due at the time of nomination. Fees made by check must be received NO LATER THAN January 15

• Voting is open to MEMBERS ONLY as of February 1

• NOTE: ONLY ONE VOTE PER MEMBER in each round of voting

• Voting for Round One: February 1 – February 28

• Finalists Announced March 5

• Voting for Final Round: March 5 – March 30

• Book cover images are due at the time of nomination

Directors’ Award, Trailblazer Award, and Lee Lynch Classic Award

• Nominations must be received NO LATER THAN December 31

• There are no fees for nominations in these categories

• The Lee Lynch Classic Award will be announced on February 3 – Lesbian Classics Day (Gertrude Stein’s Birthday)

• The Trailblazer Award recipient will be announced on April 30 (Alice B. Toklas' Birthday).

*Winners for all other awards will be announced during the Awards Ceremony at the Annual GCLS Conference.

**Please note: Books are judged against detailed criteria, not against each other. Thus, a book read and judged in November will be evaluated against the same criteria as a book read and judged in March.