Announcing the 2011 Indie Lit Awards
Ironically, following my idea to celebrate small and independent presses this month, I discovered the Indie Lit Awards online. However, I did notice that the awards did not have a poetry category, so I started inquiring about it.
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This year, I was asked to take part in the 2011 Indie Lit Awards (click for the history of the awards) by Wallace at Unputdownables, and I agreed to be director of the newly added category -- Poetry -- because it was a natural fit for me, and I knew some great people who could participate as voting members. Want to see whose on the team? Check them out and the teams for Biography/Memoir, GLBTQ, Literary Fiction, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Speculative Fiction. Poetry, Biography/Memoir, and Mystery are categories that were added this year.
Wallace explained the process of nominating books much better than I ever could, so please check out her explanation or refer to this portion below:
When do nominations open?
September 1, 2011- December 31, 2011.
Can I nominate?
Nominations are open to book bloggers who do not make their income through the sales of books (i.e. not authors, publishers, or publicists) — hence “independent” from the publishing industry. You must provide a blog address when nominating to prove that you have a currently running book blog.
I am a book blogger and I want to participate in nominating. How do I get books that were published in 2011 (I don’t want to spend all of my money on hardcovers)?
There are several ways. First, you can purchase new books on your e-reader of choice… these are usually $10-$15 cheaper than print versions. Second, you can borrow them from your local libraries. Third, you can contact publishers and let them know you are interested in reviewing their books. Lastly, we are hoping to open a list on our site that shows which bloggers review in which genres so publishers can more easily find who to send their newest books to. (Keep your eye out for that — it’s not available right now, but should be coming soon.) There are other ways to support the awards as well, please check out the post from Wallace.
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Please follow the updates from the Indie Lit Awards blog or on Twitter. There are some great buttons for the awards and the poetry nominations to display as well.
I hope that many of you, who should be participating in my 2011 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge, will participate in the nomination process!
Also, please do not forget that next month, April, is National Poetry Month, and we're hosting the annual blog tour here at the blog. I hope you'll all be participating with guest posts and reviews!