Nominations are now open!

So, nominations officially start today. I did move the schedule up a week, if you didn’t notice. For the next two weeks, until October 8, you can send in your nominations using the form here.

Now I just want to answer a few questions I’ve gotten about nominations.

Why do I have to give my name, email, etc?
You don’t! Well, the name is required and so is the captcha. But email is optional. All of that is simply there to prevent spam, which can be a big problem on WordPress hosted sites. Plus, my awards and others have had problems with some shady votes in the past, so I just like to add in an extra step to stop people from trying to cheat. I promise I won’t do anything with your info and no one but me will know who nominated and voted for what.

Can I nominate a story that has been nominated/won in the past?
Yes! Let’s be honest, there aren’t that many new stories around even now, so chances are a story that you liked last year will still fit a category this year and you’ll want to nominate it again. Go for it!

Do I have to only nominate current stories?
Nope! It is preferred, though, but as I’ve already said, I don’t care if the stories have won in the past. I would prefer that you don’t nominate much older stories, though. For one, it’s hard to contact the authors to let them know they’ve been nominated. And two, chances are a ‘classic’ story would dominate the votes over an equally deserving but newer story.

How many stories can I/do I have to nominate?
As many or as few as you want! The form has large blanks for each category so you can type in several stories… or none at all. Also, if you forget about any stories and want to go back and add them in, you can. There is no limit to how many times you can fill out the form, but I won’t count multiple nominations of the same story from the same person, so please don’t do that.

How do I know which category to put a story in?
Use your best judgment? I know the categories page is a bit tongue in cheek, but it should still help explain what the categories mean. If you aren’t sure, hang on a day or two and wait for me to post the tentative nominations list. I’ll be posting a running tally of the nominations I receive as the awards go on, and this might help you to see where other people have put certain stories.

Can I nominate a story for more than one category?
If it fits, yes! Particularly, the AU, canon and crossover categories are not exclusive; a story can fit into those and any other genre as well. The biggest caveat I would include is that most stories probably shouldn’t be nominated for more than one of the brother categories. If they’re all equally important to the story, then sure. But typically a story is a little bit more about one than the others. But basically, if a story fits more than one category, then nominate it. Just don’t go crazy and nominate a story for every category!

Should I nominate a story that’s already been nominated?
Yes! Each category is capped at ten — the top ten, not the first ten. So if a story doesn’t get that many nominations, it may not make the cut. If you want to be sure that your favorite story makes it to the voting round, then I suggest nominating it even if it’s already on the list.

 

I think those are the most common questions. If you have any others, please let me know! Again, you can go here to fill out the nomination form.