2011 Rainbow Awards: Awards Guidelines

[reviews_and_ramblings]

ELIGIBILITY

- The book must be published between September 2010 and August 2011 (both months included).
- Self-published books are eligible (print on demand publishers, like Lulu.com and Smashwords, are included in the "self-published" umbrella).
- Ebook editions of previously published print books are not eligible. First time print book editions of previously published ebooks are eligible. A book that has been republished by a different publisher after its initial publication is not eligible. A book that was previously self-published by the author, and then republished by a publisher after its initial publication is eligible.

 

SUBMISSION PROCESS

- Books submitted for consideration will be accepted between March 15 and September 15. Winners will be announced in December.
- A book can be submitted only by its author or by its publisher. Submit a book in the category most appropriate: please indicate Gender (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Transgender) and Genre (Coming of Age / Young Adult, Contemporary General Fiction, Contemporary Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Mystery / Thriller, Paranormal / Horror, Sci-Fic / Futuristic, Non Fiction).
- The commision can include some books at their own expenses, if they are eligible, especially in those categories with not enough submissions.
- Books are submitted in electronic version (PDFs); exceptions will be considered (please contact me). Submitting the ebook, authors/publishers agree for its distribution with the only purpose of being read by the commission (from 3 to 5 judges). It's recommended but not mandatory, that the PDF file has some kind of protection, like a specific disclaimer or similar.
- No submission fees required.
- Books (PDF format) have to be sent to the following address: elisa(dot)rolle(at)libero(dot)it

CATEGORIES

- A book can be submitted in only one category. Debut Fiction is the only category allowing a "double" submission, in its own specific category, plus the Debut Fiction one.
- If a category receives fewer than five (5) submissions, the category will not be active in this awards cycle. The submitted books will be reassigned to another category if appropriate.
- Gender Category: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Transgender
- Genre Category: Coming of Age / Young Adult, Contemporary General Fiction, Contemporary Erotica, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Mystery / Thriller, Paranormal / Horror, Sci-Fic / Futuristic, Non Fiction
- Special Category: Debut Fiction. First time print book editions of previously published authors only in ebooks is Debut Fiction. A book that was previously self-published by the author, and then republished by a publisher after its initial publication is Debut Fiction. Debut Fiction is considered the first book in print or ebook of more of 41.000 words published as standalone.
- Length Category: Novel of more than 41,000 Words. Novellas and Short Stories will be considered only on the following conditions: Novellas (between 18,000 and 41,000 Words) only in Collection of 2 or more collected together; Short Stories (<18,000 Words) only in Collection of 4 or more collected together. A single submission has to be of more than 41.000 Words. Exception will be considered if a single category will have not enough submissions.

JURY

- Judges will start to read books in May; reading period will finish in November (included).
- Each judge will read a minimum of 5 books. Authors/Publishers/Editors will not read books in categories where a their own book is submitted.
- Each book will be judge using 4 different criteria: Plot Development, Setting Development, Characters Development and Writing Style. From 1 to 10 points for each criteria.
- Judges will receive only the ebooks they have to read. (PDF files)
- Judges will have to indicate what categories they are not comfortable to read.
- To be a judge, please contact me; Authors/Publishers/Editors/Reviewers/Readers are welcomed, if I don't know you (you are not in my friends list, we are not on the same groups,...), please provide an introduction and some sort of reference for being eligible to judge a LGBT themed book.

Permission to repost granted (and welcomed)

For submissions or questions, please contact the LJ owner at the address you find in the profile, or leave a comment and I will send you a PM

 

Comments

[fullmoon-dreams.livejournal.com]

I have a linked question with regard to the word length/category.

I have one novella of 20k and hope to have a second of about 30k contracted before the deadline. If (and it is only if at this stage) I wanted to submit those two together, do they have to be in the same category with regard to genre. They are both gay romances but one is paranormal and the other is contemporary.

Thanks for your time.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Good question, and yes, when binding two novellas together to match the 41K word limit, they become a single submission and as such they have to be submitted in one, and only one category, so more or less same genre (I say more or less since, well, there are genre which blend, like fantasy and paranormal, or romance and erotica, you can more or less decide for one or the other, but contemporary and paranormal? I see that difficult).

btw I have already made an exception for this event: 1 novella released BEFORE the eligibility period, 1 novella inside the eligibility period and the print book binding them together inside the eligibility period, since I consider eligible the first time in print of previously ebooks, then it's eligible.

[fullmoon-dreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your response. I think I will be waiting until next year.

While the paranormal is also in a contemporary setting it is very much a paranormal and I think anyone who read it would question the category if it is was not in the paranormal one.