It's the 15th as I write this, the official deadline to have signed up to judge for this year's Cybils. Even as I type, emails are flying back and forth between organizers about who goes where. It literally came down to the wire.
At last count, more than 190 people volunteered for roughly 110 spots (give or take a few, I really haven't counted lately). Inevitably, some of you will be disappointed. It wasn't personal. Honest.
We tried to achieve a balance on each panel. We wanted a mix of occupations, genders, regions, ethnicity, etc. Some veteran judges weren't asked back so we could make room for more newcomers. A few people impressed us with the combined reach of their blogs, tweets and Facebook presence. Still others have such a masterful command of their favorite genre that we knew it would be a poorer contest without their expertise.
If you didn't find yourself tapped for this year's contest, please don't let that stop you from nominating books. We open nominations Oct. 1st, so get your Best of 2010 list ready. We also hope you'll help us spread the good word about what we do here.
Thanks again to everyone who volunteered. Judges lists will start posting soon — today, with any luck.
–Anne Levy, Cybils admin.