While the deadline to apply for judging for this Cybils season isn't until Thursday, it looks like we have nearly enough applicants in every category. A few genres, like Poetry and Nonfiction, have once again needed to recruit people to fill empty slots. Young Adult and Science Fiction/Fantasy usually have far too many candidates and the winnowing process is tough going.
The organizers are making a concerted effort to rotate new people in. Some veterans may find themselves getting their second- or third-choice genres this year, or even being asked to sit out a round. Others have been asked back because of the shortage of experienced people in that particular genre.
I'm saying all this because I know how arcane and opaque the selection of judges can seem. It's become more controversial than our book choices! I'd like it to be the reverse, quite frankly. But so it goes. There will always be hurt feelings no matter what we do, but we are striving mightily to be evenhanded about this.
Once the judges lists are posted (beginning next week), I'll be posting some suggestions for those who didn't make the cut. The organizers have looked over all your blogs and found some common dos and don'ts. Not to worry — we're not singling anyone out or naming names. It'll just be some friendly advice and a few helpful hints for making your blog leap to our attention next time around.
Happy blogging!
–Anne Levy, Cybils admin.