Cybils: Contest FAQs

What's a Cybil?

The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles. Nominations open to the public on October 1st.

Can anyone nominate?

Yes, anyone may nominate one book per genre during the nomination period. We post an online form from Oct. 1-15 every year.

Which books are eligible?

Any books published between the end of one contest and start of another. For 2011, that means books released between Oct. 16, 2010 and Oct. 15, 2011. This year, we are also accepting nominations for book apps for iPad, Web or computers.

Does it help if a book has lots of nominations?

NO! In fact, the online form will kick the nomination back if a book's already been listed. It needs to get on our radar only once for consideration. After that, it's up to the judges.

More contest info:

Finalists are posted January 1st. Winners are announced February 14th. Winners receive a fountain pen in an engraved wooden box.

Who can judge?

We ask for volunteers every August from the book-blogging community. Generally, our judges must contribute at least monthly to a blog that's primarily about children's or young adult literature. There's some wiggle room there, but not much. More info here.

Do you review books?

We post excerpts of reviews by our volunteer judges throughout the contest season, from October through February. They're selected somewhat at random so we get a mix of genres, age groups and reviewers. We're sorry we can't guarantee a book review. We typically get 1,000 nominations and we couldn't review them all even if we ran dozens each day!

I'm a publisher. What do I need to do?

Make sure the books you'd like to see considered get nominated sometime between Oct. 1-15. Then make sure we have a contact email for you. Pretty please don't nominate your entire list. We know you can enlist an army of interns, the mailroom guys and the coffee cart lady to get around our "one nomination/person" rule, but don't. Resist! Think of our bleary-eyed volunteers trying to get all those books read. Pick the ones you think deserve another look or represent the best of the best, or whatever. Just, please, not all of them.

After Oct. 15, we'll be in touch to let you know what review copies we need and where to send them. Please don't contact judges directly. We'll be sorting out who needs what to prevent duplication. Thanks!

I'm a self-published author. What do I do?

Make sure you nominate your book between Oct. 1-15. We'll be in touch to get a review copy or two from you. Please don't contact judges directly. It's much easier to have only one contact person -- for us and for you.

Do all the books get read?

Pretty much, yes. We used to have a 50-page rule, but the blossoming of self-publishing means some questionable stuff gets thrown our way. So to keep eyestrain in check -- not to mention the gagging reflex -- panelists are only required to read until they're sure the book isn't competitive with other nominated titles. All bets are off if we can't get our grubby paws on a review copy, though.

My book didn't make the shortlist. Did you get it? Did anyone read it?

If you sent it, we got it. If we got it, someone read at least partway in. If you didn't make the shortlist, it's because the judges gave it a "pass." Please don't contact them to ask why. We're not your writing group and we cannot provide feedback.

Advertising, sponsorships, link exchanges and publicity

Please email the contest administrator, Anne Levy, at anne (at) inlandempress (dot) com. Note that we don't accept ads with adult content. Thanks.

Any other questions we haven't addressed?

Thanks for finding your way to us at Cybils.com