Cybils

Updated FAQs

Okay, it took a while, but I finally updated our FAQs. If you have a question that isn't answered here, please put it in the comments and I'll answer them. --Anne Levy, editor.

1. Which books are eligible?
Any children's or YA book published in English in 2007, including translated and bilingual books.

2. How do I nominate a book?
First, look through the categories listed here or in the center column. Click on a category and read the description. Got the right one? Great!

You can leave your nomination as a comment, just like on a regular blog. Click "comment."

3. How many books can I nominate?
No more than one in a category. If you list a bunch, we'll email you and ask you to pick your favorite.

4. What if I don't know which category it belongs in?
Make your best guess. If you're mistaken, the organizers will do some horse swapping to find its true home.

5. If a book gets more than one nomination, does that help its chances?
Sorry, no.

6. Will the panelists really be reading all the books?
No, but we insist that all nominated books will get at least one full read by somebody. Otherwise, we have a "50 page" rule -- if a book isn't gripping by page 50, the panelist should feel free to stop reading. They don't get paid to do this, and time and sanity are precious.

7. How will the panelists get all the books?
Publishers send the review copies to the panelists and later to the judges.
Last year, one publisher didn't do so and panelists and judges had to hunt down the book in stores and libraries. It won anyway.

8. What about books published in November or December, after the nominations close?
If a book will carry a 2008 copyright, it must wait until the 2008 competition. If it's carrying a 2007 copyright but isn't bound yet, the publishers can send galleys.

9. How do I get in touch with one of the category organizers?
All the organizers are listed in the center column, under "Cybils team." Click on their names and it takes you to their blogs, where you'll find their contact information.

10. What's the idea behind the contest?
We wanted a literary competition that combined the freewheeling democracy of the Internet with the thoughtfulness of a book club. Cybils lets the public nominate books here on our Cybils blog, but then bloggers team up to pick the finalists and winners. The winning books must combine quality and "kid appeal."

11. What exactly is "kid appeal"?
We've had some lively discussions on that. Here's our latest take. Ultimately, it's something our panelists and judges must decide in each genre and for each age group.

12. What's the difference between a panelist and a judge?
The panels are for Round 1, and they pick 5-7 finalists in each category. Then it goes to the judges for Round 2.

13. When do you expect to announce the winners?
We'll announce the finalists on Jan. 1 and the winners on Feb. 14.

14. Yeah, but won't Harry Potter win in Fantasy/SF? It has more "kid appeal" than any kid's book in history.
Judging strictly by sales, that's true. But there were several hundred other fantasy books published in 2007, and they deserve their shot at a literary award too. Our panelists and judges have been asked to set aside any biases for or against any book, including HP7, and they'll be weighing both popularity and the quality of the writing.

15. So you're saying HP7 isn't a quality book? Isn't that biased?
Its literary merits are something for the panelists and judges to decide. Try to relax. It'll get its shot like every other book.

More questions? Problems? Gripes? We want the Cybils to be as transparent as possible. Email me at anne (at) bookbuds (dot) net.

--Anne Levy, Editor

A behind-the-scenes look at the nominating panels

Fifty-some bloggers on eight committees are busy finding, reading, and evaluating the hundreds of titles nominated for the 2007 Cybils. What will they be doing and thinking about when choosing the best children's and YA books of 2007?

I. Organizers

Each panel organizer supervises the full list of nominations, which includes:

• Making sure a book has been nominated in the correct category. If not, she must forward the nomination to the appropriate committee organizer;
• Setting up a discussion group (on Yahoo!groups, for example) for the nominating committee. The organizer will remain on the discussion board to present lists or discuss review copies until Nov. 21. After that, the organizer will exit the discussion board if she isn't a member;
• Presenting the list to panelists to find out who has read which books;
• Asking that each book be read by at least two panelists.
• There's a 50-page rule in place: Each book will be read by at least two members of each panel up to page 51 (and, of course, to the end if it's a contender);
• The nominating committee will begin its work on Nov. 21. Panelists may, of course, begin reading before then, but there are no discussions beforehand.

FAQs

You asked (griped, whined, hollered) -- we heard. Here's a few questions that have come my way:

1. Which books are eligible?
Any children's or YA book published in English in 2006, including translated and bilingual books.

2. How do I nominate a book?
Type them into the comments section under each category. Categories are listed to your right, or scroll down through previous posts.

3. How many books can I nominate?
No more than one in a category. If you list a bunch, we'll email you and ask you to pick your favorite.

4. What if I don't know which category it belongs in?
Make your best guess. If you're mistaken, the organizers will forward it to the right category.

5. If a book gets more than one nomination, does that help its chances?
Sorry, no.

6. Will the panelists really be reading all the books?
The organizers have agreed that every book must be read by at least two panelists (there are five people on a panel).  If both people think it's a strong contender, the others are urged to read it too.

7. How will the panelists get all the books? Do they have to hunt them down?
Publishers are stepping forward to offer review copies to panelists. All of the organizers are making lists of which panelists need what books to make that easier. There's also a service called Reviewers Checklist that many of us use to get review copies. Failing all that, there's always the public library.

From what I'm hearing from volunteers, everyone is eager to start reading. In particular, we want to make sure smaller publishers that lack the big advertising bucks get their fair shake.

8. What about books published in November or December, after the nominations close?
Many of those books will carry a 2007 copyright and will therefore be eligible for next year's Cybils. If they have a 2006 copyright, the author or publisher should nominate the book and send galleys or an advanced review copy to the panelists so it can still be considered this year. Also, books published last November or December with a 2006 copyright are eligible for the current Cybils award.

9. How do I get in touch with one of the category organizers?
All the organizers are listed on the upper left. Click on their names and it takes you to their blogs, where you'll find their contact information. I know that's the long way around, but these folks don't want spammers finding them too easily.

10. What's with the Amazon and BlogAds?
Oh, hello, your friendly Web mistress is a stay-at-home Mom, which is how I have the time to do this. Clicking on the Amazon ad and buying a book puts a teensy commission in my pocket. Not enough to avoid having to go back to work soon, but enough to cover the costs of running the contest: mostly the domain name and some extra bandwidth. If there's financial support for it, I think the winners would appreciate a plaque or trophy.

11. Did you pick those books for the Amazon ads?
No, they are randomly generated by Amazon. 

 

More questions? Problems? Gripes? We want the Cybils to be as transparent as possible. Email me at anne (at) bookbuds (dot) net.

--Anne Levy, Web Mistress

De Rewls

The categories will be posted very, very soon. Thanks for your patience.

In the meantime, here are the rules. You will be quizzed on this later. 

1. The book must be published in 2006 in English. Translations and bilingual books are okay too.

2. You can be anybody. You don't have to be a blogger to nominate a book. You can even be the author, the editor, the publicist, the next-door neighbor or best friend or just a random Googler.

3. If a book you love has already been nominated by someone else, you don't need to second it. We're pretty smart. We'll see it. Promise.

4. Please, pretty please, only nominate one book per category.

We fear editors submitting their entire lists, publicists under pressure from clients to nominate them all or indecisive types like yours truly who have 584 "favorite" books.

We're trying hard to not have any more rules, but if we cannot help ourselves, we will alert you at once.

Thanks again,
Anne Levy, Web Mistress