Cybils

Cybils Midterm Progress Report

Greetings, and welcome to the halfway point of the Cybils reading period! Wondering how many nominees we ended up with after the publisher submission period? Curious about how quickly (or slowly) we're proceeding? Hows about a quick update on how we're doing so far? As of last night:

Total eligible books across all categories: 1374, 1074 of which were public nominations and 300 of which were publisher submissions

Books read by at least 1 panelist: 1151, or 83.8% of the books

Books read by at least 2 panelists: 822, or 59.8% of the books

Unread books: 223, or 16.2% of the books

And now, a quick plug for our top readers so far (and a special W00T for my co-blogger, Tanita, the Fastest Reader Evar):

Panelists with the Most Books Read:

Rebecca Reid (Rebecca Reads), Fiction Picture Books: 141 books
Laura Given (LibLaura5), Fiction Picture Books: 130 books
Tanita S. Davis (Finding Wonderland), SFF/Teen: 103 books

Panelists with the Most Pages Read:

Tanita S. Davis (Finding Wonderland), SFF/Teen: 33,264 pages
Charlotte Taylor (Charlotte's Library), SFF/MG: 25,064 pages
Karen Yingling (Ms. Yingling Reads), MG Fiction: 23,578 pages

Keep rooting for our amazing book-guzzling panelists and your favorite titles, and please keep visiting the Cybils blog for a selection of reviews from our judges.

--Sarah Stevenson, blog editor

2012 Nominations Roundup

Here they are--the fast facts about this year's Cybils nominating period!

• From October 1-15, book-loving bloggers and members of the public nominated a whopping 1074 eligible books across all categories of the Cybils.
• The category with the most books overall is, not surprisingly, Fantasy and Science Fiction, with a total of 287 books--122 in Middle Grade SFF and 165 in Teen SFF. Next comes Fiction Picture Books with 167 nominees, and Young Adult fiction with 147.
• For the first time this year, we'll be working with publishers, publicists and authors during a separate nominating window, over the next week or two. For the full skinny on how the process works, check our FAQs.

If you want to peruse the lists of nominations, here they are all in once place for your browsing convenience:

Book Apps
Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Non-Fiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

2012 Nominations Are Closed

Thanks for joining us and nominating your favorite books for the 2012 Cybils! We've got hundreds of nominees that we're still sorting through behind the scenes, and our hardworking Round 1 panelists have already gotten started reading and evaluating.

If you're worried about having nominated a book in the wrong category -- fear not. We'll figure out where it's supposed to go. As long as it was nominated by midnight last night and otherwise meets our eligibility requirements, it's a go.

ATTN: PUBLISHERS--the publisher submission window is October 16-26. You'll be hearing from Sheila Ruth, our publisher liaison, by the end of the week if you are in our contact database. If you haven't received any email from us yet this year, you are probably not in our database; please email Sheila at [email protected] to be added.

And, everyone, please keep visiting our blog this season for reviews of nominated titles (our first review was posted yesterday), updates on the contest, and other goodies.

--Sarah Stevenson, blog editor

Tomorrow is the Last Day to Nominate!

You've only got today and tomorrow if you want to nominate a Cybils title as a member of the public--please check out our official nominations post for all the information and links you need. There will be a short period of time after public nominations close while we process nominations from publishers and authors, after which the real work begins! 

For now, though, if you haven't nominated yet, go do it soon, and keep checking the Cybils blog for occasional updates along with great reviews from our volunteer judges.

Oh, and thanks for your participation--we wouldn't have a Cybils without everyone's enthusiasm and willingness to share their favorite books each year!

Nominate These Books!

Yep, we've got a few more lists from panelists who are saying please, PLEASE don't miss these great books when you go to nominate. There are definitely some in here that I'm surprised haven't been nominated yet, so if you've been waiting around for those worthy not-yet-nommed titles, here's what you've been waiting for.

• Karen Jensen, a Round 1 SFF judge over at Teen Librarian's Toolbox, has a wishlist that includes book 3 of 2o1o Cybils winner Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry--not yet nominated! (As of her post, anyway.)
• We've got app wish lists--BOY, have we got app wish lists! There's a 4-part series over at Digital Media Diet (put up by Round 1 Book Apps judge Carissa Kluver) here, here, here, and here, and Paula Willey over at Pink Me has a list here (which has some amazing math and science titles on it).
• There are more SFF books to be nominated, too! Check out the list from Round 1 teen SFF panelist Kim Baccellia and one more list from Charlotte Taylor (including a title from Artemis Fowl creator Eoin Colfer!).

Me, I always wait until the last day or so, and then I try to pop in some of these neglected titles that are either books I've personally loved or that someone else has serious book lust for. It's especially helpful in categories I don't have as much experience with, like book apps (sigh...one day I'll get an iPad...) or poetry. So if you're like me, you'll want to take a gander at these lists. Also, check out our previous list posts here and here.

More Nominating Ideas for You

Still wondering what to nominate? There are a lot of Cybils-worthy books out there, and we've got a few more lists for you from panelists who'd love to see them nominated:

• Amy Uptain, a round 2 judge for nonfiction picture books, has listed some favorite picture books from this past year (fiction and non) at her blog, Hope Is the Word. (Bonus: she also hosts the Armchair Cybils! How cool is that??)
• Round 1 MG fiction judge and Cybils regular Andi Sibley has some great titles she'd love to see nominated--check out her post on a wrung sponge.
• Aurora Celeste of the YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog has a short list of not-yet-nominated titles in that category--she's one of our round 1 panelists in teen SFF.
• Last but not least, Book Apps really needs your help! Mary Ann Scheuer, the category chair, has posted an excellent roundup of truly amazing-looking book apps over at her blog, Great Kid Books. 

Those of you (like, ahem, myself) who are waiting until later in the process to nominate titles that might have been missed--be aware that there is only a handful of days left!

Nominate Here for the 2012 Cybils

Welcome to our seventh annual awards! Here's the nomination form for books published between last year's contest and this one. New eligibility rules here. Also check out our contest info.

Genres are listed in the sidebar under 2012 Nominations by Genre -- just click on the category for the latest list of nominated titles. Titles are added continuously until October 15th, when public nominations close, and eligible publisher-nominated titles will be added after that.

Here's the form again. It'll be kicked back to you if you try to nominate more than one book per genre, or if the book's already been nominated by someone else. Enjoy!

Nominations Start Tomorrow...With a Few Changes

Nominations for the 2012 Cybils open just after the stroke of midnight (Pacific time) as Sunday turns into Monday. Check your list of favorite new books and get ready, everyone.

But -- Attention, Please! Achtung! And so forth! -- we've had a few changes to our nominations process and timeline, particularly with respect to where publishers and self-published authors come in. So please check below the jump for these changes, or review the FAQ. Thanks in advance for your careful reading.

Category Descriptions Roundup

That's right--in case you haven't been religiously following the Cybils blog on a daily basis, waiting with bated breath for each new post (and of COURSE you have, haven't you??) we're providing you with a handy list of this year's category descriptions all in one place, for your convenience. In case you want a refresher later, they'll also be accessible from our new nominations form. Here you go:

Book Apps

Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books

Fantasy & Science Fiction

Fiction Picture Books

Graphic Novels

Middle Grade Fiction

Non-Fiction Picture Books

Non-Fiction: Middle Grade & Young Adult

Poetry

Young Adult Fiction

What We Mean When We Say "Young Adult Fiction"

The world as it was and is. Not as it could, or would, or should be. Send the dystopias and space operas, the fairies and angels, the blood-suckers, zombies, and alternate realities to SFF. In YA Fiction we are looking for realistic fiction, be it contemporary or historical, funny or mysterious, romantic or adventurous. We want the real world of the past and present with all of its flaws and pain and humor and beauty. We want books published for young adults ages 12-18 that are not only well-written, but which will expose the world and open a window to self-discovery. Books that respect their audience; books that teens will press into their friends' hands with fervor in their eyes and say, "You HAVE to read this." We are looking for the handful that can call themselves the greatest teen novels of 2012.

-- Jackie Parker

Go to the 2012 Cybils nomination form.