Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this. If it's not, please let me know.

I just received the following information from our local chapter of Sisters in Crime. The e-mail stated my novel, SILENCED CRY, (April 2007) is eligible for nomination into the “Best Novel: New Voice” category and the “Best Cover Art.” Of course your nominations are welcomed, :) !! but I’m posting this for everyone to think about other titles, publishers, editors, etc. they may want to nominate for an award.
Nominations can be e-mailed to sandra.ruttan@spinetinglermag.com for works published between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007. IMPORTANT: See Rules below before you send in your votes.

Categories are:

Special Services to the Industry:
Each person may make up to five nominations in this category, for tireless contributions to ezines, writing reviews, running discussion lists or forums. Tell us who you nominate and give us a short summary of why or where they routinely contribute, so that we can acknowledge them.

Best Novel: New Voice
Authors with 1-3 published works in total.
** Each person can nominate up to five authors in this category
Please include the author’s name and title of book.

Best Novel: Rising Star
Authors with 4-8 published works in total.
** Each person can nominate up to five authors in this category
Please include the author’s name and title of book.

Best Novel: Legend
Authors with 9 or more books published*
** Each person can nominate up to five authors in this category
Please include the author’s name and title of book.

Best Cover Art
Tell us what covers do it for you.
** Each person can nominate up to five titles in this category
Please include the author’s name and title of book, and publisher or country
of origin. Yes, the books usually have different covers in the US and UK …

Best Publisher
It’s time to take note of the publishers who are doing things right. After
all, authors wouldn’t be here without the publishers. If you’re a reader
whose had wonderful experiences, an author with nothing but good things to
say, tell us who you nominate and why. Maybe they have a wonderful website
that’s easy to navigate. Maybe they always send your favorites on tour to
your area. Maybe they just publish a lot of books you love. It doesn’t
matter why, we just want to hear about the good ones.
** Each person can nominate a maximum of three publishers in this category

Best Editor
You don’t need to know the editor’s name. All we need to know is the author,
book title and publisher’s name. We’ll find out who the editor is. With so
many complaints about poor editing and typos in books we thought it was time
to take note of the hard-working editors who are getting things right.
** Each person can nominate a maximum of three editors in this category

Best Short Story on the Web
** Each person can nominate five stories in this category
Please include the writer’s name, title of the story and source. Stories
must be published in a recognized ezine, such as Shots, Mouth Full of
Bullets, Pulp Pusher, Demolition, etc. Stories published by the authors on
their own blogs or websites will not be considered – they must pass through
an editorial selection process.

The Rules

1. Only one e-mail per person will be considered. Think your nominations
through carefully before sending them. We reserve the right to investigate
the source of any e-mails received. If we have any reason to believe e-mails
are suspect, that an individual has assumed false identities and multiple
e-mail addresses, we reserve the right to eliminate those e-mails from
consideration.

2. Nominations should be made for books published in their original format
only. Those who start in hardcover get nominated in hardcover. Authors don’t
get a second kick at the can when they come out in mmpb. Sorry.

3. *Concerning the “Legends” category, authors with less than 9 published
titles may be moved to this category, at our discretion. For example, I
believe Dan Brown has only four or five published titles. However, his sales
record justifies moving him to the “Legends” category. Authors with major
publishing deals may be moved. We separated the categories in three sections
in an attempt to make sure newer authors stood a chance of receiving the
attention they deserve.

4. We may not be able to consider nominated works if they are not available
in Canada . In order to be able to consider the nominated works in the second
phase of judging, we need to be able to read them. Books that are out of
print or that we can’t order or that are not received in time may be removed
from consideration.

5. Sandra Ruttan’s debut novel will not be considered for the New Voice
award. You can nominate it… but it won’t be considered for the list.

A note about location of publication.

If you’re in the UK , nominate based on what was released in the UK . If
you’re in the US , nominate based on what was released in the US . This is not
a perfect system, but in Canada , we tend to get UK authors based on their UK
release schedule, and US authors based on their US release schedule. We are
an international ezine. Just go local to you, and we’ll sort it out from
there as best we can.

A note for publishers.

Worried your titles might be overlooked? Feel free to contact me with a list
of eligible titles in each category. Please do so by October 15, 2007.

Nominations will close on November 15, 2007, and the shortlist of nominees will be posted early December. At that time, people will be invited to vote again, selecting their favorite in each category. Public vote will be weighed against the rankings of the editors to determine the winners in each category.

This is our first time doing these awards, and we expect there to be some
kinks to sort out. We’ll continue to update you throughout the process.
Please feel free to spread the word about these awards on lists, forums and
places where it would be considered appropriate. Direct link to this post:
http://crimezine.blogspot.com/2007/09/nominations-for-spinetingler-...