The Klein Bottle...

[thewrittenwyrd.livejournal.com]

One of the core parts of The Written Wyrd as to provide support to self- and small press published authors.  Having giving the matter much thought, I have posted materials to the web site concerning the Klein Bottle award.  This is a key part of this whole project, intended to provide feedback, recognition, distribution, and technical support to new authors and cover artists.  The whole things is still in the formative stages, but the time has come to start hammering it together, so I hope all of you who are concerned with developing new writing talent (whether you are an author or not) will check out the web site.  Please don't sluff this off as something for others to deal with.  Your ideas, suggestions, and active support are the key to this, and without you, it won't happen.  

the-written-wyrd.org

Thank you!

Bob

Comments

Cool!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This sounds interesting.

Some questions to answer in designing an awards...

* When is the eligibility period? "In order to be eligible, a work must have been published between (date) and (date)."

* When is the entry period? "Works may be nominated/submitted/vetted between (date) and (date). Nominees will be notified on/by (date)."

* When is the selection period? "Voting/Judging will take place between (date) and (date). Winner/place winners/long and short list/etc. will be announced on (date)."

* Who may put works into the running for this award? Anyone? Only the author? Only the editor or publisher? A crowdfunding patron? Members of a selection committee? Some combination thereof?

* Who chooses the winning work(s) from the nominees? One judge? A committee of judges? Anyone who wants to vote? A pool of voters who share some activity or other qualification?

* Are there categories, or is everything lumped together? Are categories thematic (i.e. genre, tone, subject) or structural (i.e. novel, poetry collection, anthology) or some combination?

Re: Cool!

[thewrittenwyrd.livejournal.com]

A number of good points, Elizabeth! On many of them, since most awards seem to run on an annual basis, I suppose the Klein Bottle would too - i e works produced in 2011 would be judged and awarded in 2012.

Timeliness would be an issue when dealing with an unpublished or just released work, so we might want to do awards on a quarterly basis?

As to who could submit a work - I suspect that we should avoid 'self promotion' or the process is likely to bog down under the sheer weight of MS. I think the most practical method would be to have sponsoring groups from cons and writer's circles who would mentor and sponsor promising local writers. This would help promote the concept of a 'writing community' as well.

As to genre grouping - I have long been opposed to the idea of a 'best' which leaves everyone else out even if their work is of good quality. As such, I personally feel there should be no fixed genre or numbers. Ideally the awards and recommendations would be given to any work that meets certain standards and is 'speculative fiction'. The only limitations I see at this time would be novel length (or anthologies), since short stories have an easier time of it.

Please encourage your readers to continue the dialogue!

Thank you,

Bob

Re: Cool!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> On many of them, since most awards seem to run on an annual basis, I suppose the Klein Bottle would too - i e works produced in 2011 would be judged and awarded in 2012. <<

That makes sense.

>> Timeliness would be an issue when dealing with an unpublished or just released work, so we might want to do awards on a quarterly basis? <<

That would really run up the workload, though. I don't know of any awards that post results that often.

>> I think the most practical method would be to have sponsoring groups from cons and writer's circles who would mentor and sponsor promising local writers. <<

You might allow small-press editors to nominate too. They're responsible for helping a lot of writers get started.

>> As to genre grouping - I have long been opposed to the idea of a 'best' which leaves everyone else out even if their work is of good quality. <<

You can get around that by including a category for "other." Without categories, fewer works get recognized because they're all competing with each other -- and judges can get frustrated trying to compare apples to kumquats.

>> The only limitations I see at this time would be novel length (or anthologies), since short stories have an easier time of it.<<

Well, "novel" and "anthology" would make good categories. You might also include "single-author collection."

Re: Cool!

[thewrittenwyrd.livejournal.com]

You may be right about the workload of quarterly offerings - perhaps the best method would be to have an open review year round for works published or offered in the previous year.

As to small press publishers making submissions, I'm leary of that for the same reason as authors themselves: they have a financial incentive to push their work. I believe this should be handled through non-partisan groups such as cons.

Good point about anthologies - misused word - I should have said 'single author collections'.

Please, more!