I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it

I’m about to lose control, and I think I like it……

I am totally over the moon that two of my books have won at The Lesfic Bard Awards. It came as a complete surprise to me this morning, when my Editor, Lisa Caro sent me a message saying do you want me to send you a link or shall I just tell you who has won? Since I never received an email from the Lesfic Bard Awards I just presumed I hadn’t won anything, so I shrugged and said ” Just send me the link and I’ll look at it later”

So later that morning ( well 2 minutes to be precise) I ran upstairs to share the news with my wife Angie, who had literally just got out of bed.

“May I Call You Mistress has won the Erotica Novella category at The Lesfic Bard Awards” I excitedly blurted out. And without giving her a chance to say a word I eagerly said

“AND MISTRESS OF DESIRE HAS WON THE EROTIC CATEGORY TOO!”

So, after all the hugs, kisses, smiles and well dones I can honestly say I am thrilled to bits with the fantastic news I woke up this morning!

At the bottom of this blog post is a full list of all the winners at this year’s Lesfic Bard Awards.

What Are The Lesfic Bard Awards?

The Lesfic Bard Awards are international literary prizes administered by the Lesfic Bard Awards committee.​ They heard authors complain of awards that are skewed in favor of big-name authors and publishing houses, so they decided to use their marketing skills to put forth an award of their own. They use their unique triple-blind judging process to find deserving finalists and winners, then market them to ensure they receive the acknowledgment they are due.

Who Are The Judges?

Each year, the committee selects judges from all over the world to judge in the various award categories. Judges must complete an application EACH year, and based on their credentials, judges will be chosen by the committee to read the various works submitted. Judges might be published writers (not entered in the current year’s judging), independent editors (not connected to Lesfic publishing groups), proofreaders, beta readers, past finalists or winners, or anyone with knowledge of literary works. Judges may also be experts in their field: literary critics, librarians, or booksellers.

Why Do They Choose Triple Blind Judging?

If you do not know whose book you are reading or what to expect you won’t be biased or have preconceived notions regarding the author; you can’t prejudge. The work presented to the judges may give a synopsis, which provides a general outline of the book, but the judges will not know who wrote it. This way, the judges are not influenced by a big-name author or publisher. You, as the judge, are simply reading a story.

Another plus of triple-blind judging is that judges are reading a variety of authors’ works. If one stands out it’s because of the author’s story.

This is how books should be judged—on their own merit—it’s the most honest form of reading. Why did the story stick with the judge? Did the story meet all the judging criteria? Did the work tell the story it was intended to tell?

Triple-blind judging rarely results in extreme opinions (positive or negative). Judges will rarely go out on a limb for books they know nothing about. And since the judges are anonymous … their scores reflect true and honest opinions of what they have read.

How Do They Do This?

All authors entering the contest are assigned a number. This number is used on all correspondence regarding their entries.

All books entering the contest are assigned a number. As a result, no one knows the titles or the authors of the books.

All judges are assigned a number. No one will know who the judges are.

Example:
You might be assigned author #25 (a different number is assigned for each entry). Your book will also be assigned a random number, say #84. Book numbers are not assigned in sequential order (eg:, -1, -2, -3), so judges cannot ascertain if an author has other books entered in the contest.

The judge is also assigned a random number.

So, your entry may look something like this: #25-84-17. The first number (25) is the author’s randomly-assigned number, the second number (84) is the book’s randomly-assigned number, and the third number (17) is the judge’s assigned number. Only the judge’s number will change since several judges will be assessing your book.

How Are The Finalists Chosen?

Each judge reads all books submitted in their category over the course of the year. The number of judges will vary with the number of titles submitted in any given year. Each judge will score the book on a variety of key points vital to lesbian literature (as identified by our committee). One example might be: What percentage of the book is lesbian-centric? The judge will score each book on all the key points identified. The total score will then be tabulated for each book.

How Are The Winners Chosen?

No one, not even the organization’s staff, learns who the winners are until the week of the announcement, which will take place in mid-May. The day the results are to be announced, the scores for each anonymous finalist’s book are tabulated a second time, and the highest score in each category is deemed the winner.

Winners Of The Lesfic Bard Awards 2022

RUBY SCOTT ( That’s me!) – Erotica Novella – May I Call You Mistress?

RUBY SCOTT ( Me again) – Erotica – Mistress of Desire

ALEXI VENICE – Action Adventure – Lady Hawthorne

ANGIE K. LOVE – Drama – Awakening Souls

IZA MOREAU – Fantasy – Persephone’s Mare

ELLE HYDEN – Fiction – Evermore

JO HAVENS – Historical – Once in Berlin

ALEXI VENICE – Mystery – Lady Hawthorne

ALEXIS HUNTER – New Author – Joi Lansing

ANNETTE MORI – Paranormal – Georgetown Glen

EMILY BANTING – Romance – Broken Beyond Repair

EMILY BANTING – Cover – Broken Beyond Repair

PENELOPE MERRELL – Novella New Author  – Tales and Tales

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