Nathan Bransford - The Forums

What are The Cybils?
The Cybils are the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards. They are sort of like the Teen Choice Awards in that readers nominate books in certain catagories for children and young adults and then 2 rounds of judging takes place to pick the best of the best for the year in each category. More info here: http://www.cybils.com/

Who are the judges?
The judges are all book bloggers with expertise and a strong presence in the childrens and/or YA book blog world.
Full disclosure: I am one of the YA Science Fiction/Fantasy judges

What are the categories?
Easy Readers/ Short Chapter Books
Fantasy & Science Fiction (MG and YA)
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Non-Fiction (MG and YA)
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Who can nominate a book?
You can! Anyone can! And you should. There are some rules, like only one nomination per book, multiple nominations are deleted. Only books published this year. One nomination per category. And a few others. Full list of rules here: http://www.cybils.com/basic-contest-info.html

How can you nominate a book?
Nominations are open from October 1st through October 15th, so hurry!
After you consult the basic contest info link above, go here to fill out the nomination form: http://www.wandsandworlds.com/cybils/nominate.php

When are the winners announced?
The first round of judging ends at the end of December. Finalists are announced January 1st and the second round begins. The final winners are announced mid February.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a judge, I can tell you the nominations are pouring in. I've already started reading through my gigantic stack. Including the books still being vetted to make sure all the rules apply, I think there are around 110 book nominations in my category alone. I've ready about 19 of them so far. The whole process is overwelming and terrifying and awesome all at the same time. I can't wait to get my hands on books I hadn't heard about before. Please nominate if there's a children's or YA book you loved that came out this year that has not yet been nominated! I'm really honored to be a part of this year's Cybils.

I DESPERATELY want to nominate a book, but there's no ISBN (the author is self-published).

Margo wrote:I DESPERATELY want to nominate a book, but there's no ISBN (the author is self-published).

Is it Angelfall? I would love to see that one nominated. It's too bad that it's self-published in this case. Did I tell you I'm reading it again? In between other books to kind of cleanse my brain.

Sommer Leigh wrote:

Margo wrote:I DESPERATELY want to nominate a book, but there's no ISBN (the author is self-published).

Is it Angelfall? I would love to see that one nominated. It's too bad that it's self-published in this case. Did I tell you I'm reading it again? In between other books to kind of cleanse my brain.

It is Angelfall. I would read it again if I had the time, and I NEVER reread books. The problem isn't that it's self-published but that the author didn't either purchase an ISBN or allow a distributor like Smashwords to assign a free ISBN to the book.

Margo wrote:

Sommer Leigh wrote:

Margo wrote:I DESPERATELY want to nominate a book, but there's no ISBN (the author is self-published).

Is it Angelfall? I would love to see that one nominated. It's too bad that it's self-published in this case. Did I tell you I'm reading it again? In between other books to kind of cleanse my brain.

It is Angelfall. I would read it again if I had the time, and I NEVER reread books. The problem isn't that it's self-published but that the author didn't either purchase an ISBN or allow a distributor like Smashwords to assign a free ISBN to the book.

Oh man I would love to see it nominated too. It's too bad.

I also never reread books. There are just too many wonderful books out there to waste the time. In my entire library there are only three books I have reread and continue to reread from time to time. 1) Angelfall 2) The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson 3) Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. Although that's not true about graphic novels which I often reread if I need a refresher when the next book in a series comes out.

I wish I'd thought about emailing Susan Ee at an earlier date, so I could say, "I want to nominate Angelfall; please get an ISBN!"

Margo wrote:I wish I'd thought about emailing Susan Ee at an earlier date, so I could say, "I want to nominate Angelfall; please get an ISBN!"

She must have done it recently because a nomination for Angelfall was approved this morning

I am quickly reaching the point of desperation to get an e-reader. I just can't bring myself to read on my computer screen. I stare at it all day, why do I want to stare at it each night, too? But I've heard so much about this book that I REALLY need to get it...

trixie wrote:I am quickly reaching the point of desperation to get an e-reader. I just can't bring myself to read on my computer screen. I stare at it all day, why do I want to stare at it each night, too? But I've heard so much about this book that I REALLY need to get it...

Well, if you have something like a Kindle, it's not at all like reading on a computer screen.

Susan Ee did say on her blog recently that it will also be in print at some point in the future.

I always re-read books. Many times. I love to dig into the depths. Guess I'm sort of weird that way.

I'll have to put Angelfall on my list.

Sommer, you're a judge!! That's too awesome. You go, girl. You'll do the Cybils proud!

Mira wrote:I always re-read books. Many times. I love to dig into the depths. Guess I'm sort of weird that way.

I'll have to put Angelfall on my list.

Sommer, you're a judge!! That's too awesome. You go, girl. You'll do the Cybils proud!

It's so much harder than I had anticipated! But in a good way. Nominations closed on saturday and my category has 170 nominations. I've read 26. I wish I could just upload them into my brain.

Sommer Leigh wrote:

Mira wrote:I always re-read books. Many times. I love to dig into the depths. Guess I'm sort of weird that way.

I'll have to put Angelfall on my list.

Sommer, you're a judge!! That's too awesome. You go, girl. You'll do the Cybils proud!

It's so much harder than I had anticipated! But in a good way. Nominations closed on saturday and my category has 170 nominations. I've read 26. I wish I could just upload them into my brain.

That's so fun. It's also fun that Nathan is nominated!

I hope you'll keep us posted!

Hi Sommer! Just checking in to see how things are going for you with the Cybils. Read a few books lately?

Beethovenfan wrote:Hi Sommer! Just checking in to see how things are going for you with the Cybils. Read a few books lately?

OMG Not enough time to read them all! I feel like I'm drowning in stories. I think I've read around 46?