ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS

The information below provides details regarding a book's eligibility for the Goldie Awards. Please read this information carefully. If you have any questions, please contact the Awards Administrators before submitting your nominations.

Content must include significant themes, characters, situations, or other content about women or sapphically aligned nonbinary people who are romantically and/or sexually attracted to women or sapphically aligned nonbinary people.
The book should contain a main character who is a woman or nonbinary person who identifies as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, Two-Spirit, sapphic, homo/bi/pan-romantic asexual, and/or queer. If the book contains a primary romantic arc, it should feature a woman or sapphically aligned nonbinary person paired with a woman or sapphically aligned nonbinary person. Gender and sexuality are subjective and personal, and not all nonbinary people are woman-aligned or identify as sapphic for their attraction to women. Only those characters who do should be considered. For the purposes of these awards and all our programs and activities, we assert unequivocally that trans women are women.
The book must be readily available (i.e., bookstores or online) for purchase in the United States. Please note: For sale online is considered "readily available."
If the book is pulled from publication at any point during the awards process - from the publication date up to and including the date of the awards presentation - the book will be reviewed and may be considered for ineligibility.
The book must have a publishing date between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024, inclusive. For Audiobook Narrator Award, publication date refers to the release date of the audiobook, not the source material.
The book copies submitted in the nomination process must be in one of the following formats: For eBook submissions, both of the following formats must be submitted: .epub and .pdf. Only one copy of each eBook version is necessary. For Audiobook Narrator Award, copies must be submitted in a single mp3 or mp4 file inclusive of the entire work. For works released by Tantor or Audible Studios, files will be obtained directly from the audiobook publisher.
Self-published books are eligible.
The book must be a First Edition and published in English. For Audiobook Narrator Award, this refers to the performance, not the source material. As an example, a performance of Curious Wine would be accepted if that was a new performance released in 2024.
Reprints or releases of a book in another delivery format (i.e., hardcover, paperback, or eBook) of previously published books are not eligible. This includes a reprint of an audiobook previously released.
Subsequent editions (i.e., 2nd, 3rd, etc.) are not eligible, regardless of the addition or omission of material. For Audiobook Narrator Award, a new edition with a new recording IS eligible. As an example, Jane Smith performed Curious Wine and released it in 2016. If Sally Smith makes a new performance of Curious Wine in 2024, it is eligible for an award.
Anyone, including the general public, is invited to nominate an eligible title(s).
No book shall be eligible for an award in more than one category; except as follows:
- Books nominated in a "genre" category can also be nominated for the Ann Bannon Award; and,
- Covers for books nominated in a "genre" category can also be nominated for the Tee Corinne Award; and,
- An author's debut novel may also be nominated for the Debut Novel Award.
- Please note: To be eligible for the Debut Novel, Ann Bannon, and Tee Corinne awards, books must be entered in a “genre” category.
Books nominated must meet these length requirements:
- Anthologies/collections – a minimum of three individual pieces totaling at least 40,000 words
- Novels – a minimum of 40,000 words
- Non-Fiction books – a minimum of 40,000 words
- Poetry – submissions must be at least 48 pages long, and at least 50 percent “new” poems
- Audiobook Narrator Award – source material a minimum of 40,000 words
Audiobooks, books, and covers created by generative artificial intelligence (AI) are ineligible for a Goldie Award. AI-assisted books and covers are eligible.
With the exception of issues related to artificial intelligence, the decision of the Golden Crown Literary Society's Awards Administrator(s) as to the eligibility of any book shall be final and no correspondence shall be entered into in relation to eligibility. (Details about AI-related eligibility requirements can be found HERE.)