[Skip to Content]

VOTING PROCESS

Important Change for Ann Bannon Voting:

To vote for the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award, voters must be subscriber for the Golden Crown Literary Society Newsletter. To become a subscriber, follow this link to enter your email address. This is the email address that will allow you to vote on RankedVote in April. If you have any questions, reach out to the Awards Administrators, awards@goldencrown.org. The first round of voting begins April 17th and the last day to become a subscriber to be able to vote is April 16th at 5pm PST.

 

Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award Voting

  • Novels must be entered in a specific judged genre category (e.g., Contemporary Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Historical Fiction) to be eligible.
     
  • Books will be evaluated by judges in the genre categories.
     

  • Finalists will be determined by cross-novel scores on 18 “essential elements” and a 19th cross-genre item common to all novel categories. (The essential elements are questions set into six groups – Opening/Premise, Plot, Characters, Writing, Setting, and Reader Impact/Inclusivity.)

  • Voting Rounds: open for 2 weeks each

    • First round of voting from April 17th through May 1st 

    • First round will include any finalist from the novel genre categories who elected to participate in Ann Bannon judging

    • The top 10 vote getters from this round of voting will be the finalist for the Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award

    • Finalists will be posted by May 2nd 

    • Voting for the final round will begin on May 3rd and end on May 17th

    • The top three from this second round of voting will be the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners

    • Last day to register for the GCLS Newsletter to be able to vote is April 16th at 5pm PST.

Tee Corinne Award for Outstanding Cover Design

  • Book covers must be entered in a specific judged genre category (e.g., Contemporary Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Historical Fiction) to be eligible.

  • Nominations must be received NO LATER THAN December 31, 2025

  • Fees paid by credit card or Paypal are due at the time of nomination.  Fees made by check must be received NO LATER THAN January 15, 2026

  • Voting for Round One:  February 1 – February 14, 2026 at 4pm PST

  • Finalists Announced February 20, 2026

  • Voting for Final Round: February 21 – March 6, 2026 at 4pm PST

  • Book cover images are due at the time of nomination

 

Trailblazer Award and Lee Lynch Classic Award

  • Nominations must be received NO LATER THAN December 31, 2025

  • There are no fees for nominations in these categories

  • The Lee Lynch Classic Award will be announced on February 3, 2026 – Lesbian Classics Day (Gertrude Stein’s Birthday)

  • The Trailblazer Award recipient will be announced on April 30, 2026 (Alice B. Toklas' Birthday).

 

*Winners for all other awards will be announced at the 2026 GCLS Awards Ceremony: Orlando, FL.

 

**Please note: Books are judged against detailed criteria, not against each other.  Thus, a book read and judged in November will be evaluated against the same criteria as a book read and judged in March.

Share