Hey guys,

I've been working over the last several months with some of you (particularly
Tanaqui, Aranel Took, Inkling, Radbooks, and elliska –
THANK YOU!) to figure out how we can improve the awards for the 2009
year. We are all looking forward to the upcoming awards and I will have some
specific dates of when we expect to start soon. There are a few changes that
need to be made to the website, but once they are, off we go again. :-)

[Promoters: You may if you like forward this on to your group. I leave it up to
your discretion.]

When the 2009 awards do start, I think you'll notice some nice improvements to
areas like the FAQs (we're adding a few and hopefully making them all more
useful). There are also some changes to award policy that I want to discuss with
you all.

Many of these changes affect authors. If you are nominating a story that looks
like it would be affected, please mention these changes to the author so they
can make the decision that best represents their story.



FICLETS AND DRABBLES

In previous years we have let drabbles and other fixed-length ficlets
compete against each other in special subcategories so that they didn't run
against short stories, let alone novels – a definite Good Thing as far as it
goes. But because there weren't always enough of the longer fixed-legnth
ficlets, those pieces often ended up going into their third-choice categories,
and some authors have noted that they'd rather they run against full-length
stories in their first- or second-choice categories.

So next year we will be trying something slightly different. Drabbles (== pieces
exactly 100 words long) will still compete in special subcategories within all
the main subcategories. Drabble authors should select three main category
choices just like they did in the past, and don't need to do anything new.

Longer ficlets (== for 2009, a piece up to 1,000 words but not also a drabble)
*may* compete against other ficlets but may also compete against full-length
story. It's up to the author. If the author wants to compete against other
ficlets they should select the new "Genres: Ficlets" main category and two
others of their choice. This will work like the "Genres: Longer Works" category
in that you are guaranteed to compete against other ficlets but not necessarily
about the same type of character or time period.

As with all categories, your order choice matters. If you want to compete
against other ficlets you should select "Genres: Ficlets" as
your first-choice category.

Series will mostly be handled along the same lines. Short drabble series (up to
~5 drabbles) will compete in the Drabble subcategories. Longer drabble series
and series of longer ficlets may compete in the "Genres: Ficlets" main category
if they select that category. These longer series can also compete against
full-length stories in any of the main categories if the author prefers.

Just to be clear, series may be longer than the 1,000 word limit and still
compete in Ficlets, if each part is less than 1,000 words. Of course if you have
a ficlet series of thirty triple drabbles (9k words) your liaison may raise an
eyebrow and suggest you move it to a category where it could compete on more
equal footing. We'll handle those rare instances on a case-by-case basis.

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REVIEWING GOALS

By popular request, we're going to extend the date you have to set your
reviewing goal (if you choose to do this). You'll have until one month after
categorization is finalized.

*****************************

OTHER NEW MAIN CATEGORIES

We decided to offer a few new categories this year in addition to the
Ficlets one mentioned above.

Under Genres, you will now be able to select "Character Studies." This
is good for pieces that are more about exploring a certain character
rather than being drama, humor, etc. (The characters don't need to be
canonical; character studies of original characters are allowed as well.)

The Times subcategory will be divided into the following categories:

==> Times: First Age and Prior
==> Times: Second and Early Third Age (through 2850 T.A./1250 S.R.)
==> Times: Pre-Ring War (2851-3017 T.A./1251-1418 S.R.)
==> Times: Ring War (3018-3019 T.A./1418-1419 S.R.)
==> Times: Post-Ring War and Beyond (after 3019 T.A./1419 S.R.)
==> Times: Modern Times
==> Times: Multi-Age

In general, Pre-Ring War will cover the events of _The Hobbit_ and the
childhoods and early adventures of Lord of the Rings characters; Ring War will
cover the Quest and the Ring War itself; and post-Ring War will include events
that happened after the Ring War, whether in the Third or Fourth Age.

As always, the dates are suggestions more than hard rules; if you have a story
that is technically set in 3017 that you feel fits better in Ring War than the
Pre-Ring War period, you are free to select that. Similarly, you may feel a
story set in the tail end of the First Age fits better with Second and Early
Third Age; again, that's your decision. You are really selecting what kind of
story you would want to run against rather than giving an absolute description
of your own story. (If you do decide to do this, you might want to note it in
the summary, just so your readers aren't surprised.)

*****************************

BANNERS

We have devised a system that reflects both of the options in the recent poll.
Authors will have some banners made available to them that don't require
customization (so they can be used right away), but banner makers will also be
able to make banners available to all categories (and winning authors may
customize these banners themselves or request that one of our volunteers help
them).

I'll discuss more details about this with the banner artists after we
get through categorizing, and authors will be informed at the end of the awards.
It's hardly a secret, but it's a little technical to describe in detail to
people who won't be making or using banners.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys will nominate!

Yours,

Marta (MEFA Admin.)