Hey fanboys and girls! Welcome to the Various Artists’ Awards!

Traditionally, Various Artists has placed little stars beside the stories we thought were really well written, or those that just had marvelous plots. But, Stephanie and I decided we didn’t want to do that anymore, both because we don’t always agree on what’s a great story, and just because of time constraints. If we hadn’t read a story, how would we know it wasn’t “star worthy”? Plus, I’m a wuss and don’t like to hurt anyone’s feelings! Everyone deserves stars! But, alas, that’s not the way of the world.

So, because we still want to recognize those amazing stories and writers out there, we’re doing the “Various Artists’ Awards”. Here’s how it’s going to work:

We have chosen a very diverse panel of 10 judges (including ourselves). Some are writers, some are critics, some are just fans of Hanson Fiction. They were chosen because they know their stuff. If they don’t write, they’re still very forthcoming with feedback, which frankly, is so rare these days, that these folks deserve their own awards. We tried to choose people who weren’t one-trick-ponies; they read it all, no matter what the genre. Some of us are literary and grammatical snobs, others don’t give a crap. We want to be fair.

The public (that’s you) will nominate stories that they think are well written. Not, just pretty good, or not “well, my friend wrote it so I’m going to do her a favor”. Don’t act like you don’t know a good story when you read one. And don’t be insulted if your nomination or your story doesn’t end up making the cut. Hopefully, we’ll get so many nominations, that it will be torture reading them all. Only five will end up officially nominated. They’ll have to pass the judges. Those five that get the most thumbs up from us will end up on the voting form.

Also, long stories need to have enough chapters written for the judges to get a good feel for the writing and the plot. So, you folks with only a couple chapters done of your masterpiece, get cracking!

Some categories may not get enough nominations—in that case, they’ll be cut from the final list. If we get a lot of old stories nominated as well as new, the categories could be split into Old School and New School—similar to the Hall of Fame. So, if you loved an old story and a new one, nominate both! Same with authors!

Once the nominations are official, the public will do the final voting.

Alright, now, narrow down your favorites, and fill out the form and we’re off! Wish us luck on all the reading we’re gonna be doing, and on being able to choose from the gorgeous pieces you’re going to be sending our way!