The Cybils Awards Need You (Yes, YOU!)

The Cybils Awards aims to recognize the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal.

About the Cybils Awards

Who Can Judge?

The Children’s and Young Adult Book Blogger Awards (AKA the Cybils) is currently accepting judging applications. If you live in the USA/Canada and talk about children or teen books anywhere online (YouTube, Instagram, GoodReads, podcast, blog, etc.) you can be a Cybils 2019 judge! This is a new change for 2019. Please push the word out to book communities who may not have qualified to judge previously. (For shorthand, I refer to ‘bloggers’ in the rest of this post.) Teens can also apply – you just might need to provide a note from a caregiver stating you understand the work involved. Judges outside of USA/Canada are selected on a case by case basis, as you must independently acquire nominated titles.

Yes, Really, You Could Judge!

I have been a Cybils judge for the past three years. I had seen call outs for judges in the years before then, but I hesitated to apply. Surely when they say ‘anyone can judge’, that didn’t include me? In 2016 I finally thought “Well, what the heck, can’t hurt to apply” and I’ve been involved ever since. Even if you don’t post as often or have as many followers as some bloggers, I encourage you to apply. Many factors go into selecting judges – popularity is not one of those factors. You can find the application form here. The application deadline is this Friday September 13th at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

How Does Judging Work?

I won’t explain everything about judging here. The website does it quite well: judging overview, judging round one, and judging round two. I just wanted to write this quick post to encourage people to apply. The Cybils 2019 could use some fresh eyes, particularly ones that don’t belong to White cis women. If you have any questions about what it’s like to be a judge (I have done both rounds), I’d be happy to answer them.

Brief Overview of the Cybils Process

The Cybils consist of two rounds. In the first two weeks of October, anyone can nominate books published in the past year for round one. A panel of judges for each category then reviews all the nominees to create a shortlist for round two. The shortlists are announced on January 1. A different panel of judges then reviews the shortlist to select the final award winner, announced mid-February. This year, there are 12 categories:

• Early Chapter Books
• Easy Readers
• Fiction Picture Books & Board Books
• Graphic Novels
  • Elementary/Middle-Grade
  • Young Adult
• Middle-Grade Fiction
• Nonfiction
  • Elementary/Middle Grade
  • Junior High/Senior High
• Poetry
• Speculative Fiction
  • Elementary/Middle-Grade
  • Young Adult
• Young Adult Fiction

I would appreciate if you share this information and encourage someone who’s never participated in the Cybils to apply!