An Honor to be Nominated

One of the disappointing things about being self-published is the lack of recognition in regards to award nominations. Even after getting traditionally published, my books haven't been eligible for awards such as the Nebula or the World Fantasy Award because they were previously published.

I have been nominated twice for the Goodreads Choice Awards (2010 for Wintertide and 2012 for Percepliquis) but those were selected by ratings and the number of readers who have shelved the books.  This is certainly an honor, because it is a real indication of how readers feel.  So a kind of "people's choice" awards for books and I was shocked and thrilled each time.

Today, however, I discovered that Theft of Swords has been nominated for an Audie Award. What's an Audie you ask?  Well it's not a fancy luxury car that has been misspelled. It's essentially the Grammy for Audio Books. Since 1996 the awards have been granted by the Audio Publishers Association. As I understand it they are given out during a fancy banquet as part of Book Expo in New York. I'm not sure if authors are asked to attend, and if selected I'm not sure who accepts the award (the publisher, the author, the narrator) but if there is even a chance that I might be able to walk up and give an acceptance speech that would be just too cool. Since the likelihood of that happening is slim I'd just like to say.

"I want to thank Orbit Books for optioning the audio rights, to be honest I thought a book of my stature wouldn't have such an opportunity.  To Recorded Books the audio producer who took a chance on a new, previously self-published author. To Tim Gerald Reynolds who did such an exceptional job with the narration. While I had no say in your selection, I couldn't be happier with any other choice. You've brought the characters to life and made my book seem better than it is by your excellent interpretation.  To the linguist who worked with me to get all the pronunciations correct. And offering suggestions when even I wasn't sure how certain words would be "spoken." I'd also like to thank the people whose names I don't even know, the copy editor and proof readers at Orbit, the director and sound engineer at Recorded Books. And last but not least, to my loyal fans who have been so supportive.  I write for you, and am honored by your belief in me and my books.  Oh...I hear...the music playing me off...thank you....thank you all."