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If you didn't know, every book entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Award is judged by a minimum of 15 readers. But who are they? Well, there are two adult reading groups. One is based in Stockholm, Sweden (where I lived for ten years) and one is in London, England (where I did spend lots of time until Covid 19 hit). There are well over 100 readers in the two groups. They range from 18 year olds to 85 year olds, 40% men, 60% women, black and white. Diversity is important in this award. In terms of jobs, we have doctors, vets, teachers, library assistants, 1 publisher, 2 telephone engineers, 7 translators, 13 editors, and so on and so on - the list is very, very long.
Why do they judge the awards? Simply put, they love reading. They do it for free (which is why we can post the feedback everywhere and not upset anybody). They are not 'experts' in publishing - apart from the 1 publisher - but they know a good book when they see it. And they seem to enjoy picking the finalists and winners every year.
The children's books are judged by children in UK primary/secondary schools. I I have visited a lot of schools over the years giving literacy workshops. When I'm there, I often ask teachers if the children in their class might be interested in judging a few books. And, often, thankfully, they say 'yes!' At present, we have just over 150 children judging the 2022 children's books.
So, in answer to 'Who's doing the judging?' the answer is a man called Svante in Stockholm who runs a cable company, a woman in Nottingham who's a veterinary surgeon, a grandmother in York who worked for 45 years in a fish and chip shop. And, finally, lots of children all over England. That's who!

If you still wish to enter the 2020 Wishing Shelf Book Awards and have your books judged by REAL readers, contact us at thewishingshelfawards@gmail.com

Chat soon,

Edward 

Hi everybody,

A month or so ago, we had a meeting with seven authors who have repeatedly entered the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. As a result of that meeting, we have decided to offer MEMBERSHIP to the awards. NOTE: you don´t have to be a member to be in the awards, but if you are, you will get access to the following benefits.

As a MEMBER, you will:

1. Only pay 50% of the entry fee on any future books you wish to enter in the awards - FOREVER! For as many books as you wish. So, if you wish to enter WITHOUT feedback, you will only pay £19.50 and NOT £39. And, if you wish to enter WITH feedback, you will only pay £39.50 and NOT £79.

2. If you wish us to organise an Editorial Review for you, you will only pay 50% of the fee - FOREVER! For as many books as you wish. At present the cost of an Editorial Review is £79. So, you will only pay £39.50. Note, an Editorial Review is totally separate to the awards. If you don´t know what an Editorial Review is, go to our Need a Review page on this website.


The cost of the MEMBERSHIP is £100 ($125). You will pay this fee just ONCE! It´s NOT annual. Once you are a member, you can be a member for as long as you want!

I think you´ll agree, this is a FAB offer! And, should you be intending to publish more books over the coming years, you would be CRAZY to pass it up.

Why, you might wonder, are we offering this. Well, firstly, we like to reward the authors we work with. And, secondly, we want to employ a third (part-time) member of staff to help run the awards. The funds will go towards his/her salary.

So, don´t miss out. Contact us at thewishingshelfawards@gmail.com NOW to confirm your MEMBERSHIP. Then enjoy all the benefits!

Cheers,

Edward and the Wishing Shelf Gang

Hi everybody, This will be our second year running the Best Book Cover Award. It is sort of fun, very, very cheap to enter, and every penny is sent to Blind Children UK, which is the charity we support. The funds we send our ringfenced for producing books for children with sight problems. So, for example, a child will pick a book from the Blind Children UK´s catalogue, and the charity will produce a copy of that book using a specific font, font size, paper color, etc. which that child can access. Anyway. this is the plan. You can enter the Best Book Cover Award (2022) anytime up until 30th June. We will then announce the FINALISTS and WINNERS a month later in July. The sooner you enter, the better, as there is a lot to organise. What happened last year - which worked well - was 30 of our readers got together for the day and went through all the book covers entered. They then picked a list of finalists and, from that list, the winners. There will be a Children/Young Adult Category and an Adult Category. If you wish to enter a book cover (or lots of book covers), simply send me a pdf or jpeg of the front cover, and I will then organise your entry. Send to thewishingshelfawards@gmail.com. The fee is £5 ($7) which, these days, is pretty much the price of a cup of coffee from Starbucks. A few of you have already entered the Best Book Cover Award; do not worry, your book cover will be thrown into the hat with all the rest. That´s it! It´s all a bit of fun, but it´s a wonderful charity, so don´t be shy. ENTER TODAY! Note: the Best Book Cover Award is totally separate from the book award we run every year, and will not influence the results of that award in any way.