Previous Finalists

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Many off you will know I LOVE stats. So here are a few for you. Below is a list of HOW MANY BOOKS WERE ENTERED IN EACH CATEGORY for the 2021 awards - including the NEW Audio Book Category.

Most book awards keep this secret. We don't!

Category 1 Pre-School Picture Books 50 (with feedback) 12 (without)

Category 2 Books for 6 – 8 Year Olds 74 (with feedback) 19 (without)

Category 3 Books for 9 – 12 Year Olds 62 (with feedback) 6 (without)

Category 4 Books for Teenagers 71 (with feedback) 9 (without)

Category 5 Books for Adults (fiction)196 (with feedback) 17 (without)

Category 6 Books for Adults (non-fiction) 97 (with feedback ) 23 (without)

Category 7 (AUDIO BOOKS): Children/Young Adult Category 46 (with feedback)

Category 8 (Audio Books): Adult Category 58 (with feedback)

Cheers,Edward and The Wishing Shelf Gang

I do enjoy this time of year! It's true. I know the weather is horrible (in England anyway) and summer is a long, LONG way off, but it is also when the Reading Groups (children and adult) start to work out who will be the FINALISTS in the Awards.

A week ago, I visited a school in London which is helping us to decide the finalists and winners in Category 1, 2 and 3. The children (yrs 1 - 5) were very much enjoying the books and, I'm happy to say, seemed very decisive when deciding which books they liked the most. Just like the Adult Books, they look at the story, editing, style of writing and the cover. That's one of the best things about this Award. Not only do we help authors, we also help the children in the schools we work with to understand the importance of analysing and being critical of a text; a skill they will need as they move further up the educational ladder.

I also visited the London Adult Reading Group. The best way I can describe it is a 'nuclear bunker'. They met in a cafe in North London; 26 of them, and every one of them seemed to think differently about every one of the books! But, although they argued a lot (A LOT!), they all seemed to be enjoying it. Oh, and there was a lot of coffee and a lot of chocolate cake on offer, so that seemed to help.

On March 1st, we will be announcing the finalists of the 2021 Awards. Now, this is important. I understand how important your book is to you. I should! I have written 19 books myself. But, if your book is not a finalist, there's nothing I can do to change that. I will not even have read your book; it's up to the Reading Groups (not me) to decide the finalist and winners. So please, please, PLEASE don't scream at me. I know a few will, no matter what I say, but, hey, I can but try!

Regarding feedback, we will start sending that out after March 1st, but only to non-finalists. Then, after we announce the winners on April 1st, we will be sending feedback out to everybody. The feedback will go out pretty much all the way through to the end of the year - there's a lot of it! When we send you your feedback, you will then be able to decide if you wish us to publish it on , Amazon.co.uk, Bookbub.com and Goodreads.com. It will be up to you. But, remember, we won't change the individual feedback in any way. We will post it exactly as it is.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful to you. Remember, if you don't know what's happening and when, just visit the website: www.thewsa.co.uk. Pretty much everything you need to know is on there.

All the best,

Edward

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