Today is the LAST DAY to vote in the 2011 Paranormal Cover Art Awards.  Some of the categories are EXTREMELY close, like five votes apart, so please get as many people as possible to vote.

Click HERE to Vote!

Help spread the word:

Tweet:

LAST DAY to vote in the Paranormal Cover Art Awards hosted by @Abigail_ATUF Go vote for your favorites http://j.mp/6iaA5d

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<p>Have you voted in the 2011 Paranormal Cover Art Awards hosted by <a href="http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/">All Things Urban Fantasy</a>?&#160; Voting ends today (winners will be announced on January 1st).&#160; Don’t let your favorites lose! <br /></p><a href="http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/12/voting-is-now-open-3rd-annual.html"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="2011 Paranormal Cover Art Awards" alt="" src="http://i982.photobucket.com/albums/ae307/AllthingsUF/2011-Cover-Art-Awards2.gif" /></a> <p><a name="more"></a></p><p align="center"><font color="#ff0000" size="7"><strong><a href="http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/2011/12/voting-is-now-open-3rd-annual.html">Click HERE to Vote!</a></strong></font></p>

I’ve spent the past week tallying up all the nominations that came in (thank you so much to all of you who took time to nominate your favorite covers!), tracking down cover artists, and formatting the voting ballot.  I can already tell the competition is going to be tough this year, so make sure to vote for your favorites and help spread the word any and every way you can. 

All Things Urban Fantasy presents

The 2011 Paranormal Cover Art Awards
 
 

Ready to see which covers made the cut…

Last month I heard that we had been chosen to receive the I Love Your Blog for December by Black Nail Reviews.  The interview that I did went up today, so if you’re curious about the origins of this site and a few of my blogging confessions, go check it out. 

It's that time of year again to start nominating covers for the
2010 Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards
presented by All Things Urban Fantasy

If you are one of the 2519 people who voted in the inaugural 2009 Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards last year, you know how this works:

• Nominations-The nomination process begins today and runs through November 20th. 
  • Who Can Nominate? - Keeping with last year's format, I'm asking Bloggers, Reviewers, Authors, Publishers, Publicists, Editors, and Artists etc. to do the heavy lifting of narrowing down the hundreds of paranormal titles released in 2010 down to the best of the best each category via the nomination form (see below). 
• Voting - On December 1st voting begins (open to everyone) and will run through December 29th.
• Winners - On January 1st the winning covers will be announced including the Cover of the Year.  See the 2009 winners HERE
• Giveaways – Everyone who votes will be entered to win all the giveaways.  More details to come. (*NOTE* If you are an author/publisher etc. and want to offer a giveaway for the voters please contact me.

A few changes are in store for this year's awards including a couple of new categories and the retirement of a few old ones.  Here are the 15 categories for the 2010 awards:

• Best Anthology Cover
• Best Foreign (non US) Cover
• Best Paranormal YA Cover
• *NEW CATEGORY* Best Paranormal Steampunk Cover
• *NEW CATEGORY* Best Object Cover
• Best Male Cover
• Best Female Cover
• Best Duo Cover
• Best Male w/ Animal Cover
• Best Female w/ Animal Cover
• Most Unique Cover
• Best Debut Cover
• Best Covers in a Series
• Best Sneak Peak Cover for 2011
• Cover of the Year 2010

I’ve contacted a number of Bloggers, Reviewers, Authors, Publishers, Publicists, Editors, and Artists already, but if I missed you and you’d like to take part in the nomination process, you must fill out THIS FORM by November 20th. 

A couple of good cover resources to check out are All Things Urban Fantasy's Cover Art posts & Hot Off The Press posts or check out Literary Escapism's comprehensive Facebook photo albums. 

If you have a question, please check out the Awards FAQ from last year or feel free contact me.

Grab the button and spread the word!

 
<a href="http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i982.photobucket.com/albums/ae307/AllthingsUF/2010coverawards-1-1.png" alt="Hoted by All Things Urban Fantasy" width="125" height="125" /></a>

All Things Urban Fantasy has been nominated for Best Speculative Fiction Book Blog!  To give you an idea of how HUGE this is, last year the winner in this category was SciFiGuy.ca (Doug was unfortunately not able to register this year or he’d have gotten my vote). 

 

This year I’m up against two of my favorite blogs: The Book Smugglers, and Wicked Lil Pixie both of which have been around a lot longer than ATUF, but anything is possible, right? I already made the first cut that narrowed the list of nominees down from six to three.

 

If you want to see the nominees in all the other categories click HERE for the niche categories & HERE for the featured categories. And if you’re a little confused as the the whole BBAW awards work, here are the details:

 

The process of the 2010 Book Blogger Appreciation Awards is as follows:

Phase One—Registration: June 7—July 7
Book bloggers wishing to be considered for an award must announce their intent to register by publishing a post on their blog highlighting and linking to five past posts they feel distinguish their blog in their chosen niche. (See the descriptions of the awards for information about the nature of the five past posts.) Once the post declaring their intention (including the five links to past posts) has gone live, bloggers must fill out the BBAW Awards Registration form and include the permalink to the post announcing their intent to register. Bloggers who wish to be eligible to vote but who are not interested in being considered for an award must register in a niche, but they do not need to announce their intent to register and do not need to publish a post with links to five past posts. Bloggers will also be able to nominate their top pick for a book in their niche that was published between August 2009 and June 2010.  (View the niche categories and the featured categories)

Phase Two—Creating the Long List July 13—July 25
Every blogger who has registered within a chosen niche or category will receive a ballot. The ballot will include all the bloggers who have registered within that same niche. Bloggers will then be asked to pick and rank the top five blogs within their chosen niche (they may, of course, choose their own blog). The combined data from all bloggers within each niche will determine the long list for that niche.  In addition, the categories of best meme, feature, and event will be introduced at this time.

Phase Three—Panels Determine Short Lists August 1—August20
A panel of judges for each award will evaluate the blogs within that category to create a short list of blogs for final voting. Panels will be made up of bloggers registered for Book Blogger Appreciation Week who have volunteered for the job. No blogger will judge a category in which he or she is registered. Bloggers who registered but chose not to be considered for an award may volunteer to be a judge.

Phase Four—All bloggers registered for Book Blogger Appreciation Week Vote on the Shortlist August 28—September 6
Every blogger registered for Book Blogger Appreciation Week will receive an individual code that will be used for voting. Each registered blogger will receive one code and will be able to vote in every category.

Phase Five—Winners Announced!
The winners will be announced throughout Book Blogger Appreciation Week on September 13-17.

---

 

Celebrate your favorite book blogs September 13-17 during Book Blogger Appreciation Week!

The 2010 Book Bloggers Appreciation Week has just been announced. 

Book Blogger Appreciation Week is a week long festival celebrating the community of book bloggers and their contribution to preserving a culture of literacy through book reviews and recommendations, reading reflections, and general bookish chat.  BBAW also includes an awards component.  For more information on the BBAW 2010 Awards and how to participate, please visit the BBAW 2010 Awards Blog.  BBAW events include daily blogging topics, blogger interview swaps, special guest posts, and so much more!

In order to be considered, a blogger has to register their site and share a specific number of posts that best represent their blog for each category.  It feels a little weird to have to nominate myself, but here goes:

BBAW Niche Category or Featured Category awards

If you wish to be considered for a BBAW Niche Category or Featured Category award, please write and publish a post on your blog with appropriate links to a) 5 posts that you feel best represent your blog in terms of the niche category for which you registered, and b) 5 posts that best represent EACH featured category for which you registered (i.e., Best Written Book Blog). You may use the same links for multiple categories if you wish, but please separate the list of links so that the judges know which links pertain to which category.

Best Speculative Fiction Book Blog—This blog offers the best consistently excellent reviews, recommendations, analyses, and other content in fantasy, science fiction, horror, and/or paranormal books. The blog may cover several of these subgenres or just one. **For Niche category awards, 3 posts must be reviews, recommendations, or analyses of a specific title; 2 posts are up to the nominated blogger

1. Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater  (A book I loved)
2. Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (A book I liked)
3. Review: Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger (A book I hated)
4. Hot off the Press: May Urban Fantasy Releases
5. Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards 2009

Best Written Book Blog—This blog is consistently well-written, clear, and engaging, no matter what the subject. [Note that nominated bloggers for this award are required to submit 3 reviews, recommendations, or analyses of a specific title; 2 are up to the nominated blogger.]

1. Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater  (A book I loved)
2. Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (A book I liked)
3. Review: Dark Time by Dakota Banks (A book I disliked)
4. Review: Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger (A book I hated)
5. My Choice Post: Books that Blur the Line – Part Two

Best Author Interviews—This blogger does his or her research and asks the questions no one else does. These interviews are top-notch. Note that this award reflects the quality of the interviews, not the popularity of the person being interviewed. [Note that nominated bloggers for this award are required to submit 4 interviews; 1 post is left to their discretion.]

1. Interview: Jess Haines “Hunted By The Others
2. Interview: Karen Chance “Inked”
3. Interview: Carrie Vaughn “Voices of Dragons”
4. Interview: Stacia Kane “Unholy Ghosts”
5. Interview: Sean Cummings “Shade Fright”

Best New Book Blog—This blog was launched on or after September 1, 2009. The blogger has already made his or her mark in terms of the quality of the reviews, recommendations, analyses, and other content on the blog; it's hard to imagine the book blogging world without this blogger. [Note that nominated bloggers for this award are required to submit only 2 posts that are reviews, recommendations, or analyses of a specific title; 3 posts are left to their discretion.]

1. Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater  (A book I loved)
2. Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep (A book I liked)
3. Review: Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger (A book I hated)
4. Hot off the Press: May Urban Fantasy Releases
5. Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards 2009

I’ve been meaning to post about the awards some of you have generously given me recently, but I’m a little late in thanking you guys so there are a few of these:

Thanks to Angela from Dark Faerie Tales for giving me the Kick Ass Blog Award.

Thanks to Emily from The Chronicles of Emily Cross for giving me the 'From me to you' blog award! 

Thanks to J. from J. Kaye’s Book Blog for giving me the ‘Your Blog is Fabulous’ award

Thanks to Natasha from Wicked Little Pixie for giving me the Happy 101 award

And Thanks to Tynga from Tynga’s Reviews for the triple love with these 3 awards:

The Blog Monster award signifies all the bloggers out there who constantly work hard to keep an updated and insightful website. They aren't afraid to take a bite with their honest reviews and enjoyable content!!!

The One Lovely Blog award is for those bloggers who write from their heart.

This award is to all those prolific bloggers, who read voraciously, blog tirelessly and have made the blogging community such a vibrant place. This award is in recognition of their achievements and their enthusiasm. They are the people who keep me going!

(click here to see the story behind the award)

Thank you all so much!  I’m passing the blog love for all these awards onto:

1. Vampire Wire

2. Bloody Bookaholic

3. Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings

4. Fantasy Literature

5. Smexy Books 

6. Mindful Musings

7. SciFiGuy.ca

8. Sara's Urban Fantasy Blog

9. Urban Fantasy Fans

10. The Eclectic Reader

11. Bite Club

12. Confessions of a Wandering Heart

Thank you to everyone who took time to vote in not just the Cover of the Year award but the entire 1st Annual Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards.  I’m still overwhelmed by the response.  If you missed the results of the main awards which led up to the Cover of the Year award, click HERE to see them.  *See below to find out which voter won the winning book.

After 328 voters, the Cover of the Year in the 1st Annual Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards 2009 is…

Cover of the Year

   

Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine (UK) - cover by unknown 7 2% Midnight Cravings by Michele Hauf Karen Whiddon Lori Devoti Anna Leonard Vivi Anna and Bonnie Vanak - cover by unknown 13 4% The Dark Divine by Bree Despain - cover by Joel Tippe 20 6% * WINNER* Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - cover by James Porto 206 63% Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost - cover by Kimberly Schamber 8 2% Spider Touched by Jory Strong - cover by Tony Mauro 14 4% Tempted by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast - cover by unknown 4 1% Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong - cover by Craig White 8 2% Destiny of the Wolf by Terry Spear - cover by Dawn Pope 38 12% Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr - cover by Mark Tucker 11 3%

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (cover by James Porto). 

 

James's Inspiration Behind the Image: Simon and Schuster asked me to make a photo illustration for the cover of a 'supernatural teen love story'. This immediately got my attention as I have an interest in bringing to life mythical characters and am a sucker for teen romance. Reading the manuscript evoked dark haunting images around the character of Patch, a fallen angel, and I began to imagine a brooding black and white image of the moment when he is thrust from heaven, his wings shredding on the way down. The sketch below shows the initial idea which was submitted along with others. I wanted the lighting, tonality, and mood to be dramatic, mysterious, intense and above all, passionate! It was a great assignment. –Cover Feature from Wondrous Reads 

  Authors, artists, publishers etc. If you won, feel free to grab the graphic for your site:

<a href="http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i982.photobucket.com/albums/ae307/AllthingsUF/f-001.jpg" alt="Winner Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards" width="125" height="125" /></a>

And the voter (chosen by Randomizer.com) who wins a copy of Hush, Hush is…

280. Sommer Wiegert whose email begins with tellgreatstories

Congratulations!  I’ve sent you an email Sommer.  Please respond within 72 hours or I will chose a new winner.

There were a total of 2519 people who voted in the 1st annual Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards! 

Considering the number of voters, I can’t believe how close the race was in a few categories, and conversely my sympathies go out to any cover that was nominated along with the unstoppable juggernaut that is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.  As promised, the titles are now linked to Amazon if you want to find out more about any given book or buy them.  I did my best to track down the artists/photographers responsible for the cover art for each of the nominated books, but this information is often unavailable.  My apologies to those I could not find.   If I missed you, or if there are any corrections I need to make, please let me know and I’ll update this post.  The winners of the voters prizes will be listed at the bottom of this post along with the Cover of the Year poll and giveaway.  

  Authors, artists, publishers etc. If you won, feel free to grab the graphic for your site:

<a href="http://allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i982.photobucket.com/albums/ae307/AllthingsUF/f-001.jpg" alt="Winner Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Here is the incomplete list of people responsible for the beautiful covers we’ve all been voting for:

Artist	Cover(s)
Thomas Egner	The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
Bruce Emmett	Strange Brew anthology
Jaime DeJesus	Unfallen Dead by Mark Del Franco
Daniel Dos Santos	All of Patricia Briggs covers
Fernanda Brussi Gonçalves	Fallen by Lauren Kate
Juliana Kolesova	Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Tony Mauro	Spider Touched by Jory Strong
Chris McGrath	Deathwish by Rob Thurman,  Scarlet by Jordan Summers
Cliff Nielsen	Darker Angels by M L N Hanover, Jessica’s Guide to Dating on The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
Dawn Pope	Destiny of the Wolf by Terry Spear
James Porto	Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
Larry Rostant	Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk, White Witch Black Curse by Kim Harrison
Kimberly Schamber	Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost
Don Sipley	Deadtown by Nancy Holzner,  Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready,  Dawnbreaker by Jocelynn Drake,  Dark Time by Dakota Banks,  Unleashed by John Levitt
Sharon Tancredi	Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
Joel Tippe	The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
Mark Tucker	Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
Victoria Vebell	On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
Chad Michael Ward	Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
Jason Chan	Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
Craig White	Huntress anthology,  Covet by J.R. Ward,  Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong,  Kiss Of A Demon King by Kresley Cole,  Lover Avenged by J. R. Ward,  Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand by Carrie Vaughn

And the winning covers are…

Best Foreign (non US) Cover

Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre (UK) 346 15% *WINNER* Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine (UK) 772 33% The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (UK) 323 14% Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead UK 304 13% Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead (UK) 623 26%

Best Anthology Cover

 

Huntress by Christine Warren Marjorie M. Liu Caitlin Kittredge and Jenna Maclaine. 293 12% The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2 Edited by Trisha Telep 254 11% *WINNER* Midnight Cravings by Michele Hauf Karen Whiddon Lori Devoti Anna Leonard Vivi Anna and Bonnie Vanak 1,152 49% Must Love Hellhounds by Ilona Andrews Meljean Brook Charlaine Harris and Nalini Singh 247 10% Strange Brew edited by P N Elrod 427 18%

Best Partial Body Cover

 

Covet by J.R. Ward 182 8% *WINNER* The Dark Divine by Bree Despain 759 32% Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr 687 29% Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong 313 13% Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland 453 19%

Best YA Cover

 

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev 304 13% Fallen by Lauren Kate 622 26% Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr 184 8% *WINNER* Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick 1,079 45% My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent 231 10%

Best Chick-lit Style Cover

Hex in High Heels by Linda Wisdom 283 12% Kiss & Hell by Dakota Cassidy 728 30% Over My Dead Body by Michele Bardsley 157 7% Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson (UK version) 299 13% *WINNER* Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost 924 39%

Best Male Only Cover

 

Covet by J. R. Ward 105 4% *WINNER* Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick 1,590 66% Kiss Of A Demon King by Kresley Cole 208 9% Lover Avenged by J. R. Ward 356 15% Unfallen Dead by Mark Del Franco 156 6%

Best Female Only Cover

 

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs 456 19% Darker Angels by M L N Hanover 515 22% Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost 249 10% *WINNER* Spider Touched by Jory Strong 817 34% White Witch Black Curse by Kim Harrison 340 14%

Best Duo Cover

Deathwish by Rob Thurman 371 15% Jessica’s Guide to Dating on The Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey 396 16% Scarlet by Jordan Summers 117 5% Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge 234 10% *WINNER* Tempted by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 1,314 54%

Best Female with Animal Cover

   

Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready 326 14% *WINNER* Frostbitten by Kelley Armstrong 928 39% Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs 711 30% Kitty and the Dead Man’s Hand by Carrie Vaughn 224 9% Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews 191 8%

Best Male with Animal Cover

Bengal's Heart by Lora Leigh 594 25% The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan 523 22% *WINNER* Destiny of the Wolf by Terry Spear 675 29% The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance Edited by Trisha Telep 302 13% Unleashed by John Levitt 273 12%

Best Floating Head Cover

   

The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod 228 10% Dawnbreaker by Jocelynn Drake 394 17% Dream Warrior by Sherrilyn Kenyon 530 22% *WINNER*  Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr 1,114 47% On the Edge by Ilona Andrews 116 5%

Most Unique Cover

 

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev 411 17%  *WINNER* Hush Hush by Becca FItzpatrick 1,306 54% Mortal Sins by Eileen Wilks 193 8% My Soul to Take Rachel Vincent 221 9% Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler 290 12%

Best Debut Cover (new author/series/standalone)

Dark Time by Dakota Banks 301 12% Deadtown by Nancy Holzner 201 8% *WINNER* Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick 1,471 61% My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent 309 13% Undone by Rachel Caine 133 6%

Best Overall Covers in a Series

Allie Beckstrom series by Devon Monk 87 4% Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs 407 17% *WINNER* The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare 1,070 45% The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost 261 11% Werecats series by Rachel Vincent 575 24%

Most Anticipated Cover for 2010

Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison 373 16% Inked Anthology by Karen Chance Marjorie M. Liu Yasmine Galenorn Eileen Wilks 437 18% Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey 337 14% * WINNER*  Shift by Rachel Vincent 652 27% Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs 578 24%

The winners of the voters prizes (chosen by Randomizer.com) are:

A signed copy of Deadtown by Nancy Holzner (nominee for Best Debut Cover) goes to #44. Sandy from USA whose email starts with gulliblemook 

A signed copy of  Hex in High Heels by Linda Wisdom (nominee for Best Floating Head Cover) along with a couple hexy goodies goes to # 1881. Marie from USA whose email begins with Fuerte541

A copy of Destiny of the Wolf by Terry Spear (Winner for Best Male with Animal Cover) goes to #1434. Cecilia Huddleston from USA whose email begins with ceciliah

A personalized copy of The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod (nominee for Best Floating Head Cover) *UK only goes to #1855. Kelley from the UK whose email begins with butterfly.toodles

2 copies of My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent goes to #1031. Kelley from USA whose email begins with evanskelley & #692. Mengxi from Canada whose email begins with marcyzhang8

Grand Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Certificate plus your choice of any one book that wins its category goes to # 2483. Erica from Australia whose email begins with erica_stacy

Congratulations!  I’ve emailed each of you please respond within 72 hours or new winners will be chosen.

But wait…There is one more award to give out and one more chance to win! The votes are in, the winning covers have been announced.  Now its time to pit them all against each other (excluding Most Anticipated Cover and Best Covers in a Series) and pick the urban fantasy Cover of the Year!  Everyone who votes in this category (*open internationally) will be eligible to win the Cover of the Year 2009 book. The winning cover and voter will be announced on January 8th

Click HERE to cast your vote for Cover of the Year 2009. One voter will win the winning book.  Open internationally. 

Special Thanks to the MANY, MANY people who helped make this possible:  The Panel of Experts who spent hours narrowing down the hundreds of books published in 2009 to the five covers in each category; the generous authors and Jayne from eHarlequin.com Community who offered books and goodies to the voters; Tynga from Tynga’s Blog Design for whipping up the button for the awards; and to all of you who promoted the awards.  I shutter to think what this would have been without each one of you.  Thank you!