2007 ENnie Awards Submissions Questions thread

[Denise]

Hi all,

We're opening up the submissions for the Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards Monday, February 26th.  Now while I confess that the judges have yet to make any firm changes on categories or policies, we can assume that the categories will pretty much stay as is with only minor adjustments.

This year we've done away with the central shipping option.  Unfortunately last year the US Postal Service lost an entire box of submitted product sent out by our Submissions Coordinator to one of the judges, and we don't want to be responsible for ensuring the product gets out to all of the judges.

So anyhow, feel free to ask questinos here, and I can try to answer them!

[Justin D. Jacobson]

One thing I always that was odd was the requirement to send a copy of a book to a judge who might already have that book. By way of suggestion, you should consider having each judge post a list of products they already own. The publisher would still have to submit the appropriate submission forms but could save some on shipping.

[iago]

This year we've done away with the central shipping option.  Unfortunately last year the US Postal Service lost an entire box of submitted product sent out by our Submissions Coordinator to one of the judges, and we don't want to be responsible for ensuring the product gets out to all of the judges.

So in short, we should be budgeting for 5 or 6 individual shipments instead of (the potential cost savings of) a single shipment, yes?

What sorts of materials need to be provided along with the product?  I'm asking because it's likely I'll ask IPR to ship out the product rather than doing it myself, but that'd be a just-the-books shipment, no "necessary included materials" gig.

[Graham W]

Denise, I'm thinking of submitting something on my website for the "Free Product" category.

It's partly in PHP, so I can't submit it on a CD, because it only runs on a server. Any ideas how I could I submit it? Could I just send the URL?

Graham

[Graham W]

Sorry, just to clarify: by "something" I mean a web utility, not a downloadable product. I'd probably  submit it for Best Fan Site as well.

So, my question is: can you submit a website without having to load the whole thing on to a CD? Especially as PHP websites won't work once they're off the server?

Graham

[sean2099]

Hi Denise,

Can you submits PDFs if that is all you are selling at the moment but are actual books necessary?  I probably don't qualify since I just started in 07 but I think other people may benefit from the answer>

Thanks,

Sean

[Denise]

So, this isn't so much a question as a request to change the way we do things, then, eh?  I'm hoping the purpose of this thread isn't derailed by such issues, but also don't want to come across as being inaccessible. I welcome any further comments, complaints and suggestions, especially via my email at denise@ennieawards.com.

So. 
Since we want to eliminate publishers communicating with judges about their submissions, it would be an administrative nightmare to try and determine which products each judge has. 
Also, judges give up hundreds of hours of their free time to evaluate each product, taking off weeks off work to do so, so the prospects of some free product is a small consolation for them.  And if the judges already own a copy of said product, quite often it ends up in the pile of product used to auction off to help cover costs or donated to our countless volunteers.

What it comes down to really, is publisher submissions support the ENnies.  If you (and I don't mean you, specifically, Justin) don't want to support the ENnies with the small cost of shipping six copies of product, that's a shame. 

One thing I always that was odd was the requirement to send a copy of a book to a judge who might already have that book. By way of suggestion, you should consider having each judge post a list of products they already own. The publisher would still have to submit the appropriate submission forms but could save some on shipping.

[Denise]

Yep, six individual shipments, please and thank you.  For your convenience, we offer the choice of shipping the 6th copy either direcetly to myself (in Canada) or to my designate, Chris, in Columbus so you don't have to deal with international shipping.

As for other materials, simply download the form off the ENnies site's Publishers page, fill it out and fax it to me OR send me an email with all the relevant details.  Just be certain to ship whatever Joe or Jane consumer would receive in the store, so if your book comes with a map, chips, special dice, etc, make sure they go out, too!

So in short, we should be budgeting for 5 or 6 individual shipments instead of (the potential cost savings of) a single shipment, yes?

What sorts of materials need to be provided along with the product?  I'm asking because it's likely I'll ask IPR to ship out the product rather than doing it myself, but that'd be a just-the-books shipment, no "necessary included materials" gig.

[Denise]

So long as you fill out the paperwork, a link to your site for the Free Product/Web Enhancement category should suffice.  Just email me the particulars, and I'll forward it to the judges.

Also, if it is a utility, you might consider entering it under software as well.

Denise, I'm thinking of submitting something on my website for the "Free Product" category.

It's partly in PHP, so I can't submit it on a CD, because it only runs on a server. Any ideas how I could I submit it? Could I just send the URL?

Graham

[Denise]

Hi Denise,

Can you submits PDFs if that is all you are selling at the moment but are actual books necessary?  I probably don't qualify since I just started in 07 but I think other people may benefit from the answer>

Thanks,

Sean

[iago]

What it comes down to really, is publisher submissions support the ENnies.  If you (and I don't mean you, specifically, Justin) don't want to support the ENnies with the small cost of shipping six copies of product, that's a shame.

Let's hope this doesn't take things off the rails, but I think it's important for you to hear this, Denise: for some small press publishers, the cost of shipping six copies of product and the cost of those products themselves is not "small", it's prohibitive.

There was a time when in order to shoulder the "small" burden of shipping six copies of Don't Rest Your Head, for free, Evil Hat would have had to spend somewhere between a tenth and a quarter of its lifetime profits.  Some small press companies are STILL living in that space.  And that's pretty brutal -- the Ennies would help their image with the small press scene if this kind of "big publisher myopia" wasn't waved around like a sword in a careless hand.  If you don't watch it, you'll find you've given someone a mortal wound, and it all goes downhill from there.

(That said, Evil Hat is doing quite well, and if anyone who has their products with IPR would like to defray some of their costs in submitting products for an Ennie, I'd be happy to eat your portion of the shipping costs off of Evil Hat's bottom line, so long as you get in on a collective shipment thing.  We'll coordinate it via the IPR members list.)

But moving on-- Denise, thanks for answering my question about the separate shipments.  I have a follow up question: when are we gonna get the shipping addresses for the six judges? I've been checking http://www.ennieawards.com/publishers.html every few days, and despite it proclaiming that submissions are open, there's no info there as far as where to send product.

[iago]

But moving on-- Denise, thanks for answering my question about the separate shipments.  I have a follow up question: when are we gonna get the shipping addresses for the six judges? I've been checking http://www.ennieawards.com/publishers.html every few days, and despite it proclaiming that submissions are open, there's no info there as far as where to send product.

Aha, discovery!

The ENTRY FORM PDF contains the shipping addresses.  I had no idea that this was the case from reading other parts of the site... but now that I've made that discovery, ha-ha!  Time to get cracking!

[Jonathan Walton]

What it comes down to really, is publisher submissions support the ENnies.  If you (and I don't mean you, specifically, Justin) don't want to support the ENnies with the small cost of shipping six copies of product, that's a shame.

What Fred said, Denise.  I would really love to support the ENies.  I would really love to submit my product.  But the math doesn't work for me.  Since August I've sold around 150 copies of a product made by 6 people, which leaves me personally with about $500 in profit.  Six copies of product plus shipping is about $100 for a slight chance of getting any notice because there isn't even a category for my product (an annual periodical).

Many indie publishers are in similar situations.  I realize you have a lot of craziness going on and coordinating all of this is a big mess, but calling down shame on some publishers for "not wanting to support the ENies" is not really accurate and, honestly, rather hurtful.

[Denise]

If it's any consolation, I only uploaded the entry form this afternoon, it's not like you were searching the site for the past week and were too blind to find it!

Aha, discovery!

The ENTRY FORM PDF contains the shipping addresses.  I had no idea that this was the case from reading other parts of the site... but now that I've made that discovery, ha-ha!  Time to get cracking!

[Denise]

Jonathan, I'm having a hard time understanding your issue about there not being a category for your product.  Does it contain RPG material?  Does it contain art, rules, writing?  If so, then there are categories for you.  Check out the publishers page of the ENnies for a complete listing.

As for calling the shame thing, you seem to have misread my post.  When I said it would be a shame about someone not participating in the ENnies, I meant that it would be a disappointment that a publisher would not participate.  I didn't say it was a shameful act, I said it would be a shame.  Big difference there. 

Many indie publishers are in similar situations.  I realize you have a lot of craziness going on and coordinating all of this is a big mess, but calling down shame on some publishers for "not wanting to support the ENies" is not really accurate and, honestly, rather hurtful.