2014 Swoony Awards + Giveaway

Hey everyone!   So, recently I became aware of an event that some the bloggers I follow are participating in--an Awards Blitz for the Swoony Awards. What are the Swoony Awards? Well, they're all about clean fiction. Keep reading to find out how you can vote for your favorite books and enter the giveaway!   What Are the Swoony Awards? The Swoony Awards were created to recognize excellence in clean fiction. There are so many books published every day and it can be hard to find the ones worth reading. We want to help recognize authors who write entertaining books that are wholesome. It’s our hope that each year we will help provide everyone with a great list of books to read and maybe introduce them to new authors. What Are the Eligibility Requirements? -Publication Year: Only books published during the current contest year may be nominated. To be fair to all books, contest dates will run from December 1, 2013 – November 31, 2014. -Clean romance: No sex or closed door, low/mild innuendo. Only M/F romances. -Language: None/mild, anything over a handful of profanity (especially the more offensive words) would not be considered clean. -Violence: None/mild -Other: Nothing overly dark, depressing or heavy subject matter Novels, novellas and short stories are all eligible for nomination, no limits on page number. Any (clean) genre is eligible (i.e. contemporary, fantasy, mystery, historical, etc.). Each voter is able to choose up to 100 books to vote on or nominate each contest year. There is no cap on the overall number of books nominated. How Are Winners Selected? We will be accepting entries throughout the year and the winners announced the first week in January. There are fifteen award categories (i.e. Best Novel of the Year, Best Historical, Best Contemporary, etc.). Winner’s will be announced via our blogs (Bookworm Nation, KJ’s Book Nook and Katie’s Clean Book Reviews) and through Goodreads Swoony Awards Group. Since this is a reader’s choice award the winners are determined by a combination of the number of votes received and how high the voter rated the book and what rank the voter gave each book they voted for. Who Are We? Kathy (Bookworm Nation) I've been hosting a book review blog, Bookworm Nation, for over five years. I love to read and review books. And of course, I love to discuss books! A few years ago I started the Goodreads group, Happily Ever After Book Club. It's through Goodreads that I met Katie, Kathy Jo and Heidi and while discussing our love of books one day we thought it'd be fun to host our own Reader's Choice award. We're excited to introduce the Swoony's this year, it's going really well and we look forward to hosting it for years to come.  Contact Info for Kathy: Email: bookwormnation@hotmail.com Twitter: @bookwormnation Blog: www.bookwormnation.blogspot.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bookworm-Nation/204548468640 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happilyeverafterbookclub     Kathy Jo (KJ's Book Nook) This may come as a shocker but I have NOT always been a little bookworm. In fact growing up I was not the kid you saw jumping at the chance to read. I was the one that just did it to make my teachers happy. That silent reading time during school?! Yeah.. I was the kid napping! ;) About 12 years ago someone loaned me a book and said I just HAD to read it. I took it just to get them off my back and much to my surprise I could NOT put it down! And from then on I would read... but only that one author. I refused to read anything else! It wasn't until 2009 when 2 of my favorite people introduced me to the Twilight Series that I actually started branching out. And ever since then I haven't been able to STOP reading! ;) About 5 months ago I decided to start a book blog and I have been loving it! I get to be another voice for all the amazing authors that I love! How cool is that?! And of course through my adventures in reading I have been able to meet some amazing women who love books just as much as, if not more than, me! I love chatting with them about all the books we read! We have become such great friends that at times I forget that I've never really met them in person! Books just have a way of bringing people together! My reading choices vary... I love a lot of different genres.With that said... I am not ashamed to admit that I am a romantic and I love fluff! As long as it's clean and has a HEA, I'll definitely give it a try! Any book that gives me a break from reality and puts a smile on my face is definitely a book for me!    Contact Info for Kathy Jo: Email: kjsbooknook@gmail.com Blog: kjsbooknook.blogspot.com     Twitter: @kjincali     Katie (Katie's Clean Book Collection) I started blogging about a year and a half ago. I've always loved to read and talk about books--it's my obsession. The first book I learned to read on my own was Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. I love a lot of different genres, but my favorite is clean romance, which is perfect for the Swoony's! I've had a blast meeting new friends who enjoy the same types of books that I do. Contact Info for Katie: Email: lilacqueen75@gmail.com Twitter: @lilacqueen75 Blog: www.katiescleanbookcollection.blogspot.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/katiescleanbookcollection   Heidi  I'm a mother of four amazing kids and married to my own Prince Charming. I love to read, kiss my handsome Prince, bake, run (because I love to bake), ride horses, play sports, and spend time with my little family. I first fell in love with reading at a very young age because of my sweet grandmother who always took the time to read me my favorite books over and over again. She could never tell me no. My wonderful mother is also entirely addicted to reading and we love to "talk books" late into the night....and plot how we are going to buy more. :) I adore clean, happily ever after books, and I've loved getting to know so many other women who do as well. Who knew books would be the reason I would meet some of the dearest people in the world?!  Contact Info for Heidi: Email: curlyhide9@hotmail.com Note to Authors: If you’ve written a book that matches the above criteria fill free to nominate it for a Swoony! Don’t be afraid to promote the award or to let your fans know your book is up and that it needs votes. We are doing some promoting, but sometimes a Facebook, Twitter or blog post directly from the author is the best way to let your fan base know your book has been nominated. Only books with a minimum of THREE votes will be added to the official nomination list found on the Goodreads Swoony Awards group page. Winners will be announced January 2015. To stay up to date on voting and nominations, please join our Goodreads Swoony Awards group page! Note to Readers: If you’ve read a book this year that you think is awesome…VOTE! This is a great way to let authors know you appreciate all that hard work. You can vote for up to 100 books on the list. We’ve also learned that the order you rank the books you vote on does affect the overall score of the book. So take a minute and make sure you have your books in the order you want them. Invite your friends to vote! Voting ends December 31, 2014. The 2014 Swoony Awards is now accepting nominations and votes for your favorite books of the year. Polls will be open until December 31, 2014.    Join us on Facebook and Twitter. As a thank you for making the Swoony Awards a success, we'd like to offer an Amazon gift card! The winner will have 48 hours to claim the prize. Only valid where Amazon gift cards may be used. You must be 13 or older to enter. a Rafflecopter giveaway