Big News For the Whitney Awards

Almost six weeks ago, I promised that there was big news coming for the Whitney Awards. Well, it took longer than I expected to get everything set, but I think it was definitely worth the wait.

I'm very happy to announce that the Whitneys have received the sponsorship of the LDS online newsletterExclusivelyLDS.com. Specifically, ExclusivelyLDS has agreed to sponsor cash awards for to accompany the Whitney trophies. These cash prizes are in the following amounts:

Genre Prizes:
Best Romance/Women's Fiction -- $500
Best Mystery/Suspense -- $500
Best YA/Children's -- $500
Best Speculative Fiction -- $500
Best Historical -- $500

Overal Prizes:
Best Novel by a New Author -- $1000
Best Novel of the Year -- $1000

As you can guess, it's been hard for me to keep quiet about this news--it's eight kinds of awesome. As the goal of these awards has been to recognize the amazing talent among LDS authors, and to raise awareness and draw in new readers, I can think of nothing better than this sponsorship from ExclusivelyLDS. The quality produced by LDS authors is deserving of this large prize--one of the highest cash prizes for a literary award.

In related news, I've really been overwhelmed by the support that the Whitney's have received. There has been a large outpouring of donations (we're completely non-profit, so that's essential), and readers have been flooding our inboxes with nominations. At last count, we've received somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred nominations.

Let me thank ExclusivelyLDS.com one more time. In my conversations with Gaylen Rust, the owner, he's demonstrated a great committment not just to the success of LDS art but also to the philosophies it espouses. This is all a labor of love.

Anyway, go spread the news! Tell your friends! And go to the Whitney site to nominate your favorite books!