Bi Writers Association Announces Second Annual Bisexual Book Awards Nominations Now Open

The Bi Writers Association (BWA) is celebrating National Coming Out Day by announcing that nominations are now open for its second annual Bisexual Book Awards. Any 2013 book with a bisexual character, bisexual storyline, bisexual subject matter or bisexual theme, is eligible for nomination. Awards are open to all authors regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Books can be nominated by the author, publisher, or the Bi Writers Association, however, anyone may contact BWA and suggest a book for nomination. There is no fee to nominate a book.

A panel of judges will decide each category. Books are judged on three main criteria: Quality of overall writing; quality of writing about bisexual characters, bisexual themes or bisexual material; quantity of bisexual material. Finalists will be announced by May 1st, and winners will be announced at the Bisexual Book Awards in June of 2014. The Awards date is TBA. The Bisexual Book Awards will be preceded by BWA's annual multi-arts reading, Bi Lines VII, which will feature bi book authors of 2013.

"Bisexual books have few opportunities for recognition, even at LGBT book awards," says Bi Writers Association founder Sheela Lambert. "Last year there was only one bisexual category at one LGBT book awards. Bisexual books deserve more attention than that, so we created our awards in order to shine a spotlight on them. In addition to recognizing books and authors for their achievements, the Bisexual Book Awards process creates a complete annual list of bisexual books for readers, and encourages more bisexual books to be written and published," says Ms. Lambert.

To nominate a book, first read the Bisexual Book Awards Guidelines available on the BWA blog, then send an email to the Bi Writers Association at info (at) biwriters (dot) org with: name of the book, author name, publisher, year of publication and whether it is fiction or non-fiction; then request a nomination form.