Frequently Asked Questions
- Can only complete fics be nominated?
- Are some stories ineligible for Bellies?
- Why isn't there a category for fics longer than 180,000 words?
- I didn't receive a confirmation email. How can I change my nominations?
- Can I nominate myself?
- If it is one vote per email address, can I use more than one email account to vote/nominate?
- What is to keep people from going to a computer lab and nominating/voting once on each computer with a bunch of fake email addresses?
- Why can't we nominate fics that were pulled? Don't those authors deserve to be honored with a nomination?
- Will you notify all of the authors who were nominated, even if they didn't make the final ballot?
- I read a lot of fan fiction, and I don't recognize most of the stories on the ballot. Why not?
- Why was one of the Bellies categories pulled? Isn't that unfair to the people who nominated fics for that category?
- Why are there different numbers of fics in the categories on the voting ballot?
1. Can only complete fics be nominated?
There are two sets of awards running simultaneously: the Eddie Awards and the Bellie Awards. Only complete fics are eligible for the Eddies, but all fics are eligible for the Bellies.
2. Are some stories ineligible for Bellies?
All fics are eligible for the Bellies. In the past, there were some restrictions for stories that had already won two awards, but those restrictions have been lifted.
3. Why isn't there a category for fics longer than 180,000 words?
There are plenty of categories where fics longer than 180,000 words are eligible-- all of the Bellie Awards accept fics of any length.
The reason we do not currently allow fics longer than 180,000 words for the Eddie Awards is because validators and judges must read the fics during the nomination and voting periods. Given the volume of nominations we generally receive, it is not feasible for us to add an epic-length category for this session.
4. I didn't receive a confirmation email. How can I change my nominations?
Contact us using the link at the right and we'll re-send your confirmation link.
5. Can I vote for myself/nominate myself?
Yes! There is no reason not to. Noms and voting are anonymous.
6. If it is one vote per email address, can I use more than one email account to vote/nominate?
No. One vote per person/household, not one vote per email address. We do check IP addresses, so if you are in a situation where you share a house with a fellow Twilight fan, please let us know.
7. What is to keep people from going to a computer lab and nominating/voting once on each computer with a bunch of fake email addresses?
We track voting and nominations by IP address. We reserve the right to toss out votes and nominations that seem suspicious.
8. Why can't we nominate fics that were pulled? Don't those authors deserve to be honored with a nomination?
One of our primary purposes is to bring attention to authors and their stories so they can find new readers. A story that isn't posted publicly cannot be appreciated by new readers.
9. Will you notify all of the authors who were nominated, even if they didn't make the final ballot?
We certainly wish we could, but we can't. An average category has at least 200 different story nominations. Given that the Bellies always have at least ten categories and the Eddies have four, that would be a lot of time notifying authors! As it is, it takes us hours to notify everyone who did make the final ballot.
10. I read a lot of fan fiction, and I don't recognize most of the stories on the ballot. Why not?
The stories you may not recognize are probably nominees for the Eddie Awards. For the Eddies, the story that received the most nominations during the nomination period always makes the ballot, but the rest of the stories go through a rigorous selection process. They may or may not be well-known stories, but they are the stories that our validators thought represented excellence in fan fiction.
The Bellie Award nominees should be more recognizable, because the stories on that ballot are based solely on how many nominations were received during the nomination period. We can assure you that stories on the Bellies ballot all received a significant number of nominations to earn their way there.
11. Why was one of the Bellies categories pulled? Isn't that unfair to the people who nominated fics for that category?
We don't pull a category lightly. We appreciate the time people took to nominate stories in all the categories, but sometimes the best answer is for the contest is for us to pull a category. We once pulled a category because it had too few nominations. For the Winter 2010 Bellies, we pulled a category because all of the top nominees were already nominated in two other categories.
12. Why are there different numbers of fics in the categories on the voting ballot?
The current target number for the Bellie Awards is four entries per category. This is a good number, because it means that a fic doesn't make the ballot unless it has broad-based support. In cases where there are more than four nominees listed, it is because there was a tie. In cases where there are fewer, it is because an author withdrew too late for us to add another fic to the ballot.
For the Eddie Awards, the number of fics on the ballot is limited to the amount the judges can critically read in one month. Since most of those fics are selected by validators, there is some latitude on how many fics make the ballot. For the mid-length and novel categories, the target is four to six fics. For the short category, the target is eight to ten fics.