Hey Swoony Fans!
We have been getting a lot of questions about the Swoony Awards so we decided it was time to do an FAQ post.
Can I nominate all year?
Yes! You have the option to nominate on Goodreads or our Google Form all year long. The links for each of these are on our pinned posts on Social Media.
Do I need to have a Goodreads account to vote during the nomination round?
No. We created the Google Form for those readers who don't have or want a Goodreads account.
Where can I see a list of the nominations for the year? You can see nominations on our Goodreads list
here. Please keep in mind that these are only the books listed on Goodreads. We do have nominations coming through on our Google Form but unfortunately there is no way to share this list with voters. If you don't see a book on our Goodreads list, make sure you add it.
Do I need to nominate a book if it's already on the list? Yes! Starting in 2025, we are adding a minimum of 10 nominations for books to move forward to the official voting rounds. This means that there could be categories that don't have 10 books in Round 1. If you want to make sure your favorites move forward, make sure you nominate them!
Why do I see books on Goodreads doing well, but they don't make it to the first round of voting?
We take totals from Goodreads AND Google. Sometimes a book may look like it's doing well on Goodreads but doesn't end up having enough votes to make it into the official voting rounds.
Why are Christian Fiction books not allowed?
There are already a lot of awards out there for Christian Fiction. We want to highlight Secular Romance for those readers who love clean romance but want the religious elements left out of the books.
Why are there so many voting rounds?
The number of voting rounds was determined by you, the voters. We asked, you answered, and we listened.
Why are there so many categories?
We want to be able to highlight as many authors as we can each year. The more categories we have, the more authors we can highlight. But it's hard to find a balance between too little or too many categories. This will vary from year to year depending on whether or not we have enough books for each of the categories.
Some of the categories felt drastically different than alike. Are there subgenres that can be added?
Yes! As stated above, we want to be able to highlight as many authors as we can each year. Subgenres are a way we can do that. Rather than having hundreds of books in the Contemporary category, we can separate them into RomCom, Sports, Billionaire, American Hero, etc. Again, categories will vary from year to year depending on whether or not we have enough books for each of the categories.
Would it be too complicated to have a sentence blurb summary with each book title?
Yes! Please utilize the various bookish platforms to discover what each book you may be interested in is all about.
Why don't I see promo or group posts?
If you aren't seeing all the posts we share, please make sure you are following us on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We have been utilizing the @everyone in our Facebook group for important announcements so if you still aren't being notified, please check and change your settings.
If you don't see an answer to questions you may have, please reach out to us and let us know!
