The Edgar Prognostigation Thread

Sometime this weekend — likely around Saturday afternoon or early evening — the Edgar Award nominations will be made public after the Mystery Writers of America board members’ meeting (which is why you’ll be able to meet many of these fine authors Friday night at Black Orchid.) I, for one, am trying hard not to ask those I know who are judges for various categories for inside dope because that would be, well, wrong. But that doesn’t mean I can’t engage in a little speculation — or better, open the floor to everyone else’s attempts in the backblogs.

Also because I really only have two things to say: if Jeffrey Ford’s THE GIRL IN THE GLASS doesn’t show up on the PBO list, I will be surprised. And if Detrice Jones isn’t at least a serious threat to win the Robert L. Fish award, I’m going to be pissed.

To help you out some (and drive home just how damn difficult it is to be a judge, especially for the Big Three categories) the submission list should act as your guide.

Interestingly, next year’s submission requirements have been tweaked a fair bit. Now, all works submitted for consideration must meet the MWA’s active member status requirements. Though the author doesn’t have to be a member, the work itself must make the author eligible for active status.

So what does this mean? If you haven’t  met the minimum $100 earning requirement, your book or story is not eligible. Which takes the self-publishing and some seriously small presses (those that work on a no-advance/royalty payout scheme) out of the running, as well as online submissions by newer writers (or those who simply haven’t earned enough yet.) But one thing that should be clarified, I assume, is that if an author lives abroad but their work has been published in the US, they are still eligible…