Don’t Forget to Vote for the 2018 Novel of the Year!

 

This year we have had well over 300 books submitted to Underground book Reviews. Our goal is to find great independent literature, but with that many submissions, the task is daunting. It doesn’t help that our submissions span the gamut of genres. Over time, we have developed a system to pick out the most promising titles. It begins with our Pitch Perfect Pick competition, which brings relies on a combination of careful individual scrutiny and public voting.

When our reviewers choose a book to review, they are first presented these promising Pitch Perfect Picks, but are instructed to select any book on the bookshelf. They are asked to select books that interest them, in genres they like, and to read the first few pages before they commit. The goal is to find good books, not trash bad ones. Five stars are supposed to be given to books that "did exactly what it set out to do, with originality and style". In other words, 5 stars are given to books that excel within their genre. If it's fantasy, there should be some creative world building. If it's a thriller, there should be lots of page-turning suspense. We ask reviewers to then nominate books for Novel of the Year by making them Top Picks. These are 5-star books they truly loved. This means the book hit a chord. For that reviewer, it was more than a good story; it had deeper meaning and substance. After that, it's up to a team of judges to decide the Editor's Choice, and you the reader to choose a Reader's Choice. If you'd like a more visual explanation, see below:

Who's in the running for Reader's Choice:

All Lesser Means by JA Pipes
Day Moon by Brett Armstrong
Dominion of the Star by Angelica Clyman
Gary’s Guide to Life by Michael Nabavian and Phil Wall
iHunt by David A Hill Jr
Monstrous by J.L. Murray
Reverie by Lauren Rico
Stanley McCloud Must Die! by Adrian Baldwin
Stim by Kevin Berry
The After War by Brandon Zenner
The Last Detective by Brian Cohn
The Latina President by Joe Rothstein
The Right Wrong Number by Jim Nesbitt
The Vatican Cameos: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure by Richard T. Ryan

Judging will close at midnight on February 28th
Winners will be announced in the last March issue, on the 26th

Learn about entry & prizes  

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Amy R. Biddle

Visit Amy R. Biddle‘s website.