FAQ
The following Q&As have been updated for the 2005 awards.

Nominations
Screening & Judging
Miscellaneous

NOMINATIONS

How do I nominate?
During the nominations period, you can nominate fanfiction, poetry and research
articles/critical essays using the online form. If this doesn't work for some reason, then
you can also e-mail mithrilawards@yahoo.com with your nominations, but you must use
the template provided on the e-mail nominations page.

Can I nominate my own material?
Yes, you may nominate your own material in any category.

I'm an author. How do I withdraw my works from consideration?
An author may withdraw one or all of their works from consideration in the awards.
Simply drop the organizers a note using the contact form, or send an e-mail to
mithrilawards@yahoo.com. Please state the pseudonym(s) under which your work
appears, and be clear whether you wish to withdraw all your works, or just particular
ones. To guard against misuse of this facility other than by the author, please state a
return e-mail address.

Authors of nominated works will, in any case, be contacted to seek their permission
before the semi-finalist stage.

A list of authors who have declined to participate in the 2005 awards will be published
at the declining authors page.

How many works can I nominate in a category?
You may nominate one work per category.

Do I have to nominate works in all categories?
No. You may nominate in as many or as few categories as you choose.

How can I find out what categories there are for nominations?
The categories page gives a list with definitions.

Are there any restrictions on works for nomination?
The material must be freely available on the web during the nominations and judging
period. This means it cannot be located in a members-only archive, nor in the files
section of a private list. All work must have a clear basis in one or more of JRR
Tolkien's writings. Works must be available in English. Translations into English of
works originally in another language which are authorised by the original author are
eligible. RPS and actor fic are not eligible for nomination in any category (see next
question for definitions). For the 2005 awards, works must have been completed
between 1 April 2004 and 1 September 2005. Works in progress are not eligible.

How can I find out if a story has been nominated so I won’t waste my nomination??
Glad you asked! You can email us at mithrilawards@yahoo.com and ask about the
nomination status of the stories you are considering. We will let you know if they have
been nominated.

What is actor fic/RPS?
Actor fic/RPS (real person slash) is defined as any work in which any actual person
appears, whether living or dead, with the sole exceptions of the author of the work, and
of well-known historical figures who have been dead for at least 50 years. Actor
fic/RPS is NOT eligible in any category, regardless of rating or genre.

Why are individual parts in a serial eligible, while works in progress (WiPs) are not?
What is the difference?
The individual parts of a serial must be complete in themselves and stand alone to be
eligible, while the individual chapters of a WiP do not stand alone.

Can I nominate adult fiction?
There are no restrictions on ratings of material for the Awards, and material of all
ratings may be nominated across all categories. However, if you are below the age of
majority in your country, you may not nominate adult-rated (R and NC-17) material.

Can I nominate material based on the recent movies of the Lord of the Rings?
Yes. Works based on the recent Lord of the Rings movies are eligible across all
categories for which Lord of the Rings material is appropriate.

Are collaborative or 'round robin' works eligible?
Yes. Collaborative or 'round robin' works are eligible, as long as a contact e-mail
address can be identified to ask the authors for permission.

I've read the definition of minor character carefully, but I still can't work out whether
this character would count. What do I do to avoid wasting my nomination?
If you really can't decide, you can drop the Awards Committee an e-mail at
mithrilawards@yahoo.com and we will rule on whether the character in question counts
as minor.

What about Haldir?
It depends! Haldir would count as a minor character in the bookverse, but a major
character in movieverse.

There is no category for fiction about the Fellowship. Where should I nominate these
stories?
Stories about the Fellowship are probably most suitable under 'Best Lord of the Rings'.

There is no category for horror, angst or dark fic. Where should I nominate these
stories?
The most suitable category for most horror, angst or dark fics is probably 'Best Drama'.

Where should poetry cycles be submitted?
All poetry cycles should be submitted under 'Best poetry – long form', regardless of the
lengths of the individual poems. However, bear in mind that a poetry cycle is only as
strong as its weakest work. If you are unsure, it might be best to enter the poems as
separate entries, rather than as part of a cycle. This will give your finest work a chance
to shine.

Can you clarify what exactly is eligible under the 'Best critical essay' category?
Critical essays or research articles about any aspect of Tolkien's literary creations are
eligible. This might include (but isn't limited to):



The following would not be eligible:



I nominated one or more works but haven't received any e-mail acknowledgement of
my nominations. What should I do?
Owing to the number of nominations anticipated, individual acknowledgements will not
be sent. If you did not receive an error message when submitting the nomination, and
you did reach the 'Thank you for your nomination' page, then you can assume that your
nomination was received safely.

I made a mistake in my nomination. What should I do?
If you made a serious mistake in your nomination, then e-mail mithrilawards@yahoo.
com immediately with the details, with a subject line including NOMINATIONS ERROR,
and we will do our best to fix the problem. Include the name and e-mail address under
which you made the nomination in the text of your message.

I get errors when I try to fill in the nomination form. What should I do?
Most of the fields in the nomination form are required, so please check that you've filled
in the form completely. Avoid special characters (such as accents) in the author and
title fields, which can cause incompatibility errors. Remember that you are only allowed
to nominate one work per category, so if you've nominated a work in that category
previously then you won't be successful this time.

If you still get error messages, or if you get code errors, then please e-mail the site
manager at danjbyrne@verizonmail.com stating precisely what you were trying to do,
what error messages you received (cut and paste the error text if possible) and what
browser and platform you are using, and we will try to fix the problem. If problems
persist, you can also e-mail nominations to mithrilawards@yahoo.com, but you must
use the template provided on the e-mail nominations page.

Why can't I nominate works in the 'Best entry by author for whom English is not their
first language' and 'Best entry by author aged 16 or under' categories?
The winners in these categories will be selected by the Committee and Judges from
the semi-finalists across all categories.

I'd like to nominate a work, but it isn't available on a publicly accessible site. What
should I do?
If you are the author of the work, then we suggest you send the work to one of the
numerous free and unselective fiction archives available. If you're not the author of the
work, then we suggest you contact the author and ask him or her to load the work onto
a publicly accessible site. For the authors of non-fiction only, the Awards site offers
temporary web-hosting for the purposes of nominations and judging. E-mail
mithrilawards@yahoo.com for details.

May I ask my friends to nominate a particular work I've written?
Yes. Within reason, you may suggest that people might consider nominating your work
for the Awards without it being considered as nomination solicitation. You may also
indicate which version of a particular work you would prefer to be nominated.  You may
to link to the Mithril Awards homepage  from your site, whether you are a single author
or a team.  You may not include a link to the Awards nomination form from within a
webpage devoted to a single work or series. If in doubt, contact the Committee at
mithrilawards@yahoo.com.

My work has been nominated. When should I expect to hear from you?
Owing to the very large number of works nominated, only the authors of works being
considered for the semi-finalist lists will be contacted.

I'm the author of a nominated work and I haven't heard from you, so I assume my
work has not reached the semi-finals. Do you provide reasons for rejection?
No. Owing to the very large number of different works nominated (over 750 in 2004),
we are unable to provide individual feedback about works that did not reach the semi-
finalist stage. Bear in mind that several categories received more than eighty different
entries, so competition is fierce.

Will the Committee provide comments on works nominated?
No. Owing to the very large number of works nominated (over 750 in 2004), it is
unfortunately not possible to provide individual comments to authors.
This is a new feature for the 2005 Mithril Awards.
How do I find out which category a particular work has the best chance in?
If you e-mail a specific question regarding any previous nominations for a particular
work to mithrilawards@yahoo.com we will do our best to answer.

What do het and slash mean?
Het works focus on one or more m/f relationships. Slash works focus on one or more
m/m and/or f/f relationships. The het and slash categories include both gen-rated
romance and adult-rated erotica.


SCREENING & JUDGING

How will the winning works be selected?
The works nominated will be reduced to semi-finalists in each category by a team of
reviewers, based on their overall quality. While all works must meet basic quality
standards, popular categories with lots of nominated works are likely to require higher
standards to reach the semi-finals. Various factors including canonicity,
characterisation, style, structure, pacing, originality, memorability and suitability to
category will all be taken into account.

What do you mean by 'basic quality standards'?
Material with frequent grammatical or spelling errors, or which is poorly formatted, or
which is not appropriate to the category nominated, or lacks adequate connection to
the original text or movie, will be eliminated from consideration.

Why is the number of nominations not mentioned? Didn't you take this into account
in 2003?
In 2003 we encountered problems with blatant solicitation of nominations. The
organisers have regretfully decided that the only way to eliminate this abuse of the
system completely is to consider all works based on quality standards alone,
independent of the number of nominations received.

Aren't judged awards elitist? Wouldn't a popular vote be fairer?
Popular voting tends to recognise well-known authors and story settings. It may not give
a fair hearing to new authors, or to stories exploring less familiar corners of Tolkien's
creation. While judged awards necessarily represent the opinion of the Judges, each
nominated work will be read by several different Judges, who have been selected from
across the whole of Tolkien fandom.

Wouldn't it be better if all Judges and Screeners withdrew from the awards entirely?
In an ideal world, perhaps! However, we don't feel it would be possible to recruit
sufficient numbers of qualified fans to handle the large number of nominated works
anticipated if we were to require all our volunteers to withdraw their own works from
consideration. Judges and Screeners only see a list of works they're actually assigned,
and the Awards Committee will take every possible care to allocate works so as to
avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

How do I find out who the Judges are in a particular category?
A list of Judges will be available, but the allocation of Judges to panels will not be
made public for obvious reasons.

I'd like to be a Judge. What should I do?
If you'd like to be considered for the 2005 awards, send an e-mail with your name,
areas of Tolkien expertise, experience within fan or professional writing and/or editing,
any genres of fanfiction that you don't read, together with an age statement (so that we
don't ask underage Judges to read adult-rated fiction), to mithrilawards@yahoo.com,
and your application will be considered.


MISCELLANEOUS

Who are you, and why are you organising the Mithril Awards?
We are a group of Tolkien fans who feared that good Tolkien-related fanfiction was in
danger of being submerged in the sheer volume of fiction resulting from the release of
the recent movies. The Mithril Awards are our attempt to recognise excellent fiction
and, hopefully, to increase its readership. Check the About Us page for more details.

Are the Mithril Awards associated with any fiction archive, list, society or online
community?
No. The Mithril Awards are independent of any fiction archive, list, society or
community, whether online or offline. We do, however, welcome affiliation with other
Tolkien sites for the purpose of increasing awareness of the awards among fans.

Are the Mithril Awards connected with Tolkien Enterprises or New Line Cinema?
No. The Mithril Awards are run by fans, for fans. We are not connected in any way with
Tolkien Enterprises, New Line Cinema, or any other official body.

Isn't fanfiction illegal?
Strictly speaking, fanfiction falls foul of copyright legislation in most countries. However,
fanfiction follows an honourable tradition of rewriting engaged in by Chaucer,
Shakespeare and Joyce, among many others. We believe that fanfiction doesn't harm
the late JRR Tolkien or his writings, and may even promote interest in reading the
original works. Tolkien himself suggested that his creations might 'leave scope for
other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.' (JRR Tolkien, Letters).
No-one is receiving remuneration of any description from the Mithril Awards.

What will the recipients of the Awards receive?
A button suitable for display on a website will be awarded to winners and runners-up in
each category. The Awards will have no financial value.

Does the Awards site host material?
In view of the relative difficulty of obtaining free web-hosting for non-fiction compared
with fiction, the Awards site will temporarily host non-fiction for the purposes of
nominations and judging. Obviously, only the author of the article may request
web-hosting. E-mail mithrilawards@yahoo.com for details. The Awards site will not
host fiction or poetry. We suggest that you send it to any of the numerous free and
unselective archives available.

Is the Awards site suitable for children to explore?
All material within the Awards site itself is suitable for children. External links to adult
material are clearly labelled as such.

How do I get more information?
If your question isn't answered here, then you can your e-mail
mithrilawards@yahoo.com with your query, and a member of the Committee will get
back to you shortly. You can also post questions on the awards livejournal forum. To
receive the latest updates on the awards, you can join our announcements list.

How can I make a complaint?
Comments and complaints about the Awards should be e-mailed to
mithrilawards@yahoo.com. Alternatively feel free to e-mail any of the Committee
members directly. Our e-mail addresses are given on the About Us page.

I'd like to affiliate my website to the Mithril Awards. What do I do?
If you run a Tolkien-related website, then we'd be happy to affiliate with you. Simply fill
in the form at the bottom of the affiliates page or e-mail mithrilawards@yahoo.com.
We
ask affiliates to link to the awards home page, and we may also send them occasional
updates on the progress of the Awards.

What does mithril mean?
Mithril is the Sindarin word for true-silver. Greatly prized by all races in Arda, Gandalf
says that 'Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not
tarnish or grow dim.' (JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings II:IV)

--The Awards Committee