2008 NM Book Awards
Judging Overview

235 entries — 34 Categories; 118 Finalists; 40 Winners

67 judges from all across the state reviewed the entries—from libraries, bookstores, elementary school teachers, and full-time readers. Judges were not paid. As judges were from all across the state, books had to be shipped from judge to judge (this is what most of the entry fee money went for). All submissions were judged by at least three judges; some books were reviewed by as many as seven judges. A complete set of winners was donated to the Rio Rancho Public Library and the Albuquerque Public Library; we anticipate that they will display them. A few judges requested specific copies of some books and they were sent those copies. The rest of the entries, over 650 copies, were donated to libraries. The libraries include:
Abiquiu Library
Los Griegos Library
North Valley Library
Okay Owingeh Library
Rio Rancho Library
Santa Fe Library
South Broadway Library
Taylor Ranch Library
Tuba City Library
Tucumcari Library
Wyoming Library

The Book Awards program is supported by 5 underwriters and 28 category sponsors from all across the state.

Borders has a display of the winning books in each of the New Mexico stores; they also have a series of book signing events for the winners. There has been great follow-up media coverage in Albuquerque The Magazine, PrimeTime, Alibi, New Mexico Business Journal, Albuquerque (and Westside) Journal, Village Visions, Authors Guild Bulletin, ShelfLife.com.

Scores ranged from 47 to 99.5.
56% of the categories had scores up into the 90s.

27% of the entries had a score of 90+; 34% had a score in the 80s; 21% in the 70s; 11% in the 60s; 3% in the 50s; and 1% in the 40s.

Fiction and novels made up 21% of the entries.
Children, Young Reader, Juvenile and Young Adult made up 8% of the entries.
52% of the entries were in: First Book, Biography, Poetry, Adventure Novel, Multicultural subjects, History, Historical Novels, or Reference.

There were no entries in two categories – Gay/Lesbian and Crafts/Hobby/How-To.

The weakest area in the opinion of the judges was the cover; several books were down-graded because of color and legibility issues on the cover, missing trade information (no ISBN, publisher contact info), and lack of cover copy to promote the book. Several covers just did not convey what was inside for the reader.

Generally the content was the strongest area for the judges. Most were viewed as engaging and entertaining. Several books were down-graded due to lack of editing and proof-reading.