2016 Rose & Bay Award Landing Page
Welcome to the official landing page for the 2016 Rose and Bay Award, honoring excellence in cyberfunded creativity, aka crowdfunding. This page gathers together important information about the award, its functions, and its participants. You can also revisit the 2015 Landing Page, 2014 Landing Page, 2013 Landing Page, 2012 Landing Page, 2011 Landing Page, and 2010 Landing Page.
What Is the Rose and Bay Award?
The Rose and Bay Award was launched by ysabetwordsmith (Elizabeth Barrette) in January 2009, and quickly gained additional volunteers. This award focuses on a growing business model known as "crowdfunding" or "cyberfunded creativity," which directly connects creative people and patrons of the arts online. This award recognizes exemplary projects and enthusiastic patrons. It currently features six categories: Art, Fiction, Poetry, Webcomic, Other Project, and Patron. (Other Project includes any cyberfunded creativity that isn't art, fiction, poetry, or webcomic -- or that spans more than one category -- such as movies, music, etc.)
The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2015.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2016.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2016.
These are the handlers for the 2016 award season:
Art: ysabetwordsmith Nominate art! Vote for art!
Fiction: ysabetwordsmith Nominate fiction! Vote for fiction!
Poetry: ysabetwordsmith Nominate poetry! Vote for poetry!
Webcomic: ysabetwordsmith Nominate webcomics! Vote for webcomics!
Other Project: ysabetwordsmith Nominate other projects! Vote for other projects!
Patron: ysabetwordsmith Nominate patrons! Vote for patrons!
Watch for the 2016 nomination badges; if you have been nominated, you may copy and use the one for your category. These were the 2015 nominee badges. There are also images for promoting the Rose & Bay Award. These include LJ icons, buttons, and banners.
These are the winners for the 2016 award season:
Art: "Cut Scene: Kirigami Inspired by Scenes from Star Wars" by Paper Dandy
Fiction: "A Rose Point Holiday" by M.C.A. Hogarth aka Haikujaguar
Poetry: "Poetry of Alexconall" by DW user Alexconall
Webcomic: "Raising Dion" by Dennis Liu
Other Project: " Siderea Posts" by Siderea, Sibylla Bostoniensis
Patron: ng_moonmoth, patron of the Poetry Fishbowl project
Category Management
Handling a category entails the following responsibilities:
1) Posting the "nomination" post for that category, on or near January 1. Here is an example from 2015.
2) Watching the nominations as they appear in comments. Make sure nominations are complete and nominees are eligible. Prod people to fill in missing details. Ask people to move misfiled nominations to a different category. Post an outside nomination for someone if they can't get their comment to post for some reason. Quash any arguments that may arise. If there are issues over how something should be filed, etc. then talk that over with ysabetwordsmith and we'll figure it out. Handlers are also welcome to post updates or nudges to boost participation.
3) Posting the "voting" post on or near February 1. Here is an example from 2015. Set the voting poll to non-transparent. Voting will be popular (with checkboxes) rather than singular (with radio buttons) so that voters can indicate all the projects they like within a given category.
4) Similar oversight as for the nomination post. Just keep an eye on the voting post.
5) On or near March 1, tally the votes for your category and announce the winner. Here is an example from 2013. The winners from 2015 were announced in a single post with runoffs.
Award Rules
1) In order for a project to be nominated in the Art, Fiction, Poetry, Webcomic, or Other Project categories:
2) In order for a person to be nominated in the Patron category,
These are the winners for the 2015 award season:
Art: "Icon Day" by Tod Wills aka djinni
Fiction: "Long Hidden" by Rose Fox and Daniel Jose Older, editors, Bart Leib, publisher
Poetry: "The Great Indian Poetry Collective" Shikha Malaviya, Minal Hajratwala, and Ellen Kombiyil
Webcomic: "Humon Comics" by Humon
Other Project: "Schrodinger's Heroes" by Elizabeth Barrette aka ysabetwordsmith
Patron: Sarah Williams aka DW user Dialecticdreamer, patron of the Poetry Fishbowl by ysabetwordsmith
4) This award will go by calendar years. So in order to be eligible for the 2016 award season, a project or patron must have been active on or between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015.
5) For the 2016 season, nominations will be made in comments to each category's nomination post (beginning in January). A nomination consists of the project title, creator name, award category, a link to the project page, and a summary. The summary should include several sentences describing the project's content (theme, characters, plot, etc.), presentation (media, frequency, etc.), and crowdfunding approach (money handling, audience interaction, etc.). Example:
Project Title: "Awesome Content"
Creator Name: A.J. Muse
Link: http://awe.some.content.com
Category: Other Project
Summary: "Awesome Content" is a story about A.J. Muse's three ferrets, told in a combination of music and fiction, illustrated by photos. It is funded by donations and photo sales. Updates twice weekly on Music Mondays and Fiction Fridays."
6) You may nominate a maximum of three projects per category. You are not required to make that many nominations or to cover all the categories. Please make each nomination in a separate comment; that way, if a problem occurs with one nomination it will not affect any others. You may NOT nominate your own project, nor yourself as patron.
7) Nominations for each category will be collected by the handler of that category. (See list of handlers above.)
8) Participation is voluntary. If a creator wishes to withdraw their project from any category, or a patron wishes to withdraw from the Patron category, simply contact the category handler. In case of withdrawal, the person who made the withdrawn nomination may then nominate another project or patron instead.
9) Voters are strongly encouraged to browse the nominees before making a final decision; that's what the links are for, and the purpose of this award is to promote the splendor of crowdfunded projects. If you don't have time to explore widely or you already have a firm favorite, that's okay too.
10) Voting will take place via LiveJournal polling in the crowdfunding community, open to all. Polling is by popular vote, with checkboxes; you may vote for all of the projects in a category that you admire. (There may need to be more than one poll question per category, and radio button runoffs, if the number of nominees is high. LJ has a limit to how many options there can be per question in a poll.) You ARE allowed to vote for your own project, or for yourself as a patron.
11) Winners will be announced after the polling is completed.
2016 Winners
To be announced in March 2016.
Special Thanks To ...
The following people have volunteered their ideas, time, services, goods, and other resources to make the 2016 Rose and Bay Award successful. Please give them a round of applause.
Continued thanks to haikujaguar for the original logo art, and karen_wehrstein for the earlier nominee badges as well as the general icon, button, and banner designs.
How You Can Help
As a relatively new award, Rose and Bay depends on everyone's participation and enthusiasm to make it a success. Here are some ways you can help that happen:
What Is the Rose and Bay Award?
The Rose and Bay Award was launched by ysabetwordsmith (Elizabeth Barrette) in January 2009, and quickly gained additional volunteers. This award focuses on a growing business model known as "crowdfunding" or "cyberfunded creativity," which directly connects creative people and patrons of the arts online. This award recognizes exemplary projects and enthusiastic patrons. It currently features six categories: Art, Fiction, Poetry, Webcomic, Other Project, and Patron. (Other Project includes any cyberfunded creativity that isn't art, fiction, poetry, or webcomic -- or that spans more than one category -- such as movies, music, etc.)
The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2015.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2016.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2016.
These are the handlers for the 2016 award season:
Art: ysabetwordsmith Nominate art! Vote for art!
Fiction: ysabetwordsmith Nominate fiction! Vote for fiction!
Poetry: ysabetwordsmith Nominate poetry! Vote for poetry!
Webcomic: ysabetwordsmith Nominate webcomics! Vote for webcomics!
Other Project: ysabetwordsmith Nominate other projects! Vote for other projects!
Patron: ysabetwordsmith Nominate patrons! Vote for patrons!
Watch for the 2016 nomination badges; if you have been nominated, you may copy and use the one for your category. These were the 2015 nominee badges. There are also images for promoting the Rose & Bay Award. These include LJ icons, buttons, and banners.
These are the winners for the 2016 award season:
Art: "Cut Scene: Kirigami Inspired by Scenes from Star Wars" by Paper Dandy
Fiction: "A Rose Point Holiday" by M.C.A. Hogarth aka Haikujaguar
Poetry: "Poetry of Alexconall" by DW user Alexconall
Webcomic: "Raising Dion" by Dennis Liu
Other Project: " Siderea Posts" by Siderea, Sibylla Bostoniensis
Patron: ng_moonmoth, patron of the Poetry Fishbowl project
Category Management
Handling a category entails the following responsibilities:
1) Posting the "nomination" post for that category, on or near January 1. Here is an example from 2015.
2) Watching the nominations as they appear in comments. Make sure nominations are complete and nominees are eligible. Prod people to fill in missing details. Ask people to move misfiled nominations to a different category. Post an outside nomination for someone if they can't get their comment to post for some reason. Quash any arguments that may arise. If there are issues over how something should be filed, etc. then talk that over with ysabetwordsmith and we'll figure it out. Handlers are also welcome to post updates or nudges to boost participation.
3) Posting the "voting" post on or near February 1. Here is an example from 2015. Set the voting poll to non-transparent. Voting will be popular (with checkboxes) rather than singular (with radio buttons) so that voters can indicate all the projects they like within a given category.
4) Similar oversight as for the nomination post. Just keep an eye on the voting post.
5) On or near March 1, tally the votes for your category and announce the winner. Here is an example from 2013. The winners from 2015 were announced in a single post with runoffs.
Award Rules
1) In order for a project to be nominated in the Art, Fiction, Poetry, Webcomic, or Other Project categories:
- It must be "cyberfunded creativity" aka "crowdfunding." That means it must be creative material marketed directly to an audience online, with money involved somehow. There are many variations of this business model; all are welcome; and if you're not sure a project qualifies, you may ask. See "5 Steps to Crowdfunding Success" for a discussion of key features that identify a crowdfunded project.
- At least part of the project must be visible online without charge. If the project is normally visible only to paying subscribers or the like, and the creator wishes for it to be eligible, then s/he may offer temporary or partial access for voting purposes. (If the available material is temporary and/or partial, it needs to say that at the top of the screen, to avoid annoying visitors who might otherwise think they're about to see a complete and permanent piece.)
- Duplicate nominations of the same project by different people are not allowed. If someone nominates a project which has already been nominated, they will be notifed and asked to make another selection. This maximizes the number of projects which may be submitted for the Rose & Bay Awards.
2) In order for a person to be nominated in the Patron category,
- The person must have made a financial contribution to a creative project. This distinguishes patrons of the arts from the general audience. However, money is not the only consideration: Patrons may also be admired for their feedback, word of mouth promotion, suggested improvements to crowdfunding models, taste in items sponsored, etc. -- and these are good ways to choose between patrons if you're not sure which to pick.
- The receiving project must qualify as "cyberfunded creativity" aka "crowdfunding." That means it must be creative material marketed directly to an audience online, with money involved somehow. There are many variations of this business model; all are welcome; and if you're not sure a project qualifies, you may ask. See "5 Steps to Crowdfunding Success" for a discussion of key features that identify a crowdfunded project.
- For the Patron category only, duplicate nominations will be accepted/encouraged. The same patron can be nominated by multiple creators and/or by the same creator for multiple projects. This has two benefits. Links are included to each project on the nomination comment. Voters may follow those links and find new projects to enjoy. Also, the information that a patron has supported multiple creators/projects might prove useful for undecided voters.
These are the winners for the 2015 award season:
Art: "Icon Day" by Tod Wills aka djinni
Fiction: "Long Hidden" by Rose Fox and Daniel Jose Older, editors, Bart Leib, publisher
Poetry: "The Great Indian Poetry Collective" Shikha Malaviya, Minal Hajratwala, and Ellen Kombiyil
Webcomic: "Humon Comics" by Humon
Other Project: "Schrodinger's Heroes" by Elizabeth Barrette aka ysabetwordsmith
Patron: Sarah Williams aka DW user Dialecticdreamer, patron of the Poetry Fishbowl by ysabetwordsmith
4) This award will go by calendar years. So in order to be eligible for the 2016 award season, a project or patron must have been active on or between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015.
5) For the 2016 season, nominations will be made in comments to each category's nomination post (beginning in January). A nomination consists of the project title, creator name, award category, a link to the project page, and a summary. The summary should include several sentences describing the project's content (theme, characters, plot, etc.), presentation (media, frequency, etc.), and crowdfunding approach (money handling, audience interaction, etc.). Example:
Project Title: "Awesome Content"
Creator Name: A.J. Muse
Link: http://awe.some.content.com
Category: Other Project
Summary: "Awesome Content" is a story about A.J. Muse's three ferrets, told in a combination of music and fiction, illustrated by photos. It is funded by donations and photo sales. Updates twice weekly on Music Mondays and Fiction Fridays."
6) You may nominate a maximum of three projects per category. You are not required to make that many nominations or to cover all the categories. Please make each nomination in a separate comment; that way, if a problem occurs with one nomination it will not affect any others. You may NOT nominate your own project, nor yourself as patron.
7) Nominations for each category will be collected by the handler of that category. (See list of handlers above.)
8) Participation is voluntary. If a creator wishes to withdraw their project from any category, or a patron wishes to withdraw from the Patron category, simply contact the category handler. In case of withdrawal, the person who made the withdrawn nomination may then nominate another project or patron instead.
9) Voters are strongly encouraged to browse the nominees before making a final decision; that's what the links are for, and the purpose of this award is to promote the splendor of crowdfunded projects. If you don't have time to explore widely or you already have a firm favorite, that's okay too.
10) Voting will take place via LiveJournal polling in the crowdfunding community, open to all. Polling is by popular vote, with checkboxes; you may vote for all of the projects in a category that you admire. (There may need to be more than one poll question per category, and radio button runoffs, if the number of nominees is high. LJ has a limit to how many options there can be per question in a poll.) You ARE allowed to vote for your own project, or for yourself as a patron.
11) Winners will be announced after the polling is completed.
2016 Winners
To be announced in March 2016.
Special Thanks To ...
The following people have volunteered their ideas, time, services, goods, and other resources to make the 2016 Rose and Bay Award successful. Please give them a round of applause.
Continued thanks to haikujaguar for the original logo art, and karen_wehrstein for the earlier nominee badges as well as the general icon, button, and banner designs.
How You Can Help
As a relatively new award, Rose and Bay depends on everyone's participation and enthusiasm to make it a success. Here are some ways you can help that happen:
Volunteer to manage a category. Handlers are still needed for the Fiction and Other Project categories. Additional volunteers for networking and promotions would be welcome. Previously we have discussed the idea of fundraising for prize money, but nothing came together; if someone has experience with this and wishes to help, please speak up.
Mark the nomination period on your calendar. Make sure you come back to crowdfunding in January to make your nominations.
Promote the Rose and Bay Award by blogging about it, emailing your friends, posting it on social networks, or any other method you can imagine. Everyone is encouraged to spread the word as far as possible whether you are a creator of crowdfunded projects, a patron of the arts, or a curious onlooker. You may link to this landing page, and/or the "nomination open" posts for individual categories when those appear in January.- If you're a patron or audience member, highlight your favorite cyberfunded projects from 2014 and direct people back to the award. You may link to this landing page and/or the "nomination open" posts for individual categories when those appear in January. Are you following other patrons whose tastes match your own to see what they sponsor or recommend? Mention them too! This makes it easier for people to find eligible nominees.
- If you're a creative person, let your audience and patrons know which of your projects are eligible for the Rose and Bay Award, including a link to the relevant nomination page(s). You may link to this landing page and/or the "nomination open" posts for individual categories when those appear in January. Do you have an "honor wall" or other place acknowledging your patrons? Mention that too! Let your fans know there is a way for them to honor your project and the patrons who make it possible. Have you been running a creative project this year, but not involved money yet? You still have time to make it crowdfunded by putting out a tip jar or any other monetizing option. Finally, make sure that your project is readily identifiable as cyberfunded creativity; see the article "5 Steps to Crowdfunding Success" for suggestions.
- If you're not a member of the LiveJournal community crowdfunding yet, consider joining. We welcome new members who are patrons of the arts, producers of crowdfunded projects, or curious onlookers. This is a good place to network and find out what's happening in the wonderful world of cyberfunded creativity.
- Another helpful community is freestuffday. Many projects which are funded by tips -- including Icon Days, One Card Draws, Fishbowls, and so forth -- are announced there. Look there for both projects and patrons.
- Are you on Dreamwidth? Check out the Crowdfunding community there too. Some of the posts are the same, while others are different. Award news will also be posted on the DW community.
- Add "crowdfunding," "cyberfunded creativity," and/or "weblit" to your Interests. This makes it easier for creative people and potential fans to find each other.
- Place an appropriate image on your website; there are general ones for promoting the Rose and Bay Awards.