Zompacolypse @ I Write, I Read, I Review! + Bleeding Hearts Nominations!

Some of you may have noticed this badge chilling on my sidebar for the past few weeks. I've made a few attempts to get you to click it. I'd definitely love to see as many of you as possible get involved. But for those who don't know what this is about, this post will hopefully fill you in. (And it will get things started here at I Write, I Read, I Review, too.)

I am taking part in a Halloween event called Zompacolypse. For my part, I have contributed a review of Generation Dead and I will be hosting a giveaway during the Halloween Blog Hop at the end of October.

That's what brings us here today.

Normally I like to pick the prizes that I offer in my giveaways. But since this is an event and I am hoping that a lot of people will be dropping by to enter, I want to make sure I have something for everyone. Plus, I want to have an event here to get all of you involved.

That event is going to be... 

The Bleeding Hearts Awards! 

Okay, I know what you're thinking. "Stop. Turn. Explain." Well, here we go...

The Bleeding Hearts are awards designed to recognize great books about paranormal or supernatural plots or characters. I'll use the list from the actual Zompacolypse post since I am running The Bleeding Hearts as an event leading up to my blog's part in the Halloween Blog Hop. (See "Nomination Criteria" for full details.)

Here's what's going to happen. Round One of The Bleeding Hearts is going to be Nominations. I am going to give you guys two weeks to nominate books that you would like to see on the polls for each category. Nominations begin now and will end on Thursday October 13th, 2011.

Round Two of The Bleeding Hearts is going to be for voting. You will get one vote for each category. The voting will go from October 14th until October 28th, 2011 when the actual Halloween Blog Hop begins.

When the blog hop begins (October 28th until October 31st, 2011), the books that have won in each category will be the prize options that the winner(s) here at I Write, I Read, I Review can select their prize from (Note: I am still deciding how many winners I will select. I will have more details on this later, I'm sure.)

Now here is the important part: You will get an extra entry for nominating books and an extra entry for voting. To get the voting entry, you *must* sign that post with a comment so that I know you voted. You don't need to tell us what you voted for unless you want to, but you *must* sign that post when you vote. It's the only way I'll be able to properly check.

Don't worry -- I'll remind you of that when the voting post is put up. :)

Nomination Criteria

Now that you know what The Bleeding Hearts are and what they are for it's time that we actually got some books nominated, huh? First I am going to explain what type of books we are looking for to receive The Bleeding Hearts Awards, and then I will tell you the categories that are going to be open for nominations.

A Few More Details:

• You are welcome to nominate more then one book for the same category. Be aware that you will only be able to vote for one book per category once the polls go up, though.
• You are welcome to nominate a book for more then one award if the book fits the award properly. (For instance, you could choose to nominate Twilight for "Best Vampire Book" and then again for "Best Romance" if you wanted to.) 
• I *want* to see people nominating a book others have nominated. This will tell me that book must be on the poll. 
• I am looking into finding a poll system that will let me imbed the polls into a post so this event will be convenient. I will be selecting the five most nominated books per category for each poll that is set up. That means it's really important that you speak up about the books that you want to see in each category.
• You can add nominations for as few or as many categories as you like. Please don't feel pressured to come up with something for all ten unless you want to. 

For the purposes of The Bleeding Hearts, a book should have one at least of the following: Zombies, Ghouls, Ghost, Vampires, Weres, Mages, Witches, Wicked Fae or Changelings (Note: I am accepting books about Faeries here in general, for example The Iron King.). Since my blog is primarily about YA and tends to focus on the romantic aspect of the genre I am going to bend things slightly to suit what I cover here. For The Bleeding Hearts, both the sparkly and the spooky are welcome to apply.

If you have any questions about nominations for The Bleeding Hearts please feel free to leave them in the comments or e-mail me.

The Bleeding Hearts: Categories

• Best Witch or Faerie Book
• Best Were or Shifter Book
• Best Vampire Book
• Best Zombie Book
• Best Romance
• Most Terrifying Book
• Best Male Character*
• Best Female Character*
• Best Villain*
• Overall Best Book

*Note: Please list both the character's name and what book he or she is from. Thanks!

And the Nominations for The Bleeding Hearts Awards 2011 are now officially open! I'm excited to see what people will nominate.