New Rules and Categories for 2009 BWAs

By BWA Staff | Comments

• categories
• rules

We like to change things up a bit every year, and this year is no exception. We have a few new rules and new categories, so listen up!

Rules

Like we stated before, we lifted that “you can’t nominate your own blog” rule. Now, blog owners can easily nominate their own blog through our simple process. When you’ve completed it, you will receive a unique link for your blog that will allow other to vote for you for the finalist round!

Next up, we’ve changed the duration of the Awards just a bit. Nominations this year start on June 20 and end on July 25, which will give you plenty of time to get your nomination in AND have people vote for them. Finalist voting has also been lengthened, and now runs the entire month of August. Winners are announced on September 4.

There’s also a new rule out there for those repeat winners. Blogs that have won a particular category at least three times are no longer eligible to win for that particular category. This includes blogs that have won either the Judges’ and/or Popular vote for their category. We’ll go into more detail about this, since several categories have changed names over the years.

Categories

Based on growing demand, we have added the following four categories for this year:

• Best Health and Wellness Blog
• Best Microblog
• Best Parenting and Family Blog
• Best Sex and Relationships Blog

Unfortunately, we do have to say goodbye to the following categories based on decreasing activity:

• Best Blog Community
• Best Celebrity Blog
• Best Fictional Blog

Categories always come and go, and we’re always gauging category popularity based on demand and user activity; we’re always taking suggestions on new categories, so feel free to speak up (just don’t demand it).

That’s what’s new for this year! Nominations end on July 25.