• There will be a minimum of 3 judges and a maximum of 5, comprising the current RNA Chair, and representatives from the RNA membership who support the RNA goal of being the professional writing organisation of all writers of romantic fiction.
• In the interest of transparency, the names of the judges will be made public once nominations have closed.
• At the time of appointment, the judges must be fully paid-up members of the Romantic Novelists Association. There will be an open policy on the length of service of a Judge. Both continuity and a fresh approach are important factors in sustaining a robust, open and relevant judging system.
• Judges cannot participate in the nomination process, however, this does not exclude them from being nominated.
• In the event of a judge being nominated, the nominated judge will recuse themselves and another non-nominated judge will be sought.
• There will be a list of reserve judges.
• The judges will receive the complete list of nominations, including the nominator’s statement.
• The nominator’s statement must be explicit in why they have put forward their nomination.
• Having received the list of nominations, and before the date of the judging session, judges will carry out research and due diligence as necessary regarding the nominees.
  The judges will discuss the nominations and qualifying statements and will reach a decision on the winner of each category.
• A majority secures the win.
• In the event of a tie, the Head Judge will have the casting vote.
• Should the Head Judge have an interest in the category which would bias the casting vote, the Industry Awards Organiser will vote in the Head Judge’s stead.
• If a finalist withdraws from the process, the judges will decide whether to add a replacement nominee to the shortlist.
• If a winning nominee withdraws from the process, the second placed finalist will be promoted to first, and the judges will decide whether to add a replacement nominee to the shortlist.
• Shortlists are capped at three per category.
• The IA Organiser will collate the information from the nomination forms and submit to the judges by 7th August or the nearest working day to that date.
• Judges will discuss and reach agreement on Finalists and Winners by 14th August or the nearest working day to that date, the Organiser passing the information to the PR team the same day or no later than the next working day.

The criteria for a nomination are as follows:

• The Industry Award year runs from July of the previous year to July of the current year.
• Nominations are open from 1st July to 31st July.
• The nominator must clearly evidence/explain/illustrate how their nominated professional has raised the profile of romance writing and championed the genre in a positive and professional way.
• One way this can be done is by highlighting the hard work and talent of any person, group or organisation who works within the romantic fiction industry.
• Unless accompanied with examples of the above, nominations presented with a qualifying statement resembling ‘because they are lovely’, or ‘I wouldn’t have a published book without their help’ will be rejected. The statement MUST fulfil the judging criteria.
• As this is a nomination process, one nomination for a professional carries the same importance as several nominations.
• Where there is overwhelming support for one particular nominee, the judges will assess the qualifying statements in the exact manner as they assess the qualifying statement for a professional with one nomination only.
• Nominees known or alleged to have discredited the Industry.
• Should an Industry Professional known, or alleged to have discredited the industry be nominated, the judges must seek clarification from the RNA Board as to whether the nomination may proceed.