Springtime is almost here, and with it the awards process kicks into high gear! The nomination period for this year’s Aurora Awards have opened. This newsletter also features a call for a CSFFA secretary to join the Board. And if you are considering applying to professional development grant, don’t hesitate as there are only a few weeks left. More information below.

In this newsletter:

1. Aurora Awards News: 2023 Nominations Are Open
2. CSFFA Board of Directors Vacancy
3. CSFFA 2023 Professional Development Grant Deadline: March 31st

Aurora Awards 2023: Nominations Are Open

You can now nominate for the 2023 Aurora Awards for works done in 2022. There are ten (10) categories.  You may nominate up to five (5) different works in each category. You do not have nominate in all categories or select five works in a category. Nominate what you know and what you enjoyed. Do NOT nominate the same work more than once. Duplicate entries of the same work will be voided.

Nominations will be open until 11:59pm EDT on April 22nd. At that time your choices will be locked. You must have a paid CSFFA membership to participate (annual membership is $10). Log into your account and click the Nomination icon on the member’s home page.

Note: The top five works by five different nominees will be chosen to be on the final ballot in each category. If a nominee has two works with the same number of nominations in the top five, they will be asked to select one to be on the ballot.

About the nomination form plus a few tricks:

1. The nomination form consists of ten sections (one for each award category)
2. Each section has five lines of drop-down lists of the approved eligible works in the category you are on. You may only nominate works from the drop-down lists.
3. You can enter your selections in any order and if you wish to remove one, select the blank line at the top of each drop-down list.
4. You do not have to nominate in all the categories, and you don’t have to select five works in a category.
5. Do not nominate the same work more than once. Duplicate selections of the same work will be voided.
6. To move through the drop-down lists, you can either use your mouse to scroll down or you can key in the first letter of a work and the list will move to the first work starting with that letter.
7. You can go to the eligibility lists from the members-only page at any time to view what has been approved and use the URL link to look at online information about it.
8. After you have selected works in a category you must click the Save button or your choices will be lost if you leave the nomination form.
9. Each category has its own save button.If you close the form before you Save or Update your changes they will be lost, and you will have to start again.
10. If you refresh your screen or come back to it later your selections will be visible.You may change your choices at any time. Categories that you have already saved works will display Update rather than Save.
11. You may continue to change your choices until we have closed nominations.
12. Nominate what you know and enjoyed. This is your chance to have a say what is on the final ballot. Make it your own choices.

CSFFA Board of Directors Vacancy

Your CSFFA board needs a secretary!

The secretary is a full member of the board, equally participating in discussions and decisions. Meetings are monthly (except December), the last Tuesday of each month (8 p.m. E.S.T.: attendees are in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia.)

Meetings happen via Zoom. Meetings typically last 60 minutes.

Duty of the secretary is to write the minutes of board meetings. In the event that the secretary can not attend a meeting, the meeting is recorded.

Interested? Email president@prixaurorawards.ca

CSFFA Professional Developmental Grant

Grant deadline one is fast approaching! Get your application in by March 31, 2023, 11:59pm MT. In case you missed any of the details you will find them below.

This grant is to enable CSFFA members to pursue education and professional development that helps them expand their skill set. Starting in 2023 we will be awarding a total of $2,500.00 over the year to new writers, writers new to the genre or writers changing focus, for example short story to novel.

This Grant will be awarded to successful a successful applicant or applicants to cover up to 75% of the cost of developmental avenues such as:

• Courses
• Retreats
• Writing software
• A book coach or editorial fees for their first book

There will be two submission windows in 2023. The first is January 1^st to March 31^st, with funds awarded by May 15^th and June 1^st to August 31^st with funds awarded by Oct 15^th.

Funds will be distributed at the discretion of the Board and based upon applications submitted per submission windows until the full amount of the grant is paid out. Any unawarded funds will be distributed at the discretion of the Board or rolled over into the next grant year.

Successful applicants will be contacted by CSFFA and an announcement will be made on our website, newsletter, and/or during the Aurora Awards.

All decisions by the CSFFA Board are final.

Application Submission Guidelines

1. Applicants must be members of CSFFA in good standing.
2. Current Board Members or family members of the selection committee are not eligible for this grant.
3. Former Board members must have vacated their position for a minimum of one year prior to application.
4. Must be a new writer or new to the genre of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Speculative fiction, or any subgenres of these main genres.
5. Must be unpublished or have publications that are less than 50 copies in speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, or any sub genres of these main genres.
6. Provide contact Information
7. A 1,000-word proposal is to be submitted detailing the following:
8. What the endeavour is, along with a description and weblink
9. A timeline for the endeavour (must be less than one year)
10. Expected results from the endeavour
11. A short bio
12. If awarded, the applicant is asked to submit upon completion a 500-word description on the results and experience of the endeavour. The applicant must also be in agreement that their name and or photo will be used on the website, newsletter or both.

Applications must be submitted by 11:59:59 MT on the last day of each submission period. Any late submissions will be automatically transferred to the next submission period for consideration.

Submission of applications are to be made to PublicityCSFFA@gmail.com

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