Each year InD’tale Magazine honors the very best books in the Indie and Small publishing industry by awarding their RONE award. Not offered lightly, any contending book must go through one of the most rigorous processes in publishing, with the three distinct areas of focus that are required to make a book successful in the publishing world. Here are the magazine’s details about award eligibility:
- The Review Round: All books in each given year (January 1st – December 31st) must have been read and reviewed by our professional staff of reviewers and be given a 4.5 – 5.0 star rating. All eligible books must be originally published and submitted within that qualifying year. Those books that meet those qualifications will become the nominees and progress to the second round of voting.
- The Reader Voting Round: In the second round, all nominees must be voted on by the reading public. The books with the highest number of reader votes will progress on to become finalists. There is a one book limit in this round, however. If an author has more than one book that has received high ratings, that author will choose which book should continue. This rule gives authors the very best chance of success in this round.
- The Judges Round: Each book in the finalists will then be read by a group of industry professionals consisting of editors, writers, professors etc. and be judged on a one to five scale from a specific list of requirements such as characterization, technical writing, overall arc, editing etc. Those scores will then be tallied by a professional accounting firm unrelated to InD’tale or its employees to determine the winner of the coveted RONE award, along with the honorable mentions.
- Rules and genres are subject to change without notice depending on numbers in each genre.
All awards are announced at the annual RONE award gala where winners are presented with the Crystal RONE award.
