NEW YORK—The Good Sex Awards has announced 45 finalists for its inaugural edition in eight categories ranging from Sexiest Consent and Best Feminist Sex to Best Sexy Talk, Best LGBTQI Scene, Best Use of Sex Toys, Best Kink, Best Fan Fiction and Best Thought Leadership (non-fiction).
Selected from hundreds of entries, the finalists come from publishers including Avon, Bold Strokes Books, Carina Press, Cleis Press, Entangled, HarperOne, JMS Books, New Smut Project, Sourcebooks Casablanca, Totally Bound, Zero Books and others, along with self-published titles. Finalists include romance novelists Christina Berry (Up for Air), Alexis Daria (You Had Me at Hola), Angelina M. Lopez (Hate Crush), Robin Lovett (Forbidden Desire), L.A. Witt (If the Seas Catch Fire), as well as How to Come Out Like a Porn Star editor Jiz Lee, Autostraddle contributor Mary Ann Thomas and others.
Award organizers have elected to expand the Sexiest Consent category to 10 finalists and two winners due to the overwhelming response.
“We are now including two winners in the Sexiest Consent category to acknowledge the high volume and diversity of quality submissions that demonstrated the subtleties of active and affirmative consent, which we believe should be awarded and profiled. Unsurprisingly, no consent apps or contracts were featured in any Sexiest Consent submissions,” said Carol Battle, co-founder of event producer TheGoodBits.com.
Winners will be chosen by an esteemed panel of judges, which includes Clementine Ford, broadcaster and bestselling author of Fight Like a Girl; Cindy Gallop, founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn; Karen Hawkins, co-host, Feminist Erotica podcast; reviewer Bree Hill; Emily Nagoski, author of New York Times bestseller Come as You Are; Stoya, co-founder of ZeroSpaces.com and Slate’s “How to Do It” columnist; and Zane, New York Times bestselling author of Addicted and publisher of Strebor Books; as well as many other reviewers, entertainers, sex educators and authors.
"My story How to Come Out Like a Porn Star introduces the book and my role as creator and editor, which I still consider one of the highlights and proudest accomplishments of my career," says Jiz Lee. "I compiled over 50 stories from contributors that are so powerful and important in relating to the stigma faced when working within a very public form of sex work. I hope the nomination will encourage more to read these stories and take our issues to heart!"
The Good Sex Awards are organized by erotica author and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel and sex positive story website TheGoodBits.com. Each category winner will receive $150 (US).
“The submissions we received were of a very high quality. I was impressed with the variety of writing styles, sexualities and authors represented in the submissions,” said Bussel.
Finalist submissions have been published at TheGoodBits.com for public voting, which is open through June 20 for the Readers’ Choice Award. An additional Erotic Touch Award, sponsored by the Pleasure Mechanics, will be awarded at the judges’ discretion.
Winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, June 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET via Twitter Spaces, hosted by Frolic Media (@OnFrolic).
Sponsors are NORMAL, Bellesa, Frolic Media, Dipsea, Pleasure Mechanics, All About Romance,and Fly Media Productions.
Visit www.goodsexawards.com or contact [email protected]
