Book awards: Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film and theatre published or produced in the past year.
All books, short stories, television shows, and films in the mystery, crime, suspense, and intrigue fields are eligible for Edgar® Awards in their respective category if they were published or produced for the first time in the U.S. during the calendar year. Books from non-U.S. publishers are eligible if they are widely distributed in the U.S. and are readily available on the shelves in brick-and-mortar stores for the first time during the judging year ("Special order" titles would not qualify). The work must be published for the first time in the United States in the calendar year. Only a work with a copyright date of the calendar year will be eligible for consideration in that calendar year (with the following exception; see the note below). Foreign books may have an earlier copyright but the year of consideration must be the year of its first publication in the United States. Television episodes and plays must have been shown for the first time in the United States in the calendar year. In the case of plays, which often have many readings, workshops and showcases in advance of a premiere performance, the determination of whether a production has a "first" or major performance in the judging year is left to the discretion of the best play committee. A work may be submitted to only one committee except in the case of the Robert L. Fish Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. Note: Copyright date shall prevail over publication date in determining the year of eligibility. However, MWA recognizes that problems beyond the control of the author can cause a work with a copyright of one year to be published in the following year, thereby preventing submission of the work even in galley or page proof form to the Edgar® committee during the copyright year. In such cases, a work may be submitted to the committee in the year of publication provided the work was not submitted in any form to the committee during copyright year. To prevent confusion or rejection, the author must petition the General Awards Chair and the chair of the appropriate awards committee and send a statement from the publisher stating that the work was not available during the copyright year. No work can be submitted in both the copyright year and the publication year. PLEASE NOTE: Effective as of the 2006 reading year, all works submitted for consideration must meet the requirements for active membership status as described in the membership guidelines. While the author does not need to be a member of MWA, the work itself must make the author eligible for active status. In addition, all publishers submitting work must be on MWA's approved publisher list or otherwise qualify to be added to that list. See the "Membership: Active Status" section for the details.
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Eligibility for Specific Categories
Best Novel Hardbound only.
Best First Novel (that is also a mystery) by an American Author Hardbound or paperback. Only first-time US-born novelists are eligible for this award. This is the only category in which foreign authors may not compete. If an author publishing his or her first mystery has previously published a fictional novel of any type (except if it is self-published) or even if using a different pen name at the time, then he or she is ineligible for the Best First Edgar®. An author failing the above test can still submit that novel for consideration in the Best Novel category. Similarly, while a non-US born writer publishing a first mystery in America is ineligible for the Best First Edgar®, he or she can still submit that novel in the Best Novel category.
Best Paperback Original Novels published only in paperback. Paperback first novels are not eligible for this category and must be submitted under Best First Novel.
Best Critical/Biographical Hardbound or paperback. "Biographical" refers to biographies of mystery writers or other notable practitioners of the genre, not to criminals. Those books should be submitted to the Best Fact Crime committee.
Best Fact Crime Hardbound or paperbound. Nonfiction.
Best Short Story From magazines, periodicals, book-length anthologies and web sites. Short stories are identified as work of up to 22,000 words; works above that word count should be submitted to the appropriate novel committee. This committee also selects the winner of the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for the best first published mystery short story by a previously unpublished author. When submitting a short story for the Fish Award, please note this in the category section of the entry form.
Best Children's Mystery Hardbound or paperback. Preschool up to Grade 7, but not including, young adult -- or, the ages 5 - 11.
Best Young Adult Mystery Hardbound or paperback. Grades 8 - 12. Age 12 -18. Best Play All full-length plays produced professionally on Broadway, off Broadway, or through the League of Regional Theatres are eligible, including other regional, local or university theatre and 99 seat equity waiver productions. Full-length plays and re-productions of full-length plays that have gone through significant re-writes and are being produced for the first time in the previous calendar year are eligible for consideration.
Best Television Series Episode Teleplay Submit copy of DVD or VHS tape of episodes actually aired.

Mary Higgins Clark Award The winner will be selected by a Special MWA Committee for the book most closely written in the Mary Higgins Clark Tradition according to guidelines set forth by Mary Higgins Clark. • The protagonist is a nice young woman whose life is suddenly invaded. • She's self-made and independent, with primarily good family relationships. • She has an interesting job. • She is not looking for trouble--she is doing exactly what she should be doing and something cuts across her bow. • She solves her problem by her own courage and intelligence. • The story has no on-scene violence • The story has no strong four-letter words or explicit sex scenes.