(If you’re not an independent author or a publisher, you can nominate your favorite books when public nominations are open, the date of which is still TBD, as of today.)
What’s interesting about this year’s FRCA is that they apparently didn’t have one for seven years. This is why they’re giving awards in two batches, according to the year the books qualify for: 2015 to 2018 and 2019 to 2021.
As an indie romance author myself, the two categories I’ll be keeping my eye on are the Romance in English and Romance in Filipino or Taglish.
Romance in English – A novel or novelette in English in the romance genre and all its sub-genres (contemporary, historical, paranormal, LGBTQ+, etc.). As a requirement of the genre, the book must have an emotionally satisfying ending (happily-ever-after or happy-for-now).
Romance in Filipino or Taglish – A novel or novelette in Filipino or Taglish in the romance genre and all its sub-genres (contemporary, historical, paranormal, LGBTQ+, etc.). As a requirement of the genre, the book must have an emotionally satisfying ending (happily-ever-after or happy-for-now).
— from the BDAP website
I appreciate that the categories on Romance are flexible with regard to length of the book, as they’re the only long-form fiction category that allows novelettes. A good number of romance books published in the recent years are novella length, which works for the genre.
Good luck, authors!