AN INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OF UNIQUE BOOKS

Written Backwards Awards

Also known as the DRAWA, the Written Backwards Awards® celebrates the recognition of a literary marvel. The prestigious award is not determined by jury, not by recommendation counts of any kind, and not by a jury/rec superpac, but is decided upon by Written Backwards and its staff… meaning one person, Michael Bailey. He determines whether a literary work is DRAWA eligible by reading or looking at various readable or lookable things throughout the year, whether it be a short story, novelette, novella, novel, screenplay (which we all know is just watching a movie), soundtrack, grocery list, magazine, website article, literary journal, pretty picture/artwork, or whatever else he sees fit, mentally scores this work on a scale of suck to badass, and from that point creates a preliminary ballot in his head from which to randomly choose ballotees. From this “preliminary” ballot, he then carefully and skillfully and adverbly removes “preliminary” altogether, thus creating what is known as the Written Backwards Awards® final ballot, which may or may not have to include works from the previous year. DRAWA winners are determined from this mental list, if remembered, depending on eligibility.

There is no hindrance on publication date, as long as the publication date does not surpass the year in which an award is planned for issue. For example, if Stephen Hill publishes an award-winning masterpiece in December 2014, he is not eligible for a 2013 award because, well, his work is from the future, and future literary works are prohibited, as mentioned somewhere in the figurative small-print. Awards can go to the dead, although they cannot be accepted in person.

Please note that all writers whose work appeared or will soon appear in Written Backwards anthologies are not only eligible for a DRAWA, but automatic recipients of the Written Backwards Awards®. This currently includes the following anthologies: Pellucid Lunacy (2010), Chiral Mad (2012), Chiral Mad 2 (2013), the upcoming Pellucid Lunacy 2 (TBD), and the upcoming Qualia Nous (TBD). If your work appeared or will soon appear in the aforementioned anthologies, you are hereby or soonby an alumni recipient of the Written Backwards Awards® for the given year of publication. See anthology table of contents page for a full list of alumni recipients.

So, without further ado, in this first annual event, Written Backwards is proud to introduce the first winners of the Written Backwards Awards®, also known as the DRAWA (name not yet a registered trademark). The following works were admired greatly, and can forever be considered literary marvels from this point onward.

Gary A. Braunbeck – Rose of Sharon (fiction collection)

David Morrell – Murder as a Fine Art (historical novel)

Christian A. Larsen – Losing Touch (first novel)

Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane (fantasy novel)

John Boden – Dominoes (kids book, sort of…)

Joe Hill – NOS4A2 (horror novel)

Stephen King – Dr. Sleep (horror novel)

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel (screenplay)

David Petersen – Mouse Guard, all volumes (graphic novel)

Special Written Backwards Awards® may be given out each year to those making a noticeable difference in the writing community. This year, Written Backwards proudly presents the DRAWA Presence, Inspiration, and Voice. (See how that works? AWARD is spelled backwards, with the subject of the award after… so, this would actually be a Presence Award, Inspiration Award, and a Voice Award… clever, right?)

Anyway, the DRAWA Presence recognizes an individual completely dedicated to the craft, with strong viral marketing / social networking skills, and a blog people actually follow; this person must regularly crank out quality work and have a recognizable ‘presence’ in their field of work; this is the top dog, the lifetime achiever, the… well, you get the idea. The DRAWA Inspiration recognizes an individual somewhat new to the craft, someone with emerging talent, a strong, literary powerhouse waiting to erupt; this is the person to watch closely. Lastly, the DRAWA Voice recognizes an individual  with a fresh, unique literary voice, someone who quite clearly knows all the rules, and is very good at breaking them; this person has their own genre of awesomeness, in other words. Who are these people?

DRAWA Presence – Brian Keene

DRAWA Inspiration – Usman T. Malik

DRAWA Voice – Erik T. Johnson