Nomination Requirements

Please read the nomination requirements prior to submitting your nomination(s) to the 
Sultry Listeners Awards.

Release Date
All audiobook nominees must be released between August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026 in audio within the United States. Titles cannot be a “re-release” or “reissue” of a previously published title.

Genre
All audiobook nominees must fall within the Romance Genre.
Romance defined as having 1. a central love story between characters and 2. an emotionally satisfying, happy ending (aka. HEA).

The sub-genre of romance, such as "Historical Romance", "Romantic Suspense", "PNR (Paranormal Romance)", "Contemporary" and so on are the categorization to the romance books. Please refer to the "Ultimate Guide to the Romance Genre" and/or "Romance and Its Subgenres Explained" articles for the definition/requirements of sub-genres and additional information.

**Own / Authentic Voices & Inclusive Romance

Eligibility: The author (nominee) AND at least one main character in the story must identify as Black, Indigenous, a Person of Color (BIPOC), a member of another historically underrepresented racial, ethnic, or cultural group, and/or a person with a disability.

This category recognizes authentic representation and lived experience in romance. It includes creators and characters from diaspora communities, multicultural backgrounds, historically marginalized communities, and the disability community, including individuals with visible or invisible disabilities.

This category is inclusive and is not limited to the identities listed below.

Examples include:

• African American / Black / African / Caribbean descent
• East Asian — including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Taiwanese, and other East Asian identities
• Hispanic / Latine — including Hispanic, Latino/Latina/Latine, Latin American, and other related identities
• Indigenous Peoples — including Native American, Alaska Native, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and other Indigenous identities
• Middle Eastern / North African (MENA)
• Pacific Islander — including Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, and other Pacific Islander identities
• South Asian — including Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Indian, Maldivian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and other South Asian identities
• Southeast Asian — including Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian identities
• People with disabilities — including physical, sensory, intellectual, developmental, neurological, and other visible or invisible disabilities

The identities listed above are examples and are not intended to be an exhaustive list. We recognize that cultures, identities, and lived experiences are diverse and cannot be fully captured in a single list.

Both the author's identity and the representation of that identity in the story are required for this category. A story featuring a BIPOC, underrepresented, or disabled main character does not qualify solely based on the character's identity; the author must also share the relevant identity or lived experience represented in the story.

Tropes
The common romance tropes, for example "Aga Gap", "Aliens", "Alpha Male", "Kink"/"BDSM", "Small Town", "Enemies To Lovers", "Fake Relationship", " etc. are "a plot device or theme used within a romance novel giving a recognizable starting point to the story that a reader can recognize" (SheReadsRomanceBooks) and are not listed as a nomination category. If its a "Mafia" romance set in current times, please nominate it in the contemporary romance, unless it takes place in the 1920s which makes it a historical romance or if it has triggers or content warnings which makes it a dark romance. Aliens? nominate it in Sci-fi.

Publishing
Audiobooks can be nominated regardless of being Traditionally published, Indie or Self-Published. Their release date MUST fall within the August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026 window.

Submitting Nominations
Nominations open on September 7, 2026 and close September 21,2026.

All nominees must be full length titles. There are categories specific for Novella/Short Story and the nominees can be any sub-genre.

• Novels are 40,000 words (200 pages) or longer
• Novellas are between 17,500 (35 pages) and 40,000 words (200 pages)
• Short stories are between 1,500 words (3 pages) and 7,500 words (35 pages)

All sections of the form must be completed for a nomination to be accepted. Incomplete (missing information) submissions will not be considered.

Titles must be submitted in the correct category. Any title submitted under the wrong category will be disqualified and not included.

The submission form must include a direct link to the title on Audible (U.S. link only), Libro.fm, Kobo, or Apple Books. If the title is currently available for purchase only by the Author's website, a release date MUST be included on the Author's buy page. If the Author's buy page does not include the release date, it will be disqualified and not included. Submissions that include other links (e.g., Goodreads, social media) or incorrect links (e.g., series page instead of the individual title) will be disqualified and not included.

Narrator Categories

These categories celebrate narrators at different stages of their audiobook careers. Eligibility is based on the number of narrated titles credited to the narrator at the time of nomination.

Favorite Voice to Discover (20 or fewer narrated titles)

Celebrate a narrator you're discovering and falling in love with for the first time.

Favorite Voice to Seek Out (21–50 narrated titles)

Celebrate a narrator whose work you actively look for and are excited to listen to.

Favorite Go-To Voice (51+ narrated titles)

Celebrate the narrator you know you can count on, their name on a book means you're ready to listen.

AI Policy
The Sultry Listeners Awards are dedicated to celebrating human creativity, artistry, storytelling, and performance. As such, all nominated works must meet the following requirements:

Human-Written Stories
Nominated titles must be written by a human author. Works that are generated, co-written, or substantially created using generative AI are not eligible for nomination.

AI tools may not be used to generate the actual creative content of the work, including the story, characters, dialogue, or other substantive written material.

Human-Created Cover Art

Book covers must be created by a human artist or designer.

AI-generated or AI-assisted artwork used to create the book cover is not eligible.

Human Narration

All nominated audiobooks must feature human voices and human performances.

Audiobooks using AI-generated, synthetic, or digitally cloned voices are not eligible for the Sultry Listeners Awards.

A human narrator whose voice has been digitally cloned, replicated, or substantially altered through AI does not qualify as human narration under these awards guidelines.

Why This Matters

The Sultry Listeners Awards exist to recognize the people behind the stories and performances, the authors who write them, the artists who bring them to life visually, and the narrators who give them their voices.

We believe those human contributions deserve to be celebrated.

By submitting a nomination, you confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, the nominated title meets the Sultry Listeners Awards' AI eligibility requirements.

The Sultry Listeners Awards reserve the right to determine eligibility if questions arise regarding the use of AI in a nominated work.

IMPORTANT: 
If your favorite title(s) and/or narrator(s) are not included in the nominations, it is likely due to one of the following reasons: 

1. They did not meet the eligibility requirements listed above, or 

2. They were not submitted by listeners or fans