The close date for submission to the ENnies 2021 is for packages post-marked 1st May 2021. My ENnie performance in previous years has been as follows:

• 2018 – Gold ENnie for Best Cartography for The Midderlands
• 2019 – Nomination for Best Cartography for The Midderlands Expanded.
• 2020 – Nothing

I deliberated on whether to enter this year on account of not finding time to do the leg work to get the correct submissions in, and also the increasing costs of submission.

Six copies of each of the submitted products have to be sent off, and the judges are NEVER in the United Kingdom, so the cost to send the packages by a tracked service is not for the feint-hearted. This year’s postage cost alone was £181.55 (just over $250 USD). Adding on the cost of the products, I need to ensure that enough sales are generated by the publicity to at least cover the postage, product cost, and my time. That’s going to be around $400-$500 USD. If it doesn’t, then there’s not much point in submitting.

I recall last year that based on the analytics, sales generated via the ENnies website were less than a product review by Ben over at Questing Beast… Sales via the ENnies is a bit nebulous to interpret though.

As the reminder for entering came in, I realised that the products we release are the work of a team, and that I wanted to allow the great folks in the team that supports me to also get a chance to have their efforts rewarded in an industry-acknowledged way.

Richard Marpole, Jim Magnusson, Pookie, and all those fine people in the credits deserve to have their work recognised, and I can help that along, and hopefully reward them with a medal.

I sent off three sets of products last week. They were:

• The Bats of Saint Abbans
• Chewer of Fingers
• Folk Magic of the Haven Isles

I say this every time the ENnies come around, but if you are a fan of MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing, AND we get nominated for anything, then the support of fans like yourself is invaluable.

So, fingers and toes are crossed for a result in 2021.

Take care, Glynn