The Edgar Awards

Awarded each spring, the Mystery Writers of America present these awards, named after writer Edgar Alan Poe.  They are widely acknowledged to be the most prestigious awards in the genre.  There are currently 16 categories, with 11 of them listed in this guide.

Categories in blue are those covered in this guide.  Others are listed for informational purposes only.

BEST NOVEL:  Hardbound only.  First novels by U.S. citizens must be submitted under Best First Novel.

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR:  Hardbound, paperback, or e-book original.  Only books by first-time novelists holding U.S. citizenship are eligible for this award.  This is the only category that excludes those who are not American citizens.  Writers are ineligible if they have published any genre of novel before, even if using a different name.

BEST PAPERBACK / E-BOOK ORIGINAL:  Paperback or E-Book.  First novels should be submitted to the Best First Novel category.  Foreign authors may submit a paperback or e-book first novel in this category, however.

BEST FACT CRIME:  Nonfiction only.  Hardbound, paperback, or e-book).  This category includes books about actual crimes as well as those detailing how to solve actual crimes.

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL:  Hardbound, paperback, or e-book.  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 category.

BEST SHORT STORY:  From magazines, periodicals, e-zines, or book-length anthologies, 1,000 to 22,000 worlds.  Stories with less than 1,000 words are inadmissible.  Stories over 22,000 words should be submitted to the appropriate book-length category.

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD:  for the best published mystery short story by a previously unpublished American author.

BEST JUVENILE MYSTERY:  Hardbound or paperback.  Covers preschool up to Grade 7 (ages 5-12) but not including Young Adult.

BEST YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY:  Hardbound, paperback.  Covers grades 8-12, or ages 13-18.

BEST TELEVISION SERIES EPISODE TELEPLAY:  Scripts of television episodes that have actually aired.

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE-G.P. PUTNAM'S SON'S SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD:  selected by a Special MWA Committee for the book that most closely fits the following: must be at least the second in a series; main character has to feature a female protagonist that also has the hallmarks of Sue's writing and Kinsey's character: a woman with quirks but also a sense of herself, with empathy but also savvy, intelligence, and wit.

SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD:  selected by a special MWA Committee for the book most closely written in the Mary Higgins Clark tradition: the protagonist is a nice young woman whose life is suddenly invaded; She's sell-made and independent with good family relationships on the whole; has an interesting job; not looking for trouble; solves her problem by her own courage and intelligence; no on-scene violence; and no strong four-letter words of explicit sex scenes.

THE LILLIAN JACKSON BRAUN AWARD:  Awarded annual for the best full-length, contemporary cozy mystery, selected by a special MWA committee.  Book must be full-length; a contemporary cozy mystery with current-day setting and the story emphasizes solving a crime, usually a murder; light in tone, often humorous; crime must be solved in a satisfactory manner by the end of the story.  Historical mysteries do not qualify.

GRAND MASTER AWARD:  represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing.  Honors both the author and his/her body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality.