Members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc. (BSFS), Balticon, visitors to the BSFS clubhouse, members of Science Fiction clubs and Book Clubs/Discussion Groups that meet in Maryland are all eligible to participate in preliminary voting. Simply use the Compton Crook Award Ballot found on the link above to rate the books you read. However, the committee reserves the right to omit non-BSFS votes if they see evidence of ballot stuffing/slate voting.

Books should be evaluated as compared to other first novels read that year, as opposed to against all novels the evaluator has ever read. Remember these are their authors' first novels

Once preliminary voting has closed and finalists have been announced, only BSFS members are eligible to vote on finalist novels. Finalists are notified in February. Voting for the Award is closed in April and the winner is notified and extended a formal invitation to be our Guest at Balticon.

BSFS members may revise their original rating of a novel when evaluating the novel as compared to the other finalists.

We suggest that readers take into consideration the following when evaluating a novel for the Compton Crook Award:

Excellence in writing:

• Originality of plot, worldbuilding and characters
• Engaging world-building and characterization
• Narrative drive

Did this novel:

• provide an overall engrossing and satisfying reading experience?
• spark your imagination and intellect?
• provide a new or different take on a universe, space travel, humanity, technology, fantasy concept, the future, or the present?