The 25 finalists vie for awards in seven categories: poetry, novel, general nonfiction, creative nonfiction, young adult literature, children's literature and short fiction. All finalists are Oregon residents, and out-of-state judges select both the nominees and the winner for each category based on literary merit.
Works are submitted to the Oregon Book Awards by publishers, and the authors receive the list of nominees by mail.

Corvallis resident Alison Clement was surprised by the nomination of her novel "Twenty Questions." Upon opening the letter, Clement, who works at an elementary school, was most interested in the children's literature nominees. Only later did she notice her name among the finalists for the Ken Kesey Award for the Novel.

"Twenty Questions" follows the story of a school cafeteria worker who turns down a ride from a man who goes on to kill another woman in the community. Clement took the incident from her own life and explores, through the protagonist, the range of emotions experienced by the survivor. Much of the story takes place at an elementary school, where the main character interacts with the murdered woman's daughter and other students.

Salem author Shannon Riggs is among the finalists for the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children's Literature for her book "Not in Room 204." In the book, Riggs, a volunteer for the Salem-Keizer School District's sexual-abuse prevention team, tells the story of a young girl who confides in her teacher that she is being sexually abused.

Beginning January 2008, the authors will participate in the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour, visiting cities throughout Oregon. Clement said she appreciates Literary Arts' efforts to bring the Oregon Book Awards Author Tour to rural locations that don't usually have author readings.
"Oregon is just great at supporting its writers," she said.

Publicity garnered by the Oregon Book Awards nomination and author tour is valuable to authors who hope to publish again. According to Clement, authors have a better chance of being published after receiving an award.  Her first novel, "Pretty is as Pretty Does," was a Book Sense 76 Pick and Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.

"It's nice to have the recognition," Clement said.
She is currently working on two new novels.