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Appropriately, Sullivan found out about the nomination by e-mail Saturday.
"I was hoping I'd be nominated, but I wasn't quite sure. There were a lot of books this year," Sullivan said.
EPIC is a group of published authors who are championing the promotion of electronic publishing. Sullivan, a librarian at Winona State University, already was planning on attending this year's EPIC convention in Oklahoma City as a panelist, giving advice to others about the e-book business.
In 2002, Sullivan's "The Crystal Throne" won an EPPIE in the best fantasy category.
Last year, Sullivan was switching publishers so she didn't enter anything.
Giving advice to others on writing has been an adjustment for Sullivan.
"It just seems odd to be on the other side," she said.
Whatever future success Sullivan finds, she plans on staying grounded, unlike some of the authors she's met in person.
"They think fans are a lower life form," she said. "I'll still read their books, but I don't want to listen to them."
"Agents and Adepts" is a collection of 16 of Sullivan's fantasy and science fiction short stories. A couple characters are from "The Crystal Throne," only in their younger days.
One of the stories is about an odd alien attending school at a college campus.
"What do you do with someone who resembles a furry dinosaur?" Sullivan said. "I had fun with it, and hopefully it looks like the judges had fun, too."
Sullivan, who will turn 50 in a few weeks, has been writing for years and began sending submissions to publishers when she was 14.
"That's when I started getting reject letters," she said.
She didn't let that discourage her though.
"I'd read enough to know and heard from other writers that they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting your story," Sullivan said.
Sullivan's advice for aspiring writers comes from years of experience and persistence.
"Finish whatever you're writing. If you've got a great idea, fine. Write it and prove to a publisher that you can finish something," she said. "Just keep sending material out."
Both "The Crystal Throne" and "Agents and Adepts" are available at the WSU Bookstore; Book World, 1213 Gilmore Ave.; and The Book Shelf, 619 Huff St.
