After sifting through all the nominations, we've come up with a slate of five female candidates for our first GalleyCat "Hotties of Publishing" poll. And for those of you who think the publishing industry begins and ends in Manhattan, or think we think that, it's worth pointing out that one of our finalists is based out of Nashville, and another out of Madison. (We're pretty psyched about this, because it proves we have readers in Tennessee and Wisconsin; we worry about things like that sometimes.) Thanks to everyone who proposed one of their friends and coworkers—we couldn't include everyone, but you've given us a couple of great story ideas that may land them in these pages yet!

So now I'll tell you a little bit about the five women we've selected, and then you can make your selection between now and Sunday midnight. We'll announce the winners Monday morning. We still haven't figured out if there's any sort of prize yet, but at least we have the weekend to think it over...

Former Vintage editor Leah Heifferon made the switch to the agency side of the fence, and is currently working as a scout for Franklin & Siegal Associates. "Sure, she's drop-dead gorgeous," says her admirer, "but her appeal is also due to a combination of her modesty and how she carries herself. And she's damn smart."

"Publicist extrordinaire" Beth Hood "always cocks her tiaras to the right to keep her street cred," and keeps a pink feather boa in her cubicle. And you know that has to count for something here at mediabistro.com! She just joined Thomas Nelson last month, where she's promoting books in the Tommy Nelson and J. Countryman lines—before that, she did PR for the state of Tennessee.

Alison Janssen of Bleak House Books pretty much had us at the roller derby helmet (she's in a real league), but we hear that her "beauty, toughness, and sense of humor" have come in handy at work as well, where she's willing to go toe-to-toe with newbie writers and veterans alike to get them to incorporate her editorial notes in the next draft.

NAL/Roc editor Liz Scheier is "brilliant, hilarious, kind, witty, driven, and gorgeous," and part of a new generation of SF/fantasy editors bringing the field literary and market recognition by recruiting fresh voices. She actually sent us this picture when she realized all the ones sent by the people who nominated her were a couple years out of date—and who can resist an action shot?

Simon & Schuster publishing manager Leah Wasielewski is "perhaps the most uber-organized lady in publishing," not to mention "ridiculously loved by her colleagues, authors, and friends." She's recently rejoined the S&S family after a stint as publicity manager for HarperCollins's children's division

UPDATE: The results are in!