How Are Our Contests Judged?
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First Kiss, Selling Synopsis, High Five , Single Title and Loving It (STALI) and Valerie Parv Award:
There are two rounds – preliminary and final. In the preliminary round every entry is read three times by experienced writer or reader judges . The scores are averaged to determine the top six finalists.
Any entries not meeting the mandatory entry conditions or whose authors have accepted publication during the contest process up until the final round , will be eliminated from the contest. Entrants can withdraw at any time but fees will only be refunded if the judging process has not begun.
Entries not meeting the non-essential criteria for this contest will incur a 2 point deduction for every element not met, to a maximum of 12 points. (Please refer to the entry conditions and sample score sheets for what is considered non-essential). These points are then deducted from the total preliminary score and ranked accordingly.
Every entry score is expressed as a percentage and tallied on the rankings sheet, which goes to all entrants.
In the past, because of the closeness of scores (i.e. no more than 1-3 points' difference), there may be as many as eight finalists. Acceptance of eight finalists is only done with consent from the final judge.
The final judge then decides on the winners - 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
The Emerald Award:
This contest differs in that there are two sections (category/series a nd single title) made up of three rounds – first, second and final. Every entry is read three t imes in the 1st round and the scores averaged . After the disqualified entries have been removed from the judging process, the top 15 entries will progress to the 2nd round, PROVIDING their average score was at least 85%.
Two copies of the full manuscript are then requested from those 2nd round qualifiers and every ms read three times in the 2nd round. In the event that there is a tie, the combined scores from the “Reader Enjoyability” and “Overall Impact” sections are to be the tie breaker.
The top three high scorers in each section are deemed finalists and sent to their appropriate final judge for placing – 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Every entry score is expressed as a percentage and tallied on the rankings sheet, which goes to all entrants.
The Little Gems Short Story Anthology:
There is one round for this contest - preliminary. Every entry is read three t imes by experienced readers and writer s . The scores a re averaged to determine the placegetters in the anthology --- about 12-15 entries, depending on total page count.
Every entry score is expressed as a percentage and tallied on the rankings sheet, which goes to all entrants.