Universal Awards (CLOSED)

Judging Criteria

🔹️Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting this sooner, but it completely slipped my mind that for Judges to judge a book, they're going to need a guide to follow along 😅. But thanks to Oceaness15, I remembered, so give her your thanks for that.

Anywho here's the guidelines that you should follow, as a judge, when reviewing the books:

Title (5pts)

Does the title match the story? Is it properly spelled and punctuated?

Cover (5pts)

Does the cover go with the story? Can you clearly see the full title and author's name?

Description (10pts)

How detailed is the description? Does it give enough away to hook you on the story or does it give away too much of the story? Does it make you want to read it?

Transition (20 pts)

Does the story move along smoothly and effectively, without any abrupt or choppy switches in the story?

Spelling and Grammar (15 pts)

Are there little to no spelling or grammar mistakes? Do the sentences make sense? Is everything spelt and punctuated correctly? Are the sentences properly spaced and are the speaking parts indented?

Literary Devices (10 pts)

Are there any literary devices used in the story? (Foreshadowing, flashback, similes, metaphors, etc) Do they go along with the story? Are they used properly and efficiently?

Attraction (20 pts)

Does the story grab your attention? Is it tasteful and page turning worthy? Does it drive you into the world that the writer created?

🔹️Judges, when you are judging the books, these are the things that you should be looking for when deciding what books to eliminate and which ones to keep.

You only need to read the first 5+ chapters in the story. If there's less than that or you would like to read more that's completely fine.

After you have narrowed down your list (We are looking for 3 winners per genre) I ask you to talk to the other judge of the genre -if there is one- and share the books that you have left along with your notes about the story.

Once that's done you are to review the books given from the other judge and then confir with the fellow judge and discuss what stories should be declared the winner(s).

Finally once you have finalized who the winners are, both judges (to ensure that no favoritism was made and that both judges agreed to the winners) are to message the winners to the admin on their personal accounts - BJBrijmohan and Laurd27.

There should be 3 winners per genre of each contest.

All of the judging and communicating can be done on our Discord channel for the judges. If you would like to communicate that way here's the link: https://discord.gg/fRBC49uGTF

🔹️Because of all the different time zones, other commitments, and personal lives, we understand that work may not be done as quickly as we'd like so judging might take awhile.

So with that in mind, we are setting our due dates to around 2 months of judging time.

By the first month all respective books should have been read and discussion of winners should begin with the other judges.

By the second month winners should be finalized and messaged to the curators - Laurd27 and BJBrijmohan.

If more time is required please let the curators know and we will discuss an extension on your time. If you do not ask for an extension before the deadline hits, you will be held accountable and removed as a judge.

Exact deadline dates are on your genre's judging forms.

🔹️Thank you in advance for your hard work and loyalty to your job as a judge and to the community. It is greatly appreciated.

Good luck! 🤗