Why is there a GIF of a rose there?
It's pretty, I like it, so there we go.
Each book accepted and entered into the contest will be judged out of /50. Judges will not be required to read the whole book, but at least ten (or more) chapters. Ten is a nice number, and I believe it can give us a good idea of the book overall. If you disagree and have a better chapter number idea, let me know in the comments!
This means you should have at least ten chapters in your book to be able to enter the Simple Awards!
5 - Title, Cover, Summary
Title/cover: Cohesive? Catchy? Creative?
Summary: length (is it concise, or is it too much/too little?)
10 - Hook + how you carry out the main theme
Hook: Do I want to read on and know what happens next? Am I pulled in by the writing, the world building? Does my interest wane, or I find myself getting distracted?
Main theme: say your theme is supposed to be friendship but all the time you're only talking about a zombie apocalypse and zombies attacking you I would say that's more an action genre and life/death/survival theme.
10 - Grammar/spelling
I don't think this should be about counting how many grammar and spelling inconsistencies there are, but more of a gauge to see if your grammar/spelling is good enough to contribute to a smooth reading experience and understanding of the story.
15 - Plot
This is the meat of the story. Is there a central direction the story is going in? Can we as the readers see this direction? Do you have a good grasp of rising action/climax/falling action? Or is your plot more of a I'll-just-see-where-this-takes-us or "filler" chapters?
10 - Character development
Are your characters believable? Do they feel real yet they are fun to read about? Do we feel immersed in the character's point of view?
Do we see changes in the character as the story goes on in terms of goal/aspiration/desire/life lessons or are they static, one-note?
Poetry books will be judged separately, since they do not usually include plot/characters.