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How The Stories
Are Judged
There are five judges in all.
I am the first judge. My
job is to see that entries conform to the contest rules and are
appropriate for the category in which they are entered. I also check to be sure the author is really an "unpublished writer" as defined by the rules. Finally, I eliminate any story that is obviously not up to the level of a potential winner.
After the contest deadline I compile a final list of eligible stories and send it to the outside judges.
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Sherry, Richard, and Rockin' Croc whoop up the new century. |
The four outside judges are unknown to one another, so there is no comparing of notes.
They independently
rate the
stories and give
points to each one. They then narrow their choices down to 5
finalists. They give the one they judge best 5 points. The
next best will get 4
points
and so on. When all judges are finished we will have four lists
of finalists--one from each judge.
When I have all the lists in hand I make a
count and the
story with the most points is the winner, the next is the runner-up, and
the
rest get honorable mention. The honorable mentions are listed in alphabetical order.
We then make the announcement--first to
winners and finalists
and then to all participants and all our members.
As for how long this will take--consider
these factors:
I can't start to make up the list of eligible
stories until I have
posted all of them on the website. Many stories come in just
before the deadline. so that makes it harder for me to finish my part
of the job. After they are all posted I compile a list and send it
to the outside judges.
After that, we simply wait until the outside
judges have read
(or re-read) the stories and have made their final ratings.
That's how it's done and why it usually takes one or two
months.
So be patient. Stories aren't
easy to judge. They aren't cows or pumpkins. Each one is
unique.
It takes time to read them carefully and to judge them properly. Our
judges really care about making good decisions.
I think the excellent collection of stories by our past winners and finalists is proof of our judges' careful work.
Best wishes,
Richard Loller
Publisher
BOOK CASE
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