Thank you for volunteering to judge The Emily Contest!
If you have any questions or concerns,
please reach out to your category coordinator or
email the Emily Chair at emily.contest.lrw@gmail.com
About The Emily
The Emily Contest is open to unpublished romance writers, as well as to published romance writers entering a category in which they have NOT PUBLISHED WITHIN THE PAST THREE (3) YEARS. The Emily offers six (6) categories to entrants, the opportunity to receive constructive & encouraging feedback from our knowledgeable First Round Judges, and the chance to have their work read by publishing house editors and literary agents.
THE EMILY GUIDING PRINCIPLES:
♥ It is IMPORTANT that you familiarize yourself with the updated CONTEST RULES, so that you will know what we require of all Entrants of The Emily Contest.
♥ If any First Round Judge is assigned an Entry with which she or he feels they might be familiar, it is up to the First Round Judge to contact the Coordinator to recuse themselves from judging the Entry.
♥ No First Round Judge may enter the same category in which she or he is judging. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in disqualification of the Entry and forfeiture of Entry Fee.
♥ Please do not share the fact that you are an Emily Contest judge either privately or on social media (via Twitter, FB, Instagram, personal website, blog, or otherwise). Thank you for your cooperation.
♥ The Emily Contest welcomes Published Authors, Romance Writing Contest Winners, & Experienced romance writing contest Judges as First Round Judges. We value this wealth of experience and skill, and don’t believe judges at this level need instruction on how to do their job. We do, however, have a few tips and guidelines to offer below that might come in handy. Please take a moment to look them over.
Tips and Guidelines for 1st Round Judges
Remember, Constructive Feedback is a Keynote to The Emily
♥ We recommend you start with reviewing The Emily Contest SCORE SHEET. At the beginning of each entry, a score sheet is attached. PLEASE NOTE: Each judge will need to enter the Manuscript Title, Entry #, and their Judge # on every entry scored.
♥ We’re looking for your honest and unbiased opinion from our Judges, but also professional courtesy. There are specific sentences within each section requiring a numeric score, followed at the end by a place for Judges Comments. Please utilize this space for any feedback you might like to see on your own work. Look with a critical but constructive eye, and make suggestions that might open up new ways for an author at any stage in their career to look at their work.
♥ Additional suggestions are encouraged to be given, within the body of the entry, as you read with an Overall Comment section at the end.
♥ If you score a 4 or 5, make a comment as to why you gave that score.
♥ If you give a score of 1, 2, or 3, you must make a comment with suggestions as to how the author can improve their skills. Giving examples of books the author may read, in any given area, is always helpful.
♥ Following are three examples of what might be found in a Judge’s Comments where problems were detected in the PLOT, CHARACTERIZATION, & STYLE sections, respectively:
SEE THE BELOW EXAMPLES OF KINDER, MORE HELPFUL ALTERNATIVES TO THE MEAN REVIEW
Provided by Julie Pitzel, one of our valued 1st Round Judges (Click Here to Read the Article)
