Have questions, judges? Here, I'll tell you all about judging and how to do it. The requirements have changed, so PLEASE read this whole thing.

So, as you may already know, the requirements and such are on the sheets in the previous chapters.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JmyC2KCry4no3TnFBncXM1iYyTO9D0sRCw4TCDiAyoI/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hIoJyUwnOqGbIcZag51sW6_S01WAjUaaeAzZw9uguXs/edit

You will not be able to access them here, so check the first chapter in the comments where I posted them. 

Now, as you see, on the sheet it will say a list of things like,

Not so good / Not very original; creative / Not very well planned

Okay

Good

Great

Perfect

As you see above, I added 'Perfect'. Why? Because we need a 1-5 score for each. Instead of judging the book as 'Not so good' for some parts, just put a '1' instead.

So I will show you how to judge, now. I will put an example score sheet below.

Grammar: 3/5

Plot Originality / Creativity: 4/5

Character Development: 5/5

Skill: 1/5

Other (Notes): The author did very well with the originality of the book. It had many twists and turns, but skill was lacking. Decent grammar throughout as well. I loved the character development and the different personalities, too.

Overall rating: 13

That was an example of how it should turn out. You will not print the paper, but you will type this out somewhere to keep track. I suggest using Google Docs or any office program your computer comes with. (Examples: LibreOffice or Microsoft Word)

As you may see, the highest points a book may have is 15. I'm changing the sheets to 20, as you see above, because I'm adding Character Development. I will send out a message on my message board to everyone with the new and improved score sheets.

How do I judge? You may ask. Well, the required amount of chapters per entry was 3. We are changing it to 5. If an entry of yours only has 3, just judge it anyway. This was an after thought, so everyone still has a fair chance of winning.

So, to judge you will start out by reading each of the entries, one by one. Score them, on by one. 

Steps:

1.) Read 5 (or 3, but only if it doesn't have 5) chapters of the entry.

2.) Write down it's score.

3.) Make sure you take notes about the book at the very end of scoring, as in the example above.

You will repeat these three steps for every entry. If you have signed up to be a judge, you may not back out at this point. We gave you the option to back out before, so do not do it now. And PLEASE, do NOT wing it. Make sure you read each entry carefully!

Since some of you have partners, I ask that you work with your partner. Private Message each other concerning how many books you will each read.

Say there are 10 books in your genre. You will both, then, read 5. (Don't judge the same book twice!) 

Another way of doing it is to split up the days.

For example, from July 1st-30th one judge will read half the books. From July 31st-August 28th, the next judge will read the other half.

Make sense? If not, please ask any questions because we don't want you confused! This is supposed to be a fun experience to help yourself and others improve in their writing.

One last thing, do NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT judge someone's book by their cover. Don't even look at the cover, if possible. We are here for writing, not graphics. Graphics belong in the Graphic Contests book, not anywhere near the Summer Awards book.

Make sure you read through ALL of this before judging. If we see you are not following the rules or requirements, the whole genre will be disqualified and you will not judge again for the rest of this year's seasons.

I will send the proper links to the new judging sheets soon, so stay tuned for that! Thank you so much for your time, judging, it's really a big help. :)