Bookstagram Reviewer’s Choice Awards: Romance Edition 2023-2024
Judging Guidelines and Expectations:
- Judges will select a category or categories that they would like to judge.
- Judges can select more than one category.
- Each judge will be required to read a total of 5 stories across one or more categories. These stories will be selected at random and given to the judges by the contest organizers.
- Judges can choose to read more than the assigned 5 ebooks.
- Judges will be required to submit a score (see the judging criteria here).
- Judges will not discuss their scores with other judges or with authors.
- Judges will not post their scores on social media.
- It is highly recommended that for each story a judge reads, they will also post a review to Bookstagram in their own review style, and that review WILL NOT disclose the book’s score. Please do not review the book if it is a 2-star or lower.
- Judges will have 4 months to read the stories (May 2024-August 2024).
- Judges will be provided with free ebook copies of the stories they are assigned to judge.
- Scores for the preliminarily round of judging will be due on September 1st 2024.
- If a category does not acquire enough judges or entries it will be cancelled or combined with another category.
- Judges are NOT permitted to share the ebook with other readers.
- Judges who are also authors and wish to enter the contest, but also judge the contest are allowed to do both but CAN NOT enter the same category they are judging.
- Authors will receive your final scores, so they can reflect on their entry, but the scores will be sent to the authors anonymously.
Conflict of Interest
If judges have a personal connection to an author they have been assigned to judge, they must notify the organizers at once.
Personal connection includes the following: family members, friends, judge has bete/alpha read for the author, judge is a personal assistant for the author, judge has edited, proofed, formatted, or designed cover art for the author, or professionally promoted the author.
Judges, please look through your book list as soon as you receive it and notify the organizers if there are any conflict of interests.
Failure to disclose a conflict of interest will result in the following:
- Judge will be suspended from participating in this years Bookstagram Reviewer’s Choice Award.
- Judge will not be allow to participate in future competitions.
- For transparency’s shake, the judge’s removal will be publicized on social media and the judges list.
