Savant Awards 2024

judge-y criteria

This chapter is for all those who are interested in joining as a judge and for those who are interested in finding out how your book(s) are going to be prodded.

Overview of the Judging Process 🫶🏻
Each genre will be judged by a single Judge-y Peach aka judge. There are 10 entries each genre, hence all Judge-y Peaches will have to judge all 10 books. The number of chapters to be judged depends on the word count of the chapter. If the book has 2K words per chapter, judges will judge at least 10-15 chapters. If the book has more than 2K words per chapter then judges have to judge at least 8 chapters of the participant's book.

During the judging process, judges would be required to send in updates on their progress in our discord server— don't worry we are a crazy bunch of peaches that goof around in a rabbit hole, so we won't kidnap you.

Requirements to be a Judge
🍑🦔 Able to join SG Community's discord and remain active during the judging period

🍑🦔 A follow to our community profile (we will follow back)

🍑🦔 Has a passion in judging awards and are willing to help in the TSA May 2024

🍑🦔 Has the courage to become a Judge-y Peach!

All judges will get a special sticker and at the end of the awards, their books will be raided. During the raid, at least five chapters will be read and comments will be left in your book.

• R U B R I C S •
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Make sure you check out the judging template commented here.

🦔 Cover (Total: 8 marks)

In the Savant Awards (TSA), covers are going to play a great role. As the saying goes: first impression counts. We have given it a lot of importance as it determines what your book stands for in the eyes of the readers.

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the cover eye-catching/aesthetically pleasing? (1 point)
* Does it fit the story theme? (1 point)
* Is the colour scheme appropriate or contrasting with clashing colours? (1 point)
* Does the title stand out clearly/bolded or is too small/difficult to read? (1 point)
* Have you seen any other covers in Wattpad with a similar design scheme? Or was it original? (1 point)
* Does the cover encourage you to read the book? (3 points)

🦔 Title and Blurb (Total: 10 marks)

The Title and Blurb play a huge role in hooking readers to a book. The Title captures the essence and the identity of a book and the Blurb is a short paragraph that gives insight to readers about what your book is about. They are what hooks the reader to read novels.

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the title relevant to the story? (1 point)
* Did the blurb mention about the conflict, the main characters and their goals? (3 points)
* Is the length of the blurb appropriate and effectively summarises the context?
• Blurbs with less than 20 words are too short because it lacks enough details (0 points)
• Blurbs with more than 20 words but less than 50 could have details but are not sufficient enough/More than 100 words with too much details like an info-dump (1- 2 points)
• Blurbs between 50-100 words may be appropriate however, it must effectively summarise the context of the book. (2-3 points)
• The key rubrics here is to ensure that the blurb is a good summary of the following: Setting, main character(s), conflict, goal, genre. (4 points)

* Does the blurb hook you to read the novel? (2 points)

🦔Plot (Total: 47 marks)

There's no book without a plot. Even fanfiction needs one. The Plot is the "meat" of your book or also called the "patty". This is the most critical grading part. In this criteria, we will mark all aspects of the plot, e.g. plot development, plot holes, etc.

Grading points to help judges:
* Worldbuilding (10 marks):
• When does the author describe the setting? Only at the start of book (0-2 points); at every intro of new setting (2-4 points). The ideal would be more focus on worldbuilding in the starting few chapters, tapering down as it goes and brief descriptions for every new setting.
• Are there sufficient details/descriptions? If you are able to picture the scenes vividly (4 points), if you are unable to picture it fully you can give an equivalent of lesser from 0-3 points
Showing and not telling (2 points) Info-dumps (0 points)

* Plot Progression (17 marks):
• Is the plot development progressive or stagnant? Progressive plot can be a regression to the past to show a character's back story, or a time lapse (7 points) In each chapter, the plot should be progressive or at least generally, the plot should be moving. Examples of a stagnant plot refer to a lack of direction or moving in circles e.g. does it start and end in the same place
• Are there plot holes? No plot holes (5 points); Minor plot holes: Small contradicting actions e.g. it was mentioned that MC was showering and in the next paragraph MC was shopping (2-4 points); Major plot holes: Lacking consistency in logical thinking e.g. characters doing things out of character without foreshadowing, sudden switch of locations, etc. (0-3 points)
• Was the plot shown or were there info-dumps? (5 points) 0 points for info-dumps

* Pacing (10 marks):
Was the plot moving too fast? (0-4 points); Slow-burn that is too slow (5-9 points); Pace was okay (10 points)

* Flow (10 marks):
Transitioning scenes was too sudden/smooth? (5 points)
Is the narrative consistent? (5 points) For 1st person narrative, one chapter for 1 POV. For 3rd person narrative, it should be consistent at "3rd omniscient" or "3rd limited", there should be no head jumping.

🦔Character Development (Total: 20 marks)

Another important component of a story for it to be a successful one. Character Development is needed to show that your characters have learnt, gleaned, experienced situations and mature. They are no longer who they set out to be at the beginning of the story, be it becoming better versions of themselves or worse.

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the character relatable? (8 points) A well-built/portrayed character makes decisions based on their values explained in the novel, and as a reader you understand the reasons behind their actions and you support them
* Can you imagine him/her? (2 points)
* Is the protagonist too good to be true?/Does the antagonist have too many flaws? (5 points)
* Are there changes in their thoughts/decisions as they experience failures or were they more motivated to finish their goals? (5 points) If there were no changes in the way they go about achieving their goals, it means they are still the same as when they started out in the book.

🦔 Enjoyment (Total: 10 marks)

Devian's favourite component of this rubrics

Grading points to help judges:
* On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your enjoyment of the reading experience?

🦔 Language (Total: 5 marks)

Focus on the grammar, structure and spellings.

Grading points to help judges:
* Minor typos or errors that does not affect legibility (3-5 points)
* Sentence structure/phrasing errors that have an effect on the legibility (1-3 points)
* Understanding of the context was lost (0 points)

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Total Score : 100 marks

Short comments will be given for each component to explain the score given.

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If anyone is confused or have any questions on the judging rubrics, post them in our discord server. It is one of the reasons why we are setting discord as a requirement for being a judge.  We have a channel dedicated to helping you guys and also where you can chit chat!

Make sure you check out the judging template commented above.