Genres

Action

Adventure

Historical Fiction

Horror/ Paranormal

Mystery/ Thriller

New Adult

Poetry

Romance [CLOSED]

Science Fiction

Short Story

Teen Fiction

Vampire/ Werewolf

Fanfiction

Fantasy [CLOSED]

Rubrics

We created this rubric as a guide for our judges, and to help those participating in our awards understand how their books will be scored. Of course, if you have any questions about this, you can always drop a comment, and we'll respond at our earliest convenience.

Last year, we created a whole other category that has now become its own awards: the Grand Masters Archive category.

The Grand Masters Archive category is for writers who are interested in re-entering their winning books into our awards. Since First, Second, and Third place winning books from last year's awards cannot be re-entered into the regular Coalition Awards, you may enter them into the GMA category where they will be judged based on a very different rubric.

If you are not a previous winner but are a current regular awards participant, you may compete in the GMA if your judge nominates your book after the elimination round. If your book is nominated, we will announce it on our wall right before Round Two judging begins.

ROUND ONE - Elimination Round

✦ Title - 5 Points

This falls under the first impression analysis of a story. How well does the title sell your book? Does it enhance the optics of the story? Does it appear to be well-thought-out, does it hook?

✦ Cover - 5 Points

Another first impression criterion here, and yes, we want to judge your book by its cover here because admittedly that's how the world works. So, how aesthetically pleasing is it? Does it incite a desire to know more? The colours and fonts and placement, does it match the story's theme? Does it sell it? If I saw your cover, would I pick up your book because of it?

✦ Blurb - 10 Points

Here's the last first impression criteria. Imagine picking up a book in the store or on Kindle. After the title and cover, you flip it over to see what it's about. Is the summary interesting and compelling to read? Is it concise enough that it gives just enough information without overselling the story? Does it incite a desire and curiosity to read?

✦ Engagement - 10 Points

Was there a solid hook at the beginning of the story? How are we introduced to this new world, these new characters and the stakes? Is the pacing on par with the story? Am I learning too much or exactly the right amount as we progress?

✦ Concept - 10 Points

Let's face it, there are a lot of tropes and clichés in almost every genre. What we're checking for here is your spin on it, or possibly a completely new concept to an old classic.

✦ Characters - 20 Points

Are they well-developed? Can you picture them? Can you distinguish between them, or do they all blend together? Do they add to the story or detract? Understand that we're not looking for perfect characters. We want to see raw, relatable characters and follow them through their character development—how you're able to pull this off counts.

✦ Writing Style - 20 Points

Each writer has their own unique writing style. We want to see how yours translates into conveying your story in the most flattering and effective way.

ROUND TWO - Final Round

✦ Mechanics - 20 Points

This will focus on errors relating to grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, dialogue structure, tenses, fragments, repetitive words, etc. Think of this as Grammarly's critical analysis of your story done by a set of eyes. But the goal's to help you learn what's working and what's not working in terms of technicalities

✦ Plot Development - 20 Points

This is the meat of the entire contest. The plot, the timeline, the twists, the cliffhangers and the whodunit. Are they believable, and do they make sense? Does the plot proceed at a natural pace, or is it a slow burn where it should run? Are there any plot holes that distract from the story? At the end of the day, it boils down to one question: was it interesting? How captivating was it?

✦ Descriptions - 10 Points

A good story balances show and tell. You tell us what we need to know and show us what we need to see, and descriptions are how you do that. How well can we visualize your story by reading the words you've written, how you've written them? We're judging what you've written based on what you said you would write (your blurb), not against someone else's criteria or story.

✦ Dialogue - 10 Points

As important as dialogue is to a story, it requires a good balance with exposition. Not just that, it's got to flow effortlessly, and be as natural as possible. It also needs to have a point, to move the story and the plot forward, or to provide characterization when necessary. Judges will decide whether your dialogue adds to your story or not.

✦ Setting - 10 Points

By this point, you get how essential certain elements are to a great story, and setting is one of the significant ones. Where is your story happening, when is it? Is the world building well-planned? Is there a clear location pinpointed? And how you work this into your description and plot helps too.

✦ Character Development - 10 Points

The characters we've met and are following on their journey, how far have they come? Have they grown, are we obsessed with them or rooting for them? How close are they to achieving their goals, do they have goals? Are they driven by a purpose?

SPECIAL CATEGORIES

Each genre will have one winner for each of the categories below.

✦ Best Title

Whether simple or complex, short or long, this title makes an impression. It is memorable, original, and captures your attention. Most importantly, it makes sense for the story of which it is at the forefront.

✦ Best Cover

This cover is both aesthetically pleasing and of high quality. It is the one that jumps out amongst the rest and is the first thing you'd go for on the shelf. Not only that, but the visuals accurately capture and/or enhance the atmosphere of the written content.

✦ Best Blurb

Not too little, not too much, this blurb is just right. It perfects the art of capturing your attention while also leaving you wanting more. It is not misleading, but doesn't make the ending obvious either.

GRAND MASTERS ARCHIVE AWARDS

This is our Coalition Overall Winner category, which recognizes authors with the best books presented in all genres. We do not split books into separate genres to judge in the GMA. All books are judged individually based on the criteria below, and books with the total accumulated points win.

JUDGING CRITERIA

Books will be judged on literacy excellence, content and accuracy. Specific judging criteria will include initiative, originality, clarity of interpretation and value in promoting greater understanding of the genre.

✦ First Impression

Title, cover and blurb. The blurb will be judged twice: before reading the book to analyze how compelling it is, and after to analyze how true to the story the summary was.

✦ The Opening Hook

Prologue or first chapter should be intriguing enough to capture the reader's interest.

✦ Writing Style

The author must be a good storyteller, with excellent narrative flow and natural dialogue.

✦ Technicalities

Author's grammar, command of English and sentence structuring must be exceptional. Books must be understandable to the layperson, with an orderly marshalling of facts.

✦ Characterization

The author should have created interesting and multi-faceted characters with clear goals and arc.

✦ Plot Development

After reading the entire story (or if the story's incomplete, what's written so far), is the author's story free of plot holes and incredibly immersive?