To the PRJs, RcuJs, and RsvJs that have stuck by me:

Please have a gander at the questions that have already been answered below, before asking me judging stuffs.  Reading lists were finalized and have been sent to PRJs and RcuJs by DM.

Please let me know if you believe you haven't received all of your rewards for judging from me (in a fairly timely fashion, give me a little while). I do not want anyone to get overlooked when it comes to showing my gratitude for helping out.

1.

Question: What if I come across an entry that has private chapters?

Answer: Please skip the private chapters.  Please do not follow entrants to get access to them.  The entrants were all warned prior to the close of the competition that private chapters would not be read by judges.

2.

Question: If I change my username and don't tell you in advance, am I still a judge (of any kind)?

Answer: No.

3.

Question: What date should I have my scores & comments to you by?

Answer: October 31st, 2017.  Please!

4.

Question: What if I absolutely cannot get my reading list done by October 31st?

Answer: Tell me right away please.

5.

Question: Can I discuss judging of the entries and the scores I gave with the other judges?

Answer: Not during the contest.  If your assessment was incredibly unfavorable, it would be polite not to share that afterwards, either.  The goal of the contest is to bolster peoples' confidence, not damage it.

6.

Question: What if I absolutely cannot judge anymore entries for some reason?

Answer: Then please tell me right away.  Regardless of reason, yes, your name will be added to the chapter where former judges are listed.  This is because being followed by the entrants is part of the rewards of being a judge.  If you are no longer a judge, the entrants deserve to know that they are no longer required to follow you, especially if they are, in turn, asked to follow someone else.  It would be a different matter if Wattpad didn't have a limit of 1000 accounts that any user can follow.

7.

Question: What if I disagree with a rule you made?

Answer: You either have to help enforce the rules of the contest that have been established fairly, for all entrants, or you need to let me know that you cannot be a judge.

8.

Question: What should I do if the reading list you gave me has works by an author that I have strong feelings about (good or bad), or is for a fandom I absolutely despise?

Answer: Then you have to let me know so that you can judge works from another category, or the work can be assigned to another judge, at my discretion.  Ideally, you should not judge a category at all that has an entry in it for which you have a preexisting bias (for or against).

9.

Question: What if the entry I'm reading is mostly pictures or videos?

Answer: Then you need to draw my attention to it.  Multimedia works may not compete, and are automatically disqualified, as this is a contest for the written word.

10.

Question: What should I do if I come across some of the content you expressly forbade from entry (see chapter: The three banned topics), or if I'm not sure, but I think it might be prohibited?

Answer: Take note of the chapter and the name of the entry, if you would.  Privately message me with the information, and I will investigate.  Also please tell me whether (if I deem that the entry is still permissible to compete) you are comfortable continuing to judge that entry.

11.

Question: How do I know what's banned altogether on Wattpad, or what material classifies as 'mature?' Is it based on my opinion, or what I'm comfortable with personally?

Answer: It does not have anything to do with your personal assessment, actually.  Wattpad has concrete guidelines:

"Mature Rating

Mature  stories are intended for an audience that is 17 and up. There  are  restrictions on discovering Mature stories on Wattpad that help  ensure  they reach the correct audience. A story must be rated Mature if  it  contains any of the following:

A sex scene Self-harm themes or scenes (including suicide and  eating disorders)Graphic depictions of violence Media containing partial  nudity, BDSM imagery, graphic violence, or gore

If your work does not meet the  definitions of Mature above, but you  still feel your work is intended  for a mature audience, you can still  select this rating when you create  your story.

Everyone Rating

Stories rated Everyone are intended for an audience that is 13 and up. These stories contain no Mature content, but may contain:

References to sex References to self-harm Non-graphic depictions of violence.

Prohibited Content

The following guidelines list content that is not allowed on Wattpad. This is not an exhaustive list, and we reserve the right to remove any content that we deem inappropriate.

Sex on Wattpad

The following sexual content is not allowed on Wattpad, and will be removed:

Pornographic stories Stories containing sexual content with  persons under the age of 16.Stories encouraging or promoting  non-consensual sex Stories intended solely for sexual roleplay or  messaging Stories which encourage any other illegal sex acts, such as  bestiality or necrophilia."

Please don't send me questions regarding the details of this policy.   Instead, read them for yourself:   https://support.wattpad.com/hc/en-us/articles/200774334-Content-Guidelines

12.

Question: What if I come across mature content in an entry that was placed in an 'NM' reading list?

Answer: Please draw my attention to it immediately.  I apologize if you were made uncomfortable in any way, at any time.

*related* Question: But what if I'm totally comfortable with it?  Or if I'm an 'M' judge, I just happen to be reading an 'NM' entry?  Or what if I don't mind reading the banned topics, and I come across them?

Answer: For all of those things, you still need to tell me. 

The rules regarding 'mature' works are in place for a reason.  If you are reading an entry marked as 'NM,' it does not matter if it happened to be someone in their 30s that writes smut (myself, for example) is reading it, it could have been a 14 year old.  Thus, every 'NM' entry you read should be suitable for 'NM' readers, whether because of age or personal reading preference. 

Additionally, it does not matter how you personally feel about the banned topics.  Any entry that has any of them may not compete.  If prizes are mistakenly awarded to entries with that content, and I discover it later, I will strip the author of any prizes and report them for misrepresentation and possibly for banned content.  So you're really not doing the author any favors by not drawing my attention to it earlier, before I get totally enraged.  Heh.

13.

Question: How many chapters am I supposed to read?  How do I score the entries?

Answer: Please read the chapters I have previously written about judging and scoring.

14.

Question: How do I get my scores & comments to you?

Answer: DM me when you are all ready, and we'll figure it out from there.  Most likely I'll have you DM the scores/comments to me as well.  You can do them one at a time, as you finish them, or wait until you're totally done.

15.

Question: If the chapters are incredibly long (4000+ words each) or I know from reading less than 3 that the writing is absolutely terrible, can I grade based on less than 3?

Answer: Yes, within reason.  Use your discretion, but ask me if you're uncertain. 

16.

Question: I don't personally care about spelling or grammar.  Do I still have to pay attention to it?

Answer: Yes.

17.

Question: Does it matter if the book or chapter has a trigger warning on it?

Answer: It only matters, in terms of the contest, what the body of the text reads.  However, if you feel uncomfortable at any point, while reading an entry (because of a trigger warning or for any other reason), stop reading, and let me know.  It would be ideal if you could give a slight indication what the issue was, so I could avoid making others uncomfortable, but if you can't talk about it, that's totally fine too.

18.

Question: Do I count the cover/description/title/images in the entry in scoring?

Answer: Follow the  grading rubric given in the chapter titled 'Scoring' for every entry.

19.

Question: Do prologues/cast lists/acknowledgements/author's notes/epilogues count as chapters to judge?

Answer: Anything that is composed of text that is part of the story counts, unless uncharacteristically brief.  Thus, prologues and epilogues generally count.  Acknowledgement, casting lists, and author's notes generally do not.  Use your discretion.

20.

Question: Is it ok to read more than 5 chapters?

Answer: Of course!  Though if the entry is 199 chapters, at 1,500+ words a chapter, and you agreed to judge 30 other entries, you might want to get your other entries scored before trying to finish such a long book.

21.

Question: Should I follow the entrants I'm judging/vote on the chapters I've read/comment on the chapters I've read/put the entries in a reading list of my own (on my profile)?

Answer: Please don't do any of those things until the contest is closed.  You are welcome and encouraged to do them afterwards.  If you are already following the person, you don't have to change anything, unless they are already one of your favorite authors (which would mean that you should tell me, as having you score that entry/category would not be fair).

22.

Question: What if I think the entry I'm reading might be in the wrong category?

Answer: Then please tell me, and ideally tell me why you think that might be the case.

23.

Question: What if I am a PRJ, and I find that one of the entrants in my category is not following me (even if I'm not judging works by that particular entrant)?

Answer: You need to tell me right away.  I will deal with it.  All entrants have to follow all PRJs for every category they have entered. Please don't contact the entrant yourself.  Participants aren't required to follow their RcuJs, but it is encouraged.

24.

Question: Should I send you my scores as soon as I'm done, or wait for you to ask for them?

Answer: Once you have finished with judging all the entries on your reading list, go ahead and let me know, please.  You can send me scores one by one (as you go), or all at once (when you are done).  But please don't wait for me to ask for them to send them.

25.

Question: I'm going on vacation, or I'm sick, or I have a family emergency, or my eyeballs fell out...

Answer: Just let me know, please, as soon as possible.  If it's a true emergency, obviously don't worry about it.  Just please don't be upset if I replace you when I don't hear from you for a while.

26.

Question: Will you ever tell the entrants I judged which score was mine, or if I was one of their 2 judges?

Answer: No.  That's up to you.  Entrants are not allowed to ask that of you before or after the close of the contest.

27.

Question: What if I've finished and I want to judge more entries?

Answer: Please let me know.  I am sure many more judges will drop out before the close of the contest.  If the unexpected happens and I don't have any additional entries for you to judge, I'd encourage you to apply to be a judge for other Wattpad user-run contests.  Contest admins are always desperate for help.

28.

Question: What if I suspect that the entry I'm reading is plagiarized?

Answer: Please draw my attention to it.  Taking another author's work and passing it off as your own is not acceptable, and the entry will be disqualified.  However, keep in mind that an idea itself is not the thing an author can copyright.  Rather, the way they interpreted/wrote the idea is what is the property of the author.  Word for word reproductions of another author's work is totally unacceptable.

29.

Question: Where are the reading lists you mentioned?

Answer: They are on my Wattpad profile.  They are towards the bottom, as I have a lot of reading lists.  There are separate 'M' and 'NM' lists for each category. For example, 'OB-M' is the reading list that contains all the entries in the 'Other musicians/Bands' category that the author reported as having mature content. On the list I sent you, via DM, with your assigned entries, the reading lists for you to consult were specified.

30.

Question: What if I can't find one of the entries you assigned?

Answer: If you cannot find it, and you're sure that you've found the correct reading list that it should be on, please let me know.  The author may have changed the title of the entry, or deleted the story entirely.  This is common, and there's nothing else I can do to try and stop entrants from doing this.  Please do not try and guess if another story is the one you're looking for.  Stories with title changes where notification was not given in advance will all be disqualified.  I just may have not managed to let you know yet, because I'm human.

31.

Question: How should I format the scores to send to you?  Can you show me an example?

Answer: Sure!  I'll put the example in a table, so it's easy to read, but you don't need to at all.  This is just a non-serious scoring of a book of my own to make an example:

32.

Question: I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time with the contest!

Answer: <3