At Not Quite Write, we value transparency in the judging process, so we’ve put together this handy overview so you can see what happens after you hit ‘Submit’.
Note that we’ve recently updated our judging process to facilitate online judging.
How we compile your entries
When you submit your entry via the online form, your entry is received into a database. After the deadline, the judges access an online portal displaying data from the Title, Story, and Brief Description fields. The judges use this online portal to leave initial comments and rank your stories.
How we judge your entries
We can see who is planning to enter the competition because we have the details of your ticket purchase, however the judging process itself is blind.
We have a huge amount of respect for the time you take creating your entries, and it’s safe to say that every entry is given due consideration. We will often go back and re-read a story if we felt we didn’t give it the attention it deserved on first reading. We also re-read “borderline” entries before making a final call as to a longlisting (some of them are very close calls!)
The specific process for narrowing down the entries to reach a longlist differs depending on how many entries we receive. Typically, we begin by independently reading the entries and forming our own individual “longlists” before comparing notes to reach a joint decision. If we receive a large number of entries, we may split them in half and narrow down the contenders before comparing notes.
From there, we follow a similar process to reach an agreed shortlist. We each read the longlisted entries again to establish our own individual “shortlists”. Then we compare notes to reach a joint decision. This is when the real fun begins, as we battle it out to see how our preferred stories rank. We don’t always agree at first, but after discussing the merits of each story in detail, we eventually reach an agreement on the winner and placeholders.
Once we’ve reached our final decisions, we use unique reference numbers to match the entries back to their authors. This is a very exciting part of the process for us – we’re always surprised and delighted to find out who won!
When and how we announce the winners
We allow 6 weeks for the judging process. This gives us time to read and evaluate your entries. It also gives us time to record, edit and release the bonus episodes of the podcast in which we reveal the longlist, shortlist, and prize winners.
The podcast is where you’ll hear the news first, and the announcement episodes are great fun!
We release the longlist episode around one week early. In this episode we announce the official longlist and reveal interesting statistics about the entries we received. We shout out some of our favourite lines and reveal your most creative takes on the prompts.
On or before the planned results announcement date, we announce the prize winners together in one episode. Even if you didn’t make the longlist you’ll want to tune in, as we read the shortlisted entries aloud for your listening pleasure. We discuss what set these writers apart from the pack, and what all entrants can learn from their success.
If you win a prize, we’ll email you to ask for your payment details and transfer your prize money!
If you purchased a Daredevil package, your on-air critique will be released as a standalone episode of the podcast in the weeks following the winner announcement.
If you purchased a Critique package, your written critique will be completed and returned to you before the next round begins. We realise this can be an agonising wait. If you have questions about your critique, please reach out to us by email.
We consider it a great honour to judge your entries to the Not Quite Write Prize. We love to see you succeed and we love rewarding your creative talents. We hope that, regardless of whether you win or lose, you enjoy the challenge of competing, listening, learning, and improving with every submission.