Would you like to be a literary judge?

Before we started The Rabbit Hole over at the Writers’ Co-op, I edited three anthologies called the Book a Break. They contained stories selected from submissions to a literary competition I ran, which attracted a fair bit of attention. I’ve now compiled all the stories into a bumper edition called 83 because, well, there are 83 stories in it. The aim now is to produce a Best of the Book a Break compilation. For that, the 83 stories will be whittled down to 40 or so, comprising those already commended plus 20 to 25 others, selected from the 58 other stories.

I could of course decide myself which stories to include. But as these things are subjective, I’d feel more serene if I had a few other opinions. So here’s your chance to be a literary judge. It’s very simple – all you need do is give a mark out of 5 to each of the 58 stories.

What do the judges get? A list of simple criteria to help them decide (see below), a free copy of the 83 stories, plenty of time to read them (the stories have a 2000 word limit, and the deadline is 31st April) and their name credited in the Best of the Book a Break compilation. The proceeds go the Against Malaria Foundation.

Interested? Drop me a line via the contact page on this site.

Guidelines:

5: Yes! Took me straight into its world and left me thinking about it afterwards.

4: Great story – characters, dialogue and narrative all very well done. Comic, dramatic or disturbing, it hit the mark.

3: Good story, nicely told, but lacking that extra bit that would make it sparkle.

2: A bit hit and miss but enjoyable all the same.

1: Mildly interesting, but didn’t really work for me.