Red flags that make award judges pass on your book (and their green flag counterparts)
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Red flags that make award judges pass on your book (and their green flag counterparts)
Editor's Note: Understanding what contest judges look for is crucial for authors considering literary awards. We're excited to share this insider perspective from North Street Book Prize assistant judge Annie Mydla on the red and green flags that influence judging decisions.
At Book Award Pro, we believe authors deserve transparency about how contests operate so they can make informed decisions about where to submit. This knowledge helps authors not only improve their manuscripts but also choose contests where their books have the strongest chance of success.
In this article, assistant judge Annie Mydla discusses the most common mistakes that immediately eliminate books from award consideration, and what to do instead.
A transparent look behind the scenes
Have you ever wondered how many books contest judges read every year?
If your hypothetical answer was "a whole lot," then yes, that's about right. The number is commonly in the high hundreds, and it could even be over a thousand entries annually. An experienced judge may have read several thousand books by the time they read yours.
Contest judges haven't seen it all, but we've seen a lot. The premises. The character types. The standard takes. That's why we, maybe more than any other type of reader, are longing to see focused narratives with unique angles, characters we've never met before, and new spins on tropes.
More than that, we want to feel that an author had our needs and wants in mind while they were writing the book. To us, a writer is a person who does grueling emotional, psychological, and craft legwork on our behalf. A book doesn't advance if we don't feel that legwork has been done.
No pressure!
Fortunately, it's pretty easy to describe the characteristics of books that have done the legwork. And, believe it or not, it's within every author's power to edit their book with contest judges' needs in mind.
Read on for the red flags that make contest judges glaze over, as well as the green flag equivalents that have us raving to our colleagues and remembering you forever.
Red flag: The book's scope is too wide
About 75% of the books we receive for the North Street Book Prize each year have a scope that feels too wide to us judges. "Scope" refers to how much a book takes on: time span, number of plotlines, number of characters, depth of exploration of plotlines and characters, variety of themes, number of settings, and more. To speak scientifically, most books just have way, way too much stuff in them.
Imagine starting to read a book and discovering that the premise is only a jumping-off point. The book then goes off in all directions—anywhere besides exploring the main idea in the marketing, title, and first chapter! Or maybe the main plotline is buried under B plots, and we have to search with a microscope (or a machete) to find it. And for collections of stories, essays, and poems, the typical issue is that the book feels more like a portfolio than a true collection.
Whatever the symptoms, books with an extra-wide scope give me the feeling that the author only ever plans to write one book.
This single volume might be their only chance to express themselves, so they need to fill it as full as possible. Is that you? Fair enough if your goals for writing are personal or family-based. But contest judges need a fully-focused experience if we're going to stay engaged.
Of course, not every contest prioritizes the same elements. Some awards celebrate experimental structures or expansive narratives, while others prefer tightly focused storytelling like North Street does. This is why researching contests before you submit can save you both time and entry fees. Understanding what specific judges value helps you target awards where your book's natural strengths will shine.
Green flag: Narrow focus and unique angle
The opposite is also true: Contest judges will become passionate advocates for a focused book with an angle they've never seen before.
So for novels and creative nonfiction, go deeper rather than wider. For story, essay, and poetry collections, choose pieces within a single genre that have themes in common, then rework your choices so that they maximally explore that narrow range of material.
Red flag: The main character is a perfect person who never changes
Before we can begin our reading period, we need to know that all the books in our pool are ready to compete. Several hundred entries per year need tweaking. Maybe they're missing their book cover or have skipped something from our entry guidelines video, checklist, or FAQ.
We look at every single book to make sure it fits our requirements and write to authors to ask for help if needed. In this way, pre-screening process establishes a connection between the judges, the book, and the writer even before reading begins.
Green flag: Flaws and an arc of change
Taking the time to create a multilayered character with points of friction with their world can score authors so many points with judges. We cherish these characters, talk to our colleagues and friends about them, and remember them for years.
We understand you might not want to complicate your characters' lives. But we hope you'll do it anyway. Check out our articles on bland main characters and boring first-person narrators for ideas on how to boost your characters' friction with their world.
Red flag: Tired old tropes
Heavy readers like contest judges come in contact with just about every wilted old racial, religious, nationality, gender, age, and class trope you could name, and gosh, we're tired of them. I know authors know what tropes are and why they're boring. But tropes are insidious, and it can be hard for authors to identify and remove or subvert them in their own work. It's well worth it to keep trying, though. Taking the effort to defeat boring tropes can mean the difference between failure and success in a literary contest where judges are looking for the freshest of the fresh.
Winning Writers is pretty open about our aversion to tired tropes. Check out our articles about exploitation and representation and classism in literature for specific examples.
Green flag: Challenging and subverting old tropes
Used strategically, tropes can be a fantastic source of tension in fiction and nonfiction alike.
Readers love to have their expectations reversed, so introducing a trope and then subverting it can be a source of pleasure and tension. In fact, there's almost no surer way than instilling yourself in a contest judge's heart forever.
I still think about past years' trope-subverting winners and honorable mentions all the time, like the inventive and sympathetic joining of emigration and ghostly haunting in Anchorless, subverted race tropes in Children of Fury, and the trope-reversing exploration of masculinity, honor, and sexuality in Flowers by Night.
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The ultimate green flag: Writing your book for the reader
The absolute best thing an author can do is base their decisions on what they think the reader will value. Contest judges want narrative focus, so consider making decisions that increase focus. We want unique characters who change, so edit for specificity and development over the rising action and climax. We want a book that avoids, counters, or subverts old tropes, so plan for that in your outline.
Let me tell you a secret. We get a lot of books in North Street that aren't actually written with book contests in mind. They're written so the writer or poet can process life experiences, connect with others in the same boat, leave something behind for their kids and grandkids, or simply vent.
On a personal level, I deeply respect authors who use writing for personal processing, supporting others, and connecting with future generations. But as a contest judge, the books I advance to the next round of the North Street Book Prize are the ones that focus on my specific needs—the needs of a heavy reader who's seen it all a heck of a lot and is searching for the standouts. Take a look at this article by head judge Jendi Reiter for even more specific advice about our North Street needs, along with examples of well-known books that fit our criteria in each genre category.
The good news? Based on judging experience, at least, only a tiny percentage of your competitors are seriously focused on doing the legwork it takes to get into the advanced rounds of the contest. That means your book will leap to the top of the entry pool if you edit with these red and green flags in mind. As a contest judge and a reader, I can't wait to see the result.
About Book Award Pro
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Our platform includes detailed information about judging criteria, genre categories, entry requirements, and what each contest is looking for, so you can make strategic decisions about where to submit. Join now to find contests that align with your book's strengths, or explore our resources for more guidance on contest strategy.
Annie Mydla is the managing editor of Winning Writers. Annie has critiqued over 600 full-length books and manuscripts through her work with the Winning Writers critique service and the North Street Book Prize, and read over 8,000 self-published books as a North Street assistant judge.
She and her team deliver judging feedback to approximately 1,500 authors per year. Annie oversees a staff of five in Poland, coordinates contest administration and customer service, and helps maintain the Winning Writers website. She is a literary scholar and writer. Outside of work, Annie is the founder and facilitator of Autistic Women's Group (est. 2021) and the editor of its journal for literary, visual, and audio art, AWG Shares Magazine.