Dear Author/Publisher,
You sent in your submission and you’re wondering why your book didn’t win, or at least get mentioned as a runner-up? It could be because your book had a hidden part that you missed. Our judges, didn’t miss it. One reason could be that your name or other identifiers were included in your submission, unintentionally or otherwise.
We send the following information to each and every submission after they have paid, been accepted, and been assigned an author# and book# and tell them how to submit their book:
Books are to be submitted in PDF format in the following manner:
Set up your submission as though you were submitting an e-book to one of your distributors. Remove ALL references to the AUTHOR’S NAME, the BOOK’S TITLE, and the PUBLISHER. Nothing should remain that could identify the author. This would include any reference to past or future books.
Please check within your ownership of your Word document program when you go to save the PDF that your name isn’t hidden. You must remove your name entirely. Entries that violate this requirement will be disqualified, and there will be no refund of the entry fees paid. Your only identifying markings should be: your assigned author number, a dash, and your assigned book number. Do not forget your synopsis!
As previously mentioned in the entry of this competition, you have been randomly assigned an author number for EACH entry. For example: If your assigned author number was 25 and your assigned book number was 84, then your PDF submission would be identified as Submission #25-84 as indicated in the example below. NO OTHER identifying markings are allowed within your submission. Inquiries regarding your submission should reference this unique submission number to assist us to identify you.
Example:
When you go to save your PDF, please make sure that there are NO identifying marks, see the mock-up below.
#3 can be especially sneaky if you own your own software to create the PDF. Your name, when you purchased your software will show up automatically if you do not remove it. Also, anyone who has edited your manuscript, your publisher, etc can have identifying marks and THIS does NEED to be removed so it isn’t rejected for cause.
It’s this last one (#3) that may be tripping you up and you don’t even know it. Because of the nature of the awards, I can’t tell you that your submission was disqualified. There is no ‘do over’ because what has been seen, can’t be unseen.
Our judges are fair and impartial, but if they see an author’s name, the book name, or the publisher, they have to take a screenshot and disqualify the entry.
I believe this is fair for all involved as we continue to strive to keep the awards anonymous, safe, and legitimate for the lesfic community.
So please, scan your PDF before saving it, and make sure you’ve removed all identifying marks from your book! We want your entries and we want them read by our judges.
K’Anne Meinel
Awards Director
Lesfic Bard Awards News 