Here are the Fifteen Round 1 Qualifiers in the Chick-Lit Genre for September 2017!   Great job you guys!   The book order depicts the authors that qualified first as they entered the contest first.   If there are errors, please do let me know.

*** 1.   Cici And The Five Steps For Getting Over An Obsession by minute_moon

*** 2.   Safe and Sound by inspiredskies

*** 3.   An Unlikely Arrangement by AERETHCSWINDEN

*** 4.   Summer Plans by birdietaylor

*** 5.   The Incidental Mum by AwkwardoWeirdo

*** 6.   Saving Winter by CreativeDelinquents

*** 7.   Electric Impulse by AngeltheAuthor320

*** 8.   Shopaholic by Antique13

*** 9.   Amalie by alexandrawintr

***10.   Protect My Heart by basicbitch-

*** 11.   SOMEDAY by meimyselfforever

*** 12.   Fragile Bird by WesternStarGazer

*** 13.   Disaster Ever After by megs328

*** 14.   The Many Dates of Gypsy Clark by AmethystAmber87

*** 15.   Red Velvet Anemones by PenumbraMine

You should all be proud of yourselves since I evaluated your books for Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation by reading 2 chapters each out of the 30 entries and then only you qualified!   So all of you qualify in the Participatory Group!

However, the Chick-Lit Genre Judges have completed their results. Below, you will find the books and authors that DID NOT make it to Round 3.   Only the total scores (out of 100) are listed but scoring was based on the following individual criteria:   Cover, Summary and Tags; Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation; Quality of Writing; Plot Development; Character Development; Genre Consistency; Creativity/Originality and Overall Enjoyment.   Also, you will find the judges review present as well.

Before we get into the results, I wanted to share some things with you.   I was so pleased by the amount of work the judges did!   They were dedicated and have been wonderful as they believe in helping authors.   NONE of the books scored less than 55!   That means, you have a decent product and probably with the judges' reviews you can improve your work with their helpful hints.

One of our judges (TreasonGirl) has some very important advice and a suggestion to share with all of you as well, that I am including here:

This is very crucial for all budding writers that when you write sensitive scenes, please do very good research on them.   Rape/Physical Abuse/Emotional Abuse, all these are very delicate and difficult topics to handle for victims and people who try to help them.   RAPE and/or ANY SORT OF ABUSE are very sensitive matters and must be written under careful supervision.   Sometimes a person who went through that, if they read it, they may get triggered or affected by the scene that reminds them of their own trauma.

Writing is a tedious process.   Every word and line we write, we learn new or different ways to project ours thoughts into it.   So it's very crucial we use appropriate words.   Never making writing an easy task.   Make it creative.

My advice () to add to that is, please ensure that you have trigger warnings present either in your summary and/or the beginning of your book where you state the particular issues that are discussed in your book.

Let's Move On To The Results!

For those who did not qualify for Round 3, you will each receive a unique sticker (Second Choice on the Stickers Page), a shout out on your individual page and the judges' review which is included below.   Now you are part of the Participatory Group!   If you are interested in knowing your individual scores and your full Round 1 review with edits, please PM me the contest organizer, achudasama1 .

Don't be discouraged or disheartened, continue your writing and practice will make it perfect! This was a competitive category, so you all did well!

Rank 15:   Shopaholic by Antique13

Reviewed By:   Ahhnajoliecopley (Judge 3)

Chapters Read:   3

Total Score:   59/100

Review:

I love the idea of Adorn being a shopaholic.   This idea has not become cliché yet in my book, and still I feel like the story is missing something.

Some of the chapters are pretty humorous while others are pretty boring.   I feel like the author is trying too hard.   The writing seems forced.   Also, I felt it is awkward to have the main character seemingly speak to the reader.   I know it's a good trick to suck the reader in, but I feel that this story has potential to do that on its own, once edited and some revision happen...

Rank 14:   Safe and Sound by inspiredskies

Reviewed By:   TreasonGirl (Judge 2)

Chapters Read:   3, Prologue and two chapters

Total Score:   61/100

Review:

For the cover, the title suits the theme and so does the font of the book title and author name.   The plot seems interesting from the summary itself.   It is filled with the right emotions and necessary information.   Nothing much or nothing less, just like a summary should be!   The author has a good grip on the English language, which was much appreciated.   I like how the characters are developed in the story.   The author has done a great job with maintaining genre consistency and depicting a story that is creative and original too!   Great job, keep it up!

However, here are some issues that may help your book shine further:

The cover lacks the theme of the story like described in the summary.   Why does the cover have the picture of two girls?   And there is no clarity on what the other image is all about.   Usage of certain words like 'keywords' and question mark at the end of summary is big pet peeve for many readers and authors, so kindly, do rewrite.

Grammar needs some serious attention as the writer has a tendency to jump between first to second person which distracts the reading from the actual story.   There are a lot of redundant words present as well. Re-phrasing certain sentences could help you omit the redundancy.   For example, you can omit the repeated terms "lost" or "PTSD" in one of the chapters.

Punctuation: I'm no pro at it.   But few paragraphs and sentences require proper punctuation.   (However, things like punctuation can be overlooked in first draft.   [Bit weak in my own punctuation ;-) ])

I hate it when any story begins with 'wake up scene', that was the biggest setback for the story.   Probably rewriting it as a memory or a 'remember scene' could be an alternative.

Rank 13:   Fragile Bird by WesternStarGazer

Reviewed By:   TreasonGirl (Judge 2)

Chapters Read:   3, Prologue and two chapters

Total Score:   62/100

Review:

The tags used by the author are appropriate.   The language and writing quality of the book are great.   You are more a storyteller than an author!   You have easily laid out the whole story for readers.   The start of book is done well, although it maybe too slow for some readers due to the descriptions.   The author has a good hold on genre consistency and has a knack for creative writing.   Those are wonderful qualities, so please continue!

Here are some thing that I noticed that may help you in your writing.   Please take them constructively and incorporate them as you deem fit.

For the cover, I have no clue what is the meaning of the girl's picture for and it doesn't suit the title.   With your creative writing your summary can be much better.   Currently, the short summary lacks of details.   Readers do not need to know all the details but just something to captivate them.   Remember a good summary and cover are the mirror to the actual book.   Although it is said, "Never judge a book by its cover", but when it comes to the actual book, people do judge by the cover and summary.

I was not too happy with the grammar and the choice of words.   Adverbs are easy and pet peeves for many writers and readers.   Usage of a lot of adverbs at the start or end of the dialogue was bit of a setback.   Minimize usage of connecting words.

Please try to keep the information given in one chapter to a minimum.   Some of the details were not necessary and I would recommend re-distributing the scenes for a more enjoyable read.   Your descriptions are great but such immense details are preferable in the Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller and/or Fantasy genres.   Not all readers will enjoy this as it can hinder the pace of the story.

Character development may need some refinement as you describe things about the supporting characters rather than your protagonist.   Please add some more details after the prologue.   And more than describing, think about a character's actions that can help readers understand them rather than telling what she or he feels.   'Show not Tell.'

I did not enjoy the book that much, as I was withdrawn from the theme.   I basically have no idea what the story is all about.   I personally didn't feel like turning the page.   A book must have page turning ends or scenes to keep readers' interest.

Rank 12:   An Unlikely Arrangement by AERETHCSWINDEN

Reviewed By:   RV_Rose (Judge 1)

Chapters Read:   4

Total Score:   68/100

Review:

This book is quite a slow yet steady ride.   Protagonists and plot seems quite cliché, though they do show some originality as one moves on to read further.   The book seems more of a Romance than a Chick-Lit to me, with only few elements of latter present.   The writing style and flow is quite excellent though long paragraphs makes it a hard work to read at times.

Rank 11:   The Incidental Mum by AwkwardoWeirdo

Reviewed By:   RV_Rose (Judge 1)

Chapters Read:   3 (Including prologue, excluding extended summary)

Total Score:   69/100

Review:

The book is quirky and fun to read though sentence structuring and grammar can use some improvement.   The plot seems interesting, though not overly original.   The book has me thinking romance again and again instead of Chick-Lit, though it may turn into one.   This is a feelgood kind of book, from the chapters I've read.

Rank 10:   Protect My Heart by basicbitch-

Reviewed By:   Ahhnajoliecopley (Judge 3)

Chapters Read:   4

Total Score:   78/100

Review:

This book is pretty interesting.   I feel it reads like an Action book instead of a Chick-Lit book though. I read up to chapter 4 and did experience the high suspense drop to where the story reads more from a Chick-Lit perspective.   The author has a few paragraphs that seemed to repeat itself here and there.   Other than that, this is a pretty good book.

PS: I love the synopsis!

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!   The Participatory Group Authors will receive their sticker in their inbox and their shout outs will be completed within the day as well.

I wanted to end this chapter with some encouragement and some laughter.   If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me!   Continue on your wonderful writing journey since you are all talented!