**NOTE: Only interested in judges (18+ years old) that will be willing to read all entries that will be competing for the Best In Show.**

---

Perhaps you're tired of entering contest after contest, and would rather be in the driver's seat for once? Great! Check out the rules judges are to follow to see what you think:

*Do not agree to judge if you will not be able to follow through on the commitment you have made in a reasonably timely fashion.  If you aren't sure, ask questions first.* 

*Do not sign up to judge if you plan to change your username and think you might forget to tell me before the close of the contest.*

1. While reading entrants' stories, please do not vote or comment. You may do so after the contest has been completed and results have been announced. You are encouraged to follow the entrants whose work you enjoyed after the contest is over.

2. Should an entrant (or previous participant) either harass or attempt to bribe you, please report him or her to me, that I may inform him or her that they have been disqualified and barred from any further competitions I may choose to run.  You can also mute users on Wattpad by going to their profile.

3. By agreeing to be a judge, you are agreeing on your honor that you will tell me if you are either friends or on bad terms with an entrant in your category, that you can judge works from an alternate category.

4. When you judge an entry, you agree to use the rubric provided in the following chapter to provide each entry with a score. Please save the scorecard and remarks for each entry, so that the contestant may have access to it later, if requested.

5. As a judge, you are expected not to be bigoted. Therefore, it is assumed that you are perfectly capable of reading LGBTQA+ entries without any bias.

6. Judges under the age of 18 are not permitted to judge 'Mature' entries. They are expected to contact me to assign another judge to that entry, in the event I make a mistake or if the author entered their work incorrectly.

7. Please take note of the three topics that are banned from this competition (see 'Rules'). If you become a judge, and you come upon an entry that you feel contains any of those three elements, you MUST draw my attention to it via DM. I will review the entry and inform the entrant if they have been disqualified. If the entry is still valid, you may opt to continue to judge the entry or request that another judge do so.

8. Being a judge for more than one category is encouraged. Please check 'Judging spots available' to see what positions are open for the different categories. You do not need to know anything about a given fandom in order to judge it. It is actually preferred that a judge not be familiar with any fandoms s/he is judging.

9. Please read the general rules for the competition so that you'll be able to tell me if you find an entrant breaking them.

Judging form (Please comment at the bottom)

Your username:

Your age:

A story of yours I should glance at (to ensure you're familiar with basic grammar):

If you are OVER 18, are you comfortable judging 'Mature' stories:

Did you read all of the sections of the contest and are you in agreement:

Preferred category(ies) to judge (list from favorite to least, exclude those you are disinterested in/unwilling to judge):

How many categories would you like to judge?:

*NEW* Exactly how many entries are you willing to judge total [e.g., 2-5 or up to 20, etc.]?:

*NEW* Which one of the three types of judges do you think would be the best fit for you (PRJ, RcuJ, or RsvJ- see the other chapters on judging for clarification)?:

Do you want me to check out a book of yours (see below)-> (Yes/No) Title? Critical or supportive comments?

Why judge?

-Awe-inspiring power! Mwahahaha! ;3

-For PRJs, the entrants in any category you judge must follow you, at a minimum, for the duration of the contest. (From this point forward, only judges that score 10+ entries in a single category are PRJs.)

-For RcuJs, the entrants in any category you judge have been asked to consider following you, though it is not required.

-Your name will be posted here as public acknowledgement for your service (all three types of judges).

-You get to read a variety of works you may not have otherwise.

-I will follow PRJs & RcuJs, at a minimum, until the completion of the contest.

-If you like, for each category you sign up to judge as either a PRJ or RcuJ, you may enter 1 (additional) of your works into the same category, with a maximum total of 4 in the contest. For example, if you agree to judge Oneshots, you are eligible to enter 2 works into the same category (aside from Oneshots, which you may not enter). Another example- let's say you sign up to judge One Direction and Dan and/or Phil, then you would be eligible to enter 3 works into the same category (but it may not be One Direction or Dan/Phil). No matter how many categories you judge, the maximum number of works that may be entered by a single author is 4. Judging is the only way one may submit multiple entries into a single category in this contest. *Note: entries are now closed.*

-For all PRJs & RcuJs, if desired, I will read the first chapter of a single book of your choice (must be on same account), and offer my comments. Comments may be critical or solely encouraging, whichever you prefer. For those that judge more than one category, I will read additional chapters (same or different work).

-If there is interest, I can design a judging sticker that you may place on your profile banner or elsewhere.

-You can proudly post on your Wattpad profile that you have been accepted to judge the 2017 RPF Awards.

I designed the judging scheme with the intention of avoiding overloading the judges for any category, while still allowing as much objectivity (or at least subjective consensus) as possible. It will allow each entry to be read by two different judges (and the score averaged).  It is my hope to include the scores of three different judges for the 'Best in Show' Award.

As such an incredible number of judges have bailed, I have enacted a system using three tiers of judges (PRJs, RcuJs, and RsvJs- please see next chapter for clarification).  As an absolute last resort, I will act as a category judge as necessary.  This is undesirable because I am a very, very harsh critic, and I don't feel it would be fair/balanced.

Please, feel free to tag any people you know who are especially passionate about judging. Judges do not have to be familiar with a fandom in order to judge it. (It is actually preferred that judges not be familiar with the fandom.)

*Update* (10/8/17): After major setbacks, I've had to revamp the judging system to include three tiers.  I have tried to edit away any discrepancies between chapters, but I may have missed something. I'm sorry, I've done my best.

*Update* (10/15/17): I am now  working on making a few stickers as prizes for judges.  How is each of them earned, you say?  It's a secret!

Here's a preview of one of them (flipped on purpose):