Please leave all questions in the Q&A chapter. Any questions put anywhere else will likely not be answered. This is so both Raven and Honey can easily access the questions.

*Note: There are only four slots left as of February 7th, 2025. There are three aesthetics slots left (one in best cinematography and two in best costume design), and there is one poetry slot left (best director).

Rules:

- Starting with this since it gets missed the most: you can submit up to three times (there aren't many categories) with three different books. That means you cannot submit the same book more than once. This is to give more books and authors opportunities and also so Honey and I aren't reading and judging the same book three times in a row. However, the Reader's Choice bonus category does not count toward this, so you can submit there no matter if you used up your three submissions or not.

- To keep it as fair as possible, there are no judging forms and all judging will be handled by Honey and me.

- Be respectful to everyone involved here. Honey and I are not harsh reviewers who are going to insult your work. We'll be honest, which may still sting, but we're not going to be insulting your work. Our aim is to help you, not insult you, which means we're going to point out both positives and negatives about your work. Please be respectful. It's not even about being kind anymore, just be respectful, please.

- Reviews can take a while, but they will get done. Please do not sign up if you are not willing to wait a bit for reviews. They will be worth it because they will be detailed, though they can take time. Detail = time, after all. They can take anywhere from a week to months depending on the category. If waiting is not for you, that's perfectly okay and we understand, though please sign up elsewhere then.

-- That means please don't spamtastically ask us about results. Honey and I are active hosts who frequently post updates about our awards often. And please don't ask us about results when we're not even judging since we're not going to have an answer. We will likely begin judging this in 2-5 weeks depending on how fast categories fill up and which categories fill up (some are easier to judge than others, of course). We will post an update in this book when we begin judging with what categories we are starting with.

-- Please read our last few message board posts before asking us about results. In my (Raven's) Padauk and Candlelight Awards, there were several times where I publicly announced when the results were coming on my message board but still got spamtastically asked about results just 1-3 days after those posts. I think it's understandable why that can be frustrating to say something and then have to repeat it over and over. So please check our recent mb posts (like a good 3-4) before asking us since we could have already announced it. 

- Raven has a Discord server (which Honey is in, too!) where you can get updates on these awards and directly ask either of the hosts questions. It is not required to join, though if you would like to join a community of writers, ask for writing advice, and/or just make new friends, the link is in Ravendipity's bio! Raven posts a lot of updates about awards in her server, so it is definitely recommended if you are curious about results.

- Only stories published in 2024 can sign up, which specifically means any story published between January 1st, 2024, 12:00 a.m. UTC, and December 31st, 2024, 11:59 p.m. UTC, are accepted. No exceptions.

- That being said, if the book is ongoing still, that's fine, it just needed to be initially published in 2024. That's why we are publishing this early even though judging won't start for a bit: to give you guys a chance to publish any new stories you may want to submit before December 31st.

- While this is themed like the Oscars, a movie awards, this is for any story on Wattpad, including novels, novellas, poetry, short stories, oneshots, etc., and there are no restrictions on genre (fanfics are allowed), maturity level, or LGBTQ+ themes. There is a category for poetry and experimental works called "Best Director."

- You may edit and upload new chapters to your story while in this contest, and we don't care if you sign up to other shops/contests while participating here. All we ask is please do not edit your title, username, blurb, or cover while we are judging your category. We will announce what categories we are judging when the time comes in this book. If we are not judging your category, change whatever you want, but please inform us of any title or username changes so we can update it in our notes.

- If you have participated in Honey and Raven's contests in the past, that's fine, you can still sign up, even if you're a past winner.

- English stories only, and your work must have been written by you. If it is a co-written work where two or more authors are getting the review(s), all authors most complete the payments.

- Do not attempt to bribe us. It won't work. Well, if you give Raven a 48-hour-long video of Jimin singing "Yeah we picked this game" from Louder Than Bombs (on Spotify 2:08 timestamp) live while throwing it back while he's wearing that jacket from the WHO m/v with that pretty a$$ blonde hair and there are 42 different edits of SMF2 Jimin with The Weeknd's Timeless song playing on loop in the background, she might consider it.

Might.

Please leave all questions in the Q&A chapter. Any questions put anywhere else will likely not be answered. This is so both Raven and Honey can easily access the questions.

Restrictions:

- You will be automatically disqualified if the story you submit was published after or before 2024, so please check before signing up.

- Any book that goes against the Wattpad ToS will be disqualified. You are submitting to a contest where a Wattpad Ambassador is the host, so please ensure your stories are up-to-date with the Wattpad guidelines.

- Anything officially endorsed by Wattpad is not allowed; i.e., please do not submit a Wattpad Original, or a book that won in the Ambys, Shortys, Wattys, etc. (shortlist/longlist is fine). Please submit other books that have not been officially endorsed by Wattpad.

- AI-written books are not allowed. AI assistance, such as using AI for help with grammar/spelling and vocabulary, is fine, but anything where the AI wrote a large portion of the book or rewrote a large portion of the sentences is not allowed. This isn't going to work anyway. Raven is the primary judge who trains AI for a living and very strongly criticizes purple prose (what AI almost exclusively writes in). Even if you use AI and are not caught, you're not going to win anyway.

-- In this day and age, I (Raven) encourage using all the tools at your disposal instead of shutting them out, but keep in mind A) AI is not very good at writing, and B) becoming over-reliant on it can be harmful since AI is wrong more than you may think and can be teaching you incorrect information. I would strongly suggest using general grammar checkers, online resources (such as the Grammarly Blog), and thesauruses to improve grammar and vocab. And, also, I strongly recommend having a way to prove you wrote your work instead of AI (i.e., write on Google Docs, a site with history enabled), that way if anyone accuses you, you have proof.

-- If you have any questions about this, feel free to reach out to Raven on Discord (Ravendipity, or just join her server, either one), or on Twitter (Jiminbiasnim) as she has tips for catching AI-written works and how to prove you wrote your work instead of AI.

Please leave all questions in the Q&A chapter. Any questions put anywhere else will likely not be answered. This is so both Raven and Honey can easily access the questions.

Disclaimer:

I, Ravendipity, am a Wattpad Ambassador, but this contest has no affiliation with Wattpad in any way, shape, or form. It will not be judged based on Wattpad judging standards, though I would like to disclose that my role with the Ambassadors is a judge, so I am judge-trained, and some of that training may slip through on instinct.

Though, more prominently, I am a professional reviewer in real life. I beta read, edit, and review as one of my part-time jobs, and I am professionally trained from publishers to do so. That training is going to be the one I mostly rely on for my reviews.

If any ToS violations are found in your work, I will be obligated to report you to T&S, hence why I ask you to please read the content guidelines before applying to these awards.

Also, keep in mind that by signing up, you are consenting to us hosts reviewing your work, which will include quoting your text and commenting on the quotes we pull from the text. You will, of course, be credited as the source material for any and all quotes we may pull from the text to review. If you are not okay with us quoting your text in the reviews, please do not sign up for this contest.

If you have any questions regarding this, please let me know in the Q&A chapter!