Please stay tuned for the judge results and show some love to our amazing judges! They'll be ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd!

THESE ARE THE POETRY & SHORT STORIES SCORES AND FEEDBACK:
Thank you to all of our judges who got these results back to me in a timely manner. Thank you to the participants who allowed themselves to be vulnerable as we reviewed your work. I hope that the in-line comments and feedback have found you well. Do not let feedback discourage you! Allow this input from a secondary source to spur you onward to review and improve your work! You are all so talented <3

(You can view your judges in Round I results. The winners of each genre and category will be posted separately in Round III results!)

maplelatte7 Genesis

Total Score: 57/70

Feedback: The cover is beautiful; I love the look and feel. I might suggest making the "By" portion a bit darker in color, so it doesn't stand out as much– or even placing it below the title in the same color as it is, but besides that, it's great. In the synopsis, "realise" is spelled incorrectly. It should be "realize." Even so, very effective synopsis. Your poetry feels like poetry. Wonderful blend of syntax, sound, as well as pretty words and phrases that feel whimsical and deep. Good intro though there were a few missing spaces after the punctuation marks at the endings of some sentences. No major grammatical errors and the writing improves with each poem! I can see a progressive improvement between the older works compared to the more recent ones!

MysticMistres19 Mystic Little Wonders

Total Score: 46/70

Feedback: The cover could use some work. The synopsis is too plain and a word is misspelled. The cover image is nice, unique. The poetry has clear stanzas and a nice rhythm to it. The rhyme enhances reader experience. There are missing spaces after each comma. A consistent error on the writer's part. However, the poetry itself is visionary and enticing. I enjoy reading the poetry, despite the small grammatical errors. Vocabulary is fine, nothing special unlike other poetry books I've read. Simple words can be substituted for better, more descriptive words with the aid of a thesaurus.

BellOfSilence ROTTEN to the Core

Total Score: 98/100

Feedback: The cover perfectly reflects the title, an image of a rotting apple. Creative and insightful, knowing the subject of the story– Snow White and her correlation to poisoned apples. The synopsis reveals interesting differences in this tale as opposed to the classic that hooks the reader and incites curiosity. The quotes by the Brothers Grimm are a great contribution and help to maintain the story's aesthetic. The imagery is impeccable, from descriptions of the "living silence" of the forest, to the queen's "noble" golden dress Snow White sank her fingers into when poisoned. Each sentence is captivating. The world is enthralling. Description is riveting and the storyline stays true to the inspiration of the original fairytale. Quite an enjoyable read, like that which one would find in a book of fairytales. Well done, writer, I could picture the horse kicking up mounds of mossy dirt during the huntsman's venture into the forest. I could taste and smell the cinnamon of the crisp, golden brown apple pie. The insight into the queen's hatred, and the unique names helped paint these characters as three dimensional rather than dull, superficial in nature.

TheWordArtistBooks Mystical Words

Total Score: 70/100

Feedback: The cover is beautiful! It really does have a "mystical" feel to it, in respect to the title. Creative and pleasing to look at. I really enjoyed the second story, and the cliffhanger at the end. It's short and sweet with an interesting plot line. I wanted to find out more. I will say there were some errors again, inconsistency with how internal dialogue is formatted, but overall enjoyable. A good read, though I would say that description needs some work. It reads flat, and I found errors with dialogue formatting and some capitalization errors in the first chapter but by the third, it was much improved. I can tell the author has a story to tell. Each short story has an interesting plot! (Work on grammar and spelling and maybe expand your vocabulary and you'll find your writing much improved!)

_pretty_pluviophile_ Sentient

Total Score: 63/70

Feedback: Cover features a whimsical image, and the title is prominent. I think the blurb is effective in its simplicity. It helps the reader to understand the theme of this collection of poetry without rambling and leaves one with a sense of wonder. Yes, what does it mean to feel? That question alone incites internal deliberation. Well done. Writer employs a vast vocabulary to illustrate and paint a picture. I found myself looking deeper between the lines to find the hidden meanings in the poems that I read. The words make it poetry, and the imagery makes it enchanting to read. Though I would argue there is some ambiguity to the meaning behind some of the subject matter, that could very well be the writer's intention. For example, the personification of friendship. Of the first poems I read, Vermilion is my favorite. I felt that it was particularly relatable to young women who are entering adulthood. We are forced to transition out of childhood and fill new roles within society. The message was clear and meaningful, and the interesting metaphors help to better illustrate the message to the reader.