How do judges really judge contest books?

Dr. Judith Briles
27 minutes ago
1 min read

It's countdown month for the TOP downloaded podcasts for 2025. Coming in at #3 with 150,245 listeners downloading tips and strategies for entering book contests and understanding what judges are looking for.

In this week’s AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing, Host Dr. Judith Briles invites Jules Marie who has judged over 2,000 books for a variety of book contests to share her tips on creating a book that has the WOW factor in the judges eye.

Your takeaways include:

➜ Entering book contests are part of your marketing plan.

➜ Before you enter, what’s the “why”?

➜ Make sure your name and book title is listed on Google Alerts and Talk Walker.

➜ Determine your costs and set a budget—invest in your book.

➜ Why book covers should reflect content between the covers.

➜ Usually there is an editorial judge and design judge.

➜ Find the contests that are a fit for your book’s genre and theme.

And, of course, much more.

If you don’t want your author influence to be mediocre, it’s time to tune in for lots of ideas and how-to tactics via the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing podcast ranked in the top 10 of book marketing podcasts.

Since its inception, over 21,000,000 listeners have downloaded various shows for practical publishing and book marketing guidance. Ranked in the Top 100 of GoodPods and Top 10 on Feedspot. Join me and become a regular subscriber.