Please continue to check back to this page as more questions and answers will be added regularly. If you don’t find an answer here and your question is specifically contest related, please contact KODContest@gmail.com. If you have questions about your writing software or computer operating system, please try Googling an answer first.
Entrant Questions:
*ANNOUNCEMENT*
As many of you have noticed, there has been an ongoing website issue that is taking longer to fix than anticipated. On February 14th, 2026 AT 5:00PM PST the Daphne du Maurier Chair, and the Kiss of Death Treasurer will implement an alternative entry process. We are also extending the entry deadline until March 31, 2026. Finalists will be announced in May 2026, and Winners will be announced in Albuquerque, New Mexico during the awards ceremony held at our Death by Chocolate Event The week of July 12, 2026. (Exact time and date TBD)
We do appreciate all of our potential entrants, and their excitement to enter the contest, as we were once in that same position. This process is being done to allow us to move forward while the website issue is being worked on, that way we can open the contest and proceed as planned.
Remember to read the Updated Rules [Published & Unpublished]
Step 1: Fill out the Google Entry Form [Published & Unpublished].
Step 2: Pay the invoice you will be sent via PayPal. You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay an invoice. International Entries may see a delay in invoicing. Communication will be provided by the Treasurer.
Step 3: A member of the contest committee will reach out to you for your entry submission file.
If you have any questions feel free to email either the Contest Chair at KODContest@gmail.com or Treasurer at KOD144Treasurer@gmail.com.
Is my book eligible for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense? Mysteries and suspense novel plots are typically a crime that has been committed, or may be committed, and the main characters must solve or prevent the crime. Consider if your novel has a crime that needs to be solved and directly involves the main characters and drives the plot. Is the mystery/suspense plot solved at the end of the book, and is some kind of justice served? If the crime is unrelated, or a minor subplot, your book may have mystery elements, but would not be considered a mystery. Entries OTHER than mainstream must follow the genre conventions of both mystery and/or suspense, and romance. Consider who are the love interests in your novel? Are they consenting adults? When do they meet? (Romance requires them to meet in the first act.) At the end of your book, do your love interests have an optimistic future together (Happy-Ever-After)? Please read the rules carefully to determine if your book qualifies as a mystery/suspense and/or a romance. Entries will be disqualified that do not meet the genre requirements and the entry fee is forfeited. Check out this video for more information about what makes a romance.
Which category should I choose? Still have questions after reading the instructions? Here’s a quick video explaining the difference between the categories. Most importantly, do not choose romantic suspense, historical romantic suspense, or paranormal romantic suspense if your book does not contain a romance that ends with a happy-ever-after or happy for now.
What’s the difference between Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller – and a book with those elements? First, a crime has been committed and must be solved. If you end your story with no resolution to the crime, it’s a story with mystery elements and our contest isn’t a good fit. Watch this video for more information if you’re still unclear.
I really need a Video Tutorial on: How to create an accessible PDF that is also read-only. The transcript can be found here.
My computer can’t make an accessible PDF. What do I do? There are too many computer types and programs and systems out there for us to answer. Please Google this question. You can also ask a friend if they have the capabilities. Please know that most universities require accessible PDFs and have helpful resources that you can find through Google or your favorite internet browser.
I’m not sure how to answer the elements section on the entry form. Please help. The entry form as a section where it asks you to identify if your story has certain elements and it automatically selects yes. You must manually change the answer to “No” if your answer is no. Answering this section honestly helps us pair you with a judge that is comfortable reading graphic sex scenes, main characters that identify as LGBTQ+, graphic violence on the page, or child death or even child abuse. Mystery, suspense, and thrillers typically involve crime, sometimes violent crime. If your story shows that violence on the page, versus alluding to it, then you should choose yes. We want to pair your entry with a judge who is excited to read your story, and identifying those elements will help.
How can I check if my PDF is accessible?
- Open PDF document with Adobe Reader (this is a free software program from Adobe.)
- Can you select and highlight the text?
- Can you have the text read it aloud to you? Go to Adobe Reader’s View menu, select and activate Read OutLoud then select Read this page only or Read to the end of document and listen to your document.
- If you are scanning a document, have you completed Optical Character Recognition (OCR) or TextRecognition process to see if your document can be read aloud?
- If you include any images, photos, diagrams, etc., have you provided alternative text or captions to explain thekey message in your images? Screen reader does not read/recognize any images if alternative text is missing. If answers from (2) to (5) are “yes”, your document is accessible.
I entered twice! What do I do? This one is easy – just email KODContest@gmail.com with your name, book title, and entries. We’ll delete the second entry.
What is a cozy mystery? A cozy mystery has an amateur sleuth, and the violence, sex, and profanity occurs off the page. Examples are Murder She Wrote, Father Brown, or Monk. A great explanation can be found at this website: https://bookishbrews.com/diverse-cozy-mystery-books/
I’m entering the unpublished division and really need just a few more words than 5,000 to end on a hook. What do I do? Edit your work. Entries that contain over 5,000 words will be disqualified. 5,000 words is about 18-20 pages and entries are checked to ensure that they are 5,000 words or under. It is perfectly acceptable to submit less than 5,000 words, even if you’ve got a great hook at 4,000 words. Don’t be afraid to enter less. Entering more than 5,000 words results in disqualification and forfeiture of your contest fee.
When will entrants be notified if they finaled? Assuming unforeseen catastrophes have not occured, in the unpublished division, finalists will be notified around the middle of May. In the published division, finalists will be notified after the first week of June. Winners will be announced at the Death by Chocolate party usually held during the RWA Summer conference.
Judge Questions:
Register for judging via this form: JUDGE SIGN UP FORM.
You do NOT need to be a member of Kiss of Death to Judge.
We do expect judges to complete judges training, provided constructive criticism for each element scored, read and judge all assigned entries by the deadlines below.
Signing up to judge does not guarantee judge selection.
What is the schedule for judges? Around mid-March, judge training begins. You will be emailed directly. If you don’t receive an email, please contact KodContest@gmail.com.
- Judges will be sent their entries around April 5th.
- May 5th, unpublished judge scoresheets are due.
- May 25th, published judge scoresheets are due.
I agreed to judge. Where are my books? In 2026, we will be utilizing a new system, hopefully this will be a temporary measure. Information will be communicated via email from the Judge Coordinator, or you may contact KodContest@gmail.com for additional information.
I’ve entered the contest, can I be a judge also? Yes! Please! Entrants may judge categories that they are NOT entered in.
The book I’m judging contains problematic content, or is not entered into the correct category. What do I do? The very first question on your scoresheet is in regards to possible problematic content, or a book that is entered in the wrong category. For example, a Historical Romantic Suspense book set in the 2000s, or a book that is lacking a mystery, suspense, or thriller plot, or a book that is entered in a category that requires romance, but doesn’t have a mutually satisfying happy-ever-after. For problematic content, if the book makes you uncomfortable, please let us know! When you write your comments about the book, it would be incredibly helpful to contact KODContest@gmail.com to let us know immediately. We will find your comment when we run our reports, but we’d love to address the issues asap–especially as there are other judges who may not have read the book yet, and it could be disqualified. Once the book has been flagged, we examine the book and send it to a committee to rule on whether the book needs to be disqualified or not. We will then reach out to the author and/or publisher to let them know our decision. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen every year. We know judges may find it difficult to point out a book that has issues, but we appreciate their honest feedback.
That also means, if you are entering your book to our contest because you’d love feedback, but it isn’t a mystery, suspense, or thriller, etc. and it is brought to our attention, please know that if disqualified, it will not be judged, you will not receive feedback, and your funds will not be returned to you.
In the past, the judges received physical books. Why did the contest change? We’ve moved to accessible PDFs so that all of our judges can read the entries in whatever fashion works best for them. Accessible PDFs allow judges to change the font size, style, and color, and they can be read aloud by a screen reader.
