Contest FAQs for Entrants and Judges

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:

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.

How do I enter? I can’t find the link! You can find the link in the rules and instructions. We strongly encourage you to read the rules and instructions as they are updated yearly. See image below to help you locate the rules for your division. Also, please note, that your email and password are the same from when you entered in previous years at the writingcontest.website. We’ve changed servers and our new website is KODContest.com, but use the same email and password as before. There is now a reset password button if you’ve forgotten your old email.

The website looks the same, but it’s a different address. Do I need to create a new account? No. Your email and password are the same from when you entered in previous years at the writingcontest.website. We’ve changed servers and our new website is KODContest.com, but use the same email and password as before. There is now a reset password button if you’ve forgotten your old email.

I keep getting errors on the website. Please try using Chrome or another browser. If the error persists, contact KODContest@gmail.com.

I’ve read the rules, but I need a demonstration on how to submit an entry. Here’s a video tutorial from 2023 on how to submit an entry. Please note that it uses the Unpublished Division as an example, but the steps are similar for the Published Division. Also, our contest website address is now www.kodcontest.com. The transcript can be found here.

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 can’t pay! Help!!! First, try logging out and log in again, maybe using a different browser (like Chrome). If that doesn’t solve the issue, you’ve got a couple of solutions to choose from. The first is to go directly to PayPal using your phone or your laptop and submit your payment directly to PresidentKOD@gmail.com. Please be sure to include your entry number and title in the memo section. The second solution is to request to be invoiced by contacting kod144treasurer@gmail.com. Another option is to send a check, and you should contact KODContest@gmail.com for more information about this final option.

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.

I’ve entered and paid, but I haven’t received a confirmation email. What should I do? If you’ve entered and paid for your entry, please make sure that you go back and enter the transaction ID onto your entry form. Log back into www.kodcontest.com and choose “edit” to edit your entry. There is a large blue box that with a space for your transaction ID number from PayPal. Once you’ve entered that number, submit. You should receive a confirmation email within 48 hours. If you have not, then please contact your Division Coordinator. Their email addresses are on the first page of the contest website.

When will entrants be notified if they finaled? Assuming unforeseen catastrophes have not occured, in the unpublished division, finalists will be notified after the first week 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 at KODContest.com.

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 March 22nd.
April 15th, unpublished judge scoresheets are due.
May 15th, published judge scoresheets are due.

I agreed to judge. Where are my books? Log in to your kodcontest.org account using the same email and password that you used when we were on a different server and used the website writingcontest.website. After you’ve logged in, choose the judges tab and look for the “books I am judging” or it may say “scoresheets for books I am judging”. You will find the entries there. You may download the pdf files to be read on any device you choose.

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.