Frequently Asked Questions

Three reasons. One: our judges have read more books in their field than any human juror could in a lifetime. A traditional book-prize jury physically cannot read every entry — most prizes long-list a small slice and skim the rest. We read every submission end-to-end. Two: AI applies the same published rubric to every book, without fatigue, favouritism, or politics. The novel that arrives at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday is judged identically to the novel that arrives during business hours. Three: AI judging is dramatically cheaper than human panels — which means we can afford to refund books that don't qualify rather than awarding everyone for the entry fee. The honest-screen refund only exists because the economics work. We don't hide that the judges are AI; we celebrate it. The Judges page names each model, its specialty, and the rubric it applies. If anything, our judges are more transparent than the human panels they replace.

A Booky is a category-specific book award given to a published book whose AI-judged rubric scores meet our threshold of merit. Categories are honest and specific — "Best Dialogue Booky", "Most Memorable Protagonist Booky" — drawn from a closed bank of around 200 human-curated category names.

Six named AI specialist judges, each with a defined craft domain — literary fiction (Eleanor Whitcombe), thriller/mystery/commercial fiction (Marcus Thorne), speculative fiction (Aiyana Reyes), romance and women's fiction (Vivienne Park), non-fiction/memoir (Arthur Beaumont), and cross-genre/emerging voices (Brooke Hayes). They're explicitly AI; we publish their photos, specialties, and the rubric they apply. See /judges.

Yes, and yes — proudly. Press releases, badges, and certificates all disclose AI evaluation. Hiding the AI would be the dishonest move; we lean into it because our judges read more in their field than any human juror could.

Yes — the /submit page lets you buy 1 to 100 entries in a single checkout. Volume discounts apply automatically: 5% off at 2 books, scaling up to 50% off at 100 books. Purchased entries are stored as credits in your account; you submit each book one at a time on your own schedule with no expiry pressure.

No account required. The free screen at /screen only asks for your manuscript file, your book title, your name, and your email address — no card, no login. We create a lightweight account for you behind the scenes so your result email can link you straight to checkout if your book qualifies.

Every Booky winner gets a small block of HTML you can paste into any website to display a live award badge linked to your permanent award page. Grab it from your dashboard or from /embed/your-book-slug. It updates automatically if we ever make design improvements to the badge.

You'll receive an email with your results and a link to convert your screen pass into a paid Booky Award or Author Bundle entry. Your manuscript is already on file — you just add the remaining metadata (genre, ASIN/ISBN, author name) and choose a tier. No re-upload needed.

Yes. When you're logged in and reach the submission form, BookyAwards checks your SelfPublishing.pro account and shows a drop-down of your books. Picking one pre-fills the title, genre, and pulls your manuscript and cover directly — no manual upload needed. You can also enter everything by hand if you prefer.

Yes. On the submission form, switch from the SelfPublishing.pro tab to the ISBN or Amazon URL tab. Entering your ISBN-13 or pasting your Amazon book URL will pre-fill your title, author, and cover image automatically. You can edit any field before submitting, and you still need to upload your manuscript file.

If our judge can't award a Booky in good conscience after a full 10-axis evaluation, you receive a 100% refund — no questions asked. That's the honest-or-free guarantee: the award only exists when the book genuinely earns it. You'll also receive honest feedback on what our judge noticed during the review.

Yes — enter your coupon code in the optional code field at checkout on the /submit page. Volume discounts (up to 50% off at 100 books) apply automatically without a code. If you don't have a coupon code, check with the affiliate or partner who referred you.

No — entries you buy never expire. Once you purchase a credit pack, the entries sit in your account until you use them. You can submit books one at a time at whatever pace suits your publishing schedule. Your remaining balance is always visible on your dashboard.

Two paid tiers, both per-book. Booky Award $39 (full 10-axis judging by your specialist judge, permanent award page, certificate, embed badge). Author Bundle $129 (everything in Award + custom press release for you to send, 8-graphic social pack, 30-second AI-narrated audio reel, cover variant with the badge applied). Volume discount: 5% off per step — 5% at 2, 10% at 3, 15% at 5, 20% at 10, 25% at 15, 30% at 20, 35% at 25, 40% at 50, 45% at 75, 50% at 100. Applied automatically at checkout. There's also a free honest screen on the home page if you'd like to know whether your book qualifies before you pay.

No charge — the free screen on the home page is genuinely free. Our judges read the opening of your book and email you whether it would qualify for a Booky Award. If it does, the email links you to the paid submission flow. If it doesn't, you get an honest decline with three observations about what we noticed. No card, no upsell pressure.

Your manuscript is stored encrypted at rest, used only for judging (we read the opening of the book), and deleted within 90 days unless you opt in to retention. We never train models on your manuscript. AI vendors process under enterprise no-training terms.

No. We only judge books that have a real ASIN or ISBN — books that are already in the world for readers to buy. The Bookys are designed for working authors who want recognition for what they've published. If your book isn't out yet, services like SelfPublishing.pro can help you get there first.

The honest screen typically completes within a minute of upload. The full judging pass usually completes within 24 hours of a passed screen.

A real ASIN or ISBN of a published book, your manuscript file (.docx / .doc / .pdf / .epub / .txt — upload the whole book, our judges read the opening), and your cover image if you have one (required for Author Bundle assets; optional for the Booky Award tier). We don't judge unpublished manuscripts.

No. A book wins one Booky in its lifetime — the category it earned. We don’t stack categories. If your book earns secondary recognition on a second axis, that appears on your award page, not as a separate award.

Yes. If you revise your book and publish a new ASIN/ISBN edition, that’s a new entry. Same fee structure.

Just three things: your book title, your email address, and your manuscript file (.epub, .docx, .pdf, or .txt). No account, no credit card, no ASIN or ISBN needed. If your book qualifies, we email you a link to complete the paid entry — that step is where we ask for genre, ASIN or ISBN, and your cover image.

Everything is in two places. Your dashboard at /dashboard lists each submission and includes download links for all winner assets once the award is issued. Your public award page at /winners/your-slug has the same links. Booky Award winners get a badge PNG, PDF certificate, and an HTML embed snippet (also at /embed/your-slug). Author Bundle winners also get a press release, eight social graphics (downloadable as a ZIP), an AI-narrated audio reel, and a cover-with-badge image.

Absolutely — that’s what it’s for. Winners may use the badge and category title on the cover, retail listings, author website, social, and any marketing material. Just keep the badge unmodified.

Once a year, we shortlist Bundle-tier winners with at least one axis above 90 and pick a single Book of the Year. Bundle-tier entries are automatically considered.