How a Booky is awarded.
A short, honest walkthrough of what happens between the moment you submit your book and the moment your permanent award page goes live.
You submit your book.
Upload the first three chapters as a .docx, .pdf, or .epub. Provide the basic metadata — title, author name, genre, and a real ASIN or ISBN of a published book. We don't judge unpublished manuscripts; we judge books that already exist in the world.
Manuscripts are stored encrypted and deleted within 90 days unless you opt in to retention. We never train models on your work.
You choose a tier.
Honest Screen ($9), Booky Award ($39), or Author Bundle ($129). The screen is the entry point — it pays for the AI evaluation that decides whether your book qualifies for full judging. Award and Bundle add the actual award, the assets, and (in Bundle) the press release, social pack, and audio reel.
If you bought the screen and your book passes, you get $30 of that fee credited toward an upgrade to the Award tier — so the net upgrade is $30, not $39.
The honest screen runs.
A fast AI pass on your first three chapters projects your book's scores across the 10 craft axes. If any axis projects to 75 or above, your book qualifies for full judging and we tell you which axis stood out. If no axis qualifies, we stop here — and refund you in full.
This is the part that gives the awards their meaning. Books that wouldn't earn an honest Booky never get one. Hence: refund.
Your book is routed to its specialist judge.
Genre determines the judge. A romance manuscript goes to Vivienne Park. A thriller goes to Marcus Thorne. A literary novel goes to Eleanor Whitcombe. Spec-fic goes to Aiyana Reyes. Non-fiction and memoir go to Arthur Beaumont. Each judge reads with the rubric of their craft.
You can see exactly which judge evaluated your book on the permanent award page. We name them.
Full evaluation runs.
The specialist judge reads the manuscript end-to-end and scores all ten axes from 0 to 100. For your top one or two axes, the judge writes the reasoning and pulls supporting passages directly from your book. This becomes the body of your award page.
A book never wins on a single axis below 75. If something is genuinely strong, the rubric finds it.
Your category is selected.
From a closed bank of around 200 human-curated award names, we choose the category that fits the axis your book scored highest on — and the specifics of your book within that axis. "Best Dialogue Booky." "Most Memorable Protagonist Booky." "Best Slow Burn Booky." "Most Cinematic Booky." Specific, honest, shareable.
No "Best Book of the Year" trophies handed out by the dozen. Every Booky names what your book actually does well.
Your assets ship.
Your permanent award page goes live at /winners/<your-book>. Your PDF certificate, PNG award badge, and embeddable HTML snippet are emailed to you and made available in your dashboard. If you bought the Bundle, your press release, 8-graphic social pack, 30-second AI-narrated audio reel, and award-badge cover variant follow within 5 business days.
You own your award page forever. Link it on your author bio, retail listings, social profile, agent submission — anywhere.
Frequently asked.
Can I submit an unpublished manuscript?
No. We only judge books that have a real ASIN or ISBN. The Bookys are for published authors who want recognition for what they've put into the world.
How long does the screen take?
Typically under one minute after upload. The full judging pass usually completes within 24 hours of a passed screen.
Can I resubmit if I get refunded?
Yes. If you revise your book and get a new ASIN/ISBN edition, you can submit again as a fresh entry. Same fee structure.
Can the same book win multiple Bookys?
A book wins one Booky in its lifetime — the category it earned. We don't stack categories. If the bundle earns secondary axis recognition, that goes on the same award page, not as a second award.
Is this AI-judged? Will winners say so?
Yes — explicitly and proudly. Press releases mention "AI-evaluated by the BookyAwards judging panel." Hiding the AI would be the dishonest move; we lean into it because our judges have read more in their field than any human juror could.
What about manuscript privacy?
Your first three chapters are stored encrypted and deleted within 90 days unless you opt in. We never train models on submissions. AI vendors process them under enterprise no-training terms.