The 10-axis judging rubric.
Every Booky-winning book is evaluated across these ten craft dimensions. Each axis is scored from 0 to 100. To win a Booky, at least one axis must reach 75 — our threshold for "we'd stand behind a public award here." The award goes to the top 1–2 axes; the category name is drawn from a closed bank of human-curated names so every Booky reads as honest, specific praise.
How to read the scores
Prose & Style
The sentence-level craft. Voice, rhythm, image, economy.
What scores high
Lines that linger. A voice that could only have been written by this writer. Prose that says exactly enough.
What scores low
Workmanlike sentences that get the job done but don’t earn their breath. Reaching for poetry in places that wanted plain speech.
Characterization
The depth, distinctness, and growth of the people on the page.
What scores high
Characters who could not be swapped for one another. Quietly contradictory. Recognisable on a second meeting.
What scores low
Names attached to roles. Behaviour driven by plot rather than psychology. Sidekicks who exist only to react.
Dialogue
Naturalism, distinct voices per character, function on the page.
What scores high
Dialogue that reveals subtext, advances plot, and characterises the speaker — often all at once.
What scores low
Talking heads. Information dumps in spoken form. Characters who all sound like the narrator.
Plot & Structure
Pacing, scene economy, payoff, the architecture of the read.
What scores high
Setups that pay off. Scenes that earn their place. A final beat that lands and is remembered.
What scores low
Flabby middles. Scenes that exist to fill space. Endings that resolve by exhausting the conflict instead of answering it.
World-Building
Setting integrity — internal consistency, sensory specificity, lived-in feel. (Genre-weighted.)
What scores high
A world earned one detail at a time. Magic / tech / politics that hold up under pressure. A place you almost recognise.
What scores low
A backdrop. Inconsistent rules. Sensory void. Generic medieval / dystopian / small-town shorthand.
Originality
Premise, execution, and the willingness to be unfamiliar.
What scores high
A premise we haven't seen — or a familiar premise executed in a way we haven't. Surprise on the page.
What scores low
A clean copy of a successful book. Familiar tropes deployed without comment. A premise its market has already exhausted.
Emotional Resonance
Whether the book actually moves the reader.
What scores high
A scene of quiet devastation done well. A laugh-out-loud paragraph. The ache of a character we believe in.
What scores low
Emotion announced rather than earned. Stakes we are told to feel. Sentiment without the work behind it.
Theme & Substance
What the book is actually about, beyond its events.
What scores high
A real preoccupation pursued with seriousness. A theme that can be discussed without spoiling the plot.
What scores low
Plot wearing the clothes of a theme. Themes named in dialogue rather than dramatised on the page.
Genre Execution
Whether the book delivers what its readers came for.
What scores high
A romance that earns the kiss. A thriller that lands its twist. A fantasy with a satisfying magic-cost economy. The genre done with respect, not condescension.
What scores low
A book that seems embarrassed by its own genre. Tropes deployed inertly. Promises the cover makes that the pages don't keep.
Marketability & Hook
How the book functions in a crowded market — opening, premise, comp-ability.
What scores high
A first chapter that compels. A logline you can repeat in the lift. Comp titles that fit honestly.
What scores low
A first chapter that hides the book. A premise that resists summary. No clear shelf or readership.
The honest-screen threshold.
If our screening pass cannot project any axis above 75, no Booky is awarded — and you receive a 100% refund of your screening fee. We'd rather give your $9 back than give you an award we don't believe in. That's the entire point of doing this differently.