Normally, the answer is yes.
However, MWSA occasionally gets books that are not “ready for primetime.” Rather than force reviewers to endure the task of reading an entire book that is chock full of errors, we offer the option to do an “abbreviated evaluation.”
Here are the details:
Read the first 30-50 pages (depending on the length of the book).
Document enough errors to show the book cannot win an award.
If you’re finding 2-3 errors on every page, you know it’s probably not going to win an award.
Under our old system (where we used page numbers to determine the allowable number of errors per score), ten errors in one category (spelling, punctuation, etc.) in the first 20 pages of a book would equate to 100 errors in a 200-page book, and the book would fail in the technical scoring area.
Under our new word-count-based scoring system, use basic math (divide your book’s word count by its total pages) to come up with a rough idea of your book’s number of words per page. Use this number to determine which part of the tech scoring table to use.
Along with a list of the errors, Include a note in your comments that you found the errors in the first XX pages and did not continue to mark errors in the rest of the book.
Continue scanning the remainder of the book.
Check every 10 to 20 pages to scrutinize a couple of pages to confirm that the book continues to include errors.
Try to get a sense of the story arc, if fiction.
Expect to go through a reviewer conference for the book since it’s likely to end up being low-scoring. At that point, you’ll provide your input regarding the type of review—keeping in mind that we require a “caveated” review in books that score lower than our threshold.
If you have any doubts or questions, contact the awards directors.
2/25/2024