Just In! My Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Competition Judge's Review

I’m so excited! I entered the Writer’s Digest Self-Publishing Book competition in March and just received the judge’s review. Here it is:

Entry Title: The Vitamin D Treatment
Author: Julia Bramer
Judge Number: 74
Entry Category: Genre Fiction


Books are evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning “needs improvement” and 5 meaning “outstanding”. This scale is strictly to provide a point of reference, it is not a cumulative score and does not reflect ranking.


Structure and Organization: 4
Grammar: 5
Production Quality and Cover Design: 3
Plot (if applicable): 4
Character Development (if applicable): 4


Judges Commentary*:

The writing pulsates with suspense and excitement, and tells an engaging story that lends itself well to the erotic suspense genre. The crosscutting of scenes and shifting between viewpoints is cinematic in nature, and so this book would lend itself quite well to being filmed commercially. The cast of characters, especially Olivia as she emerges to become the primary protagonist, are, individually and collectively, certainly strong enough to command center stage throughout the novel, and will successfully arouse the reader’s interest in wanting to know what will happen next. This is a really entertaining plot that could easily appeal to a wide audience.
The book could be improved by adding more description. If a scene takes place indoors or out, especially if it's a new setting, describe the setting first with a few sentences (or paragraphs, if it's an important setting), describing not only the physical aspects of a setting but, whenever appropriate, using as many of the senses as possible to describe a scene. This likewise applies to characterization. When a person first appears in the narrative, insert just two or three sentences of description of them, generally providing a physical description, the person's age and what the person is wearing, and their demeanor.


*Commentary may be quoted as: “Judge, Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Self-Published Book Awards”