Evaluation Criteria
Some criteria to consider when evaluating the story:
- Did the story grab and keep your attention?
- Were the characters interesting?
- Was the story and plot well-structured?
- Was the ending satisfying? Did it feel like an ending?
- Did the level of detail and/or exposition feel appropriate?
- Was the manuscript formatted reasonably well? Did it appear that the manuscript was edited and spell-checked?
(Note: These are numbered for convenience, not by importance.)
Other Considerations
- If a story is simply not for you — be it a genre or subject matter that you’re uncomfortable with — don’t be afraid to say so and decline to review the story. We would rather find another reviewer than make you feel like you must review a story that you don’t feel comfortable or qualified to evaluate.
- It will be the very rare submission that will be perfect — requiring almost nothing in the way of editing or grammatical correction.
It is possible that a story to which you gave an unfavorable review might be selected for publication. Please do not feel that your opinion was not considered. It was.