What will The Winners will Receive?

Our competition process begins with indie authors submitting a 10,000-word extract from the beginning of their novel along with a synopsis. From these submissions, a number of authors will be invited to provide their full manuscript. From this stage, a small number of the highest-quality entries will be selected to be a selected title and will be professional reviewed.

Each selected title will receive:

• A full professional book review conducted free of charge and under the Story Star Standard framework.
• An official Story Star Standard star rating.
• A permenant listing within our website’s Indie Book Catalogue.
• Promotional coverage across Story Star Standard platforms, including opportunities for interviews, blog posts, and future collaboration.

From this selected group, one title will be chosen as the Winner of the Story Star Standard Founding Competition. This highest-scoring title will receive:

• Everything listed above.
• A highlighted Winners Feature across the Story Star Standard platforms and permanent recognition as the Founding Competition winner.
• A special in-depth blog feature and/or podcast episode focused on your book.

All submissions must meet the following requirements:

• The book must be independently or self-published. If you are unsure whether your book qualifies, please contact us at contact@thestorystarstandard.com.
• The book must be written in English.
• The manuscript must be completed, and either officially published or scheduled for publication within the next six months.
• The book must not be a non-fiction book, a children’s book, fanfiction, or poetry.
• The submitting author must hold the rights to submit the work.
• The book must be human-written and not generated by A.I.
• The work must not be plagiarized.
• The submission must be a novel.

Submissions may be from any publication year. This competition is not focused on newly released books and authors are welcome to submit titles published many years ago. The emphasis is on identifying high-quality indie fiction rather than the recency of publication. All genres are welcome with the exception of non-fiction, children’s books, fanfiction, or poetry.

The Story Star Standard reserves the right to decline submissions that cannot be promoted or reviewed responsiblity, such as books that include hate speech or discriminatory content. Selection for review or winning status is not guaranteed

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So How are Submissions Judged?

Once authors submit their 10,000 words extract and synopsis, we will select a small group of candidates to submit their full manuscripts. The number selected may vary depending on the volume of submission and the overall quality of entries received for this competition.

Full manuscripts will then be assessed using the Story Star Standard framework, in the same way we evaulate all titles considered for our Indie Book Catalogue. Each book will be analysed across the seven core craft categories: Narrative Craft, Prose, Character, Dialogue, World & Atmosphere, Concept & Theme, and Format. These scores will be combined to determine the Story Star rating ahcieved by each title (more can be found about our process on our website).

Following this assessment, one manuscript will be selected as the winner of the competition.

This competition does not involve public voting and is judged solely by professionals. Social media following, sales figures, and author platform size are not taken into consideration at any stage of the judging process.

The Story Star Standard is committed to fairness, transparency, and professional integrity. All submissions are reviewed using the same criteria and with the same level of care. The competition is designed to showcase high-quality indie books, especially those that are often overlooked.

The final closing date for submissions is yet to be confirmed. As this is our first competition, the deadline will depend on submission demand. Our current aim is to close submissions by 27 Feburary, however, we reserve the right to close submissions earlier or extend the deadline depending on the number of entries received.