Tired of walking away from writing contests empty-handed? We understand your frustration. Bardsy Anthology Contests focus on more than winning for exactly this reason. Not every submission will be a finalist, published in our quality anthology, but every entry will improve through our efforts and yours. The key: each story receives actionable feedback that authors can use to improve their stories.

This means even if your entry doesn't make it into a Bardsy Anthology on the first try, you have the feedback you need to revise and resubmit. Offering feedback on all eligible entries benefits everyone—authors, judges, and readers. We consider it a win-win-win. Here’s what you can expect when you enter a Bardsy writing contest

What exactly do we mean by feedback? It's a good question. Feedback comes in all shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of usefulness. Technically, one sentence saying, "This is a good/bad story." is feedback, but it isn't useful. Our feedback, on the other hand, is designed to guide you toward improvement and help you grow as a writer.

We feel confident saying our feedback is the most thorough feedback you'll receive in a short story contest setting. If you don’t believe this, please take a look at our feedback side by side with any other and you’ll see this isn't your usual contest feedback. Instead of an email summarizing your story and highlighting a few areas that could be improved, you'll receive a Publishability Index™ report on your entry.

As a quick refresher, the Publishability Index™ is a comprehensive evaluative tool for writers designed to answer two questions, "How good is my story?" and "How can I make my story better?" The PI™ answers both these questions in a clear and actionable way. Here's how it works:

First, the PI™ captures the collective wisdom of today's most highly regarded writing experts and organizes it systematically. Next, it expands on this brain trust by providing much more concrete standards for what constitutes a good story. Finally, the PI™ adds an entirely new set of considerations that we call cohesion: something that's often hard to articulate but that's absolutely critical to successful writing.

The PI™ is organized as a checklist with multiple elements: character, world, conflict, theme, plot, language, and cohesion. Each element is split into dimensions, for a total of twenty-three. Every dimension contains criteria detailing the parameters for good and great levels. For example: under "character," the agency dimension calls for "characters who manifest through thoughts and choices" for a story to meet the "good" criteria. For a story to reach "great" status, "clear, cumulative character development" is required.

When you enter a Bardsy Anthology Contest, our (human, but more on that later!) editors will meticulously review your story and complete the PI™, checking to see if each dimension meets the required criteria for a "good" or "great" story. In addition to the completed PI™, you'll also receive a report summarizing essential takeaways from each dimension and recommendations on where to focus your efforts during revision.

Once you've received your PI™ report, you'll have the opportunity to revise your entry before judging. Receiving detailed feedback on your work—especially if it's your first time having your work reviewed by an editor—can be overwhelming. Take some time to consider the PI™ report, and then revise thoughtfully. Be sure to consult the PI™ as you go, checking your work against the criteria with the goal of achieving at least "good" in every category, if not "great."

Once your revised work has been submitted, it's time for judging to begin. If your entry is chosen as a potential finalist, you'll work with an editor to prepare it for publishing. This round of revisions will be a final polish for your entry, ensuring it's error-free and ready to impress anthology readers should your story be selected for publication.

Many writers ask if an AI program will evaluate their stories, and it's a reasonable question considering the prevalence of AI technology in the writing world. When you submit to a Bardsy writing contest, you can trust that your story will be manually reviewed by our all-human editing team—no robots allowed.

Now that you know what you’ll receive for your entry fee, what are you waiting for? ;) The sooner you enter, the sooner you’ll be able to start revising based on your Publishability Index™ report. Remember: this time we’re looking for compelling hooks, so make sure your story grabs readers and doesn’t let go! Click here to learn more.