WebNovel Spirity Awards 2025

RULES

Participation Rules

• All English original contracted works of year 2025 are eligible to participate. Click to view specific requirements.

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Participation Rules:
• 1. Only English works created after January 1st are allowed to participate in this competition.
• 2. Event duration: 00:00 a.m. GMT+8, Jan 1st, 2025 — 11:59 p.m. GMT+8, Sep 30th, 2025.
• 3. Participation in this competition is free.
• 4. We encourage stories of all lengths, but we believe longer stories would have better commercial value. Hence, only novels with over 100,000 words will be eligible for the awards.
• 5. Participants are allowed to submit multiple novel entries for the competition. However, each author can only be awarded with a single award.
• 6. Participants also enjoy author benefits, such as MGS and WINWIN Bonus.
• 7 .Only works contracted to WebNovel will be eligible for the awards.
• 8. Novel entries must be an original work with the copyrights fully owned by the participant. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
• 9. Fan-fic novels are ineligible for the contest.
• 10. The main plot of the novel entry must adhere to one of the competition's themes. Otherwise, its participation rights will be forfeited.
• 11. Controversial content are not allowed, please refer to: https://activity.WebNovel.com/noah/287439652
• 12. WebNovel reserves the right of final interpretation.

Judging Rules

• Throughout the judging, we will ensure principles of fairness, impartiality, and democracy, demonstrating our support for outstanding works.

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Judging Rules
Gold/Silver/Bronze Judging Process
a. Submitting Phase
- WebNovel announces the start and deadline of the writing competition and provides participation information, including eligibility requirements, writing themes, and word limits.
- Participants submit their works through WebNovel/Inkstone.
b. Preliminary Selection Phase:
- After the submission deadline, the judging team conducts an initial screening of all submitted works to ensure they meet the competition requirements and themes.
-Works that meet the requirements proceed to the next round of selection.
c. Finalist Evaluation Phase
- Data Collection:
1) Different departments collect metrics for the finalist works, such as innovative themes and reading duration.
2) Departments evaluate and record metrics for each work based on their expertise and assessment criteria.
- Data Compilation and Weight Allocation:
1) Under the coordination of the judging team, the collected reading data is compiled to calculate evaluation scores for different aspects of each work.
2) The judging team assigns appropriate weights to each aspect, reflecting their importance in the overall evaluation.
- Evaluation and Discussion:
1) Based on the compiled data and weights, the judging team selects 200 works as finalists.
2) The opinions and evaluation data from the judging team serve as references for the subsequent expert evaluation and public voting.
d. Public Voting Phase
- The list of finalists is publicly announced, inviting readers to participate in the public voting through our platform.
- Readers read the finalist works and vote based on their preferences and evaluation criteria.
e. Expert Evaluation Phase
- An expert judging panel is formed, consisting of representatives from WebNovel's editorial, operations, marketing, and business departments.
- Based on the finalist evaluation and public voting results, the expert judging panel carefully reads and evaluates the finalist works, providing final evaluations and award determinations.
f. Award Ceremony
- After the final evaluation, a grand award ceremony is held to announce the winning works and recipients of the competition.
- The award ceremony takes place in a public venue, inviting guests, participants, and media representatives to attend.
"Book of the Year" Judging Process
a. Nomination Phase
- All eligible works created during 2025 and registered for WSA will be automatically included in the nomination pool.
- WebNovel’s editorial team will monitor and evaluate works throughout the year based on their IP development potential, including metrics such as adaptation suitability, multi-language expansion, and external audience growth.
b. Shortlisting Phase
- The judging panel will create a shortlist of outstanding works based on the following criteria:
1)Performance in adaptations (e.g., audiobooks, comics, short series).
2)Expansion into multilingual markets.
3)Ability to attract readers from external platforms.
- Shortlisted works will be reviewed by an internal judging panel, including editors, marketing specialists, and IP development experts.
c. Final Judging Phase
- The judging panel will evaluate shortlisted works based on a weighted scoring system (outlined in the rules below).
- Panel discussions will determine the winner(s) or whether the award remains vacant.
d. Award Ceremony
- After the final evaluation, a grand award ceremony is held to announce the winning works and recipients of the competition.
- The award ceremony takes place in a public venue, inviting guests, participants, and media representatives to attend.
c. Special Incentive: External Ads Boosting Judging Process
a. Eligibility Check:
- All male-oriented (Fantasy & Adventure track) books participating in WSA are eligible for this incentive.
- Books must meet the minimum submission criteria and follow WebNovel’s content guidelines.
b. Nomination Phase:
WebNovel’s editorial team will monitor all eligible works and nominate books for external promotion based on performance metrics such as engagement, potential for growth, and suitability for external audiences.
Nominations will be made at undisclosed times throughout the WSA competition period.
c. External Ads Boosting:
Selected books will receive external ad boosts, including:
Promotion through YouTube KOL collaborations (e.g., YouTube Promotion Case).
Paid advertising campaigns on external platforms tailored to attract new users.
During these campaigns, WebNovel will also organize in-app events to capitalize on the influx of new readers and enhance engagement.
d. Post-Promotion Review:
After the campaign, the editorial team will analyze the performance of the promoted works, including metrics such as income, user growth, and reader engagement.
d. Special Incentive: Quarterly Cash Prizes Juding Process
a. Eligibility Check:
- All female-oriented (Romance track) books participating in WSA are automatically eligible for this incentive.
- Books must meet the minimum requirements for word count and submission deadlines to be considered.
b. Nomination Phase:
- At the end of each quarter (3rd, 6th, and 9th months after WSA begins), WebNovel editors will review all eligible entries.
- For special recommend tropes, up to 2 books per quarter will be nominated for a $500 cash prize.
- For popular themes, up to 10 books per quarter will be nominated for a $300 cash prize.
c. Evaluation and Selection Phase:
Nominated works will be evaluated by the editorial team based on the judging criteria (outlined below).
Final selections for the quarter's winners will be made by WebNovel’s editorial team.
d. Winner Announcement:
Winners will be announced at the beginning of the following quarter via WebNovel's activity page.
Cash prizes will be distributed after the announcement along with payment.
*In order to ensure a satisfactory reading experience for readers and discourage authors abandoning their works midway, the cash prize for winning entries will be distributed 1 month after the announcement of the results. However, if the work remains on hiatus for more than one week during this period, any pending cash prize will be forfeited.
e. Gold/Silver/Bronze Judging Rules
This award is divided into Classic and Newbie & Fantasy and Romance tracks.
Newbie means those who get their first WebNovel contract after 2025.1.1;
Newbie authors will not compete with senior authors and are exclusive in Newbie track only.
Newbie track and Classic track will be judged separately.
Judgement will be based on the following four factors to determine a work's quality:
a. Content Quality
- Grammar and Language
1) Competition entries should be written in English with proper spelling and grammar.
2) Entries should show good grasp of the English language.
- Character Design
The main and side characters used in the entries will be judged on how interesting they are, whether they are crucial to the story's plot and how memorable these characters are.
- World Building
The world building the competition entry has will be judged on how in depth the world is including, but not limited to, the fictional world's geography, culture, history, system and technology.
- Story Development and Creativity
The pacing, progress and how interesting the entry's story development will be taken into account.
b. Theme Compatibility
Story's theme must match the theme chosen.
c. Stability and Interactivity
- Competition entry has to be updated frequently.
- Entries that have stable update schedules would be preferred.
d. Interactivity with Readers
Reader interactivity with the book and author as well as how author engages the readers outside of their book's confines would be judged as well.
e. Additional Value
- Commercial value
How marketable the book is based on its content, how wide of an audience this book is able to be marketed to and prospective future of the book.
- Value of Adaptation
How marketable and possible the adaptation of the competition entry is.
f. "Book of the Year" Judging Rules
This reward does not differentiate between newbie or classic authors, or male- or female-oriented works.
All eligible works created during the year can participate.
Besides the judgement rules for Gold/Silver/Bronze, judgement for "Book of the year" will priortize the following four factors to determine a work's quality:
Adaptation Potential (40%):
Suitability for audiobooks, comics, short dramas, and other formats.
Multi-Language Expansion (30%):
Performance in translations and appeal to international audiences.
External Platform Growth (20%):
Ability to attract new users from external platforms like YouTube, TikTok, or other social media.
Creative Excellence (10%):
Quality of storytelling, character development, and originality.
g. Special Incentive: External Ads Boosting Judging Rules
This reward is exclusively for male-oriented (Fantasy&Adventure track) works created in 2025.
Besides the judgement rules for Gold/Silver/Bronze, judgement for "External Ads Boosting"will prioritize the following factors:
Suitability for Ads (40%):
Whether the book’s theme is marketable to external audiences.
Engagement (30%):
Reader feedback, including income, privilege, comments, reviews, and collections.
Growth Potential (20%):
Potential to attract new readers from external platforms.
Content Quality (10%):
Originality, plot progression, and relevance to target audiences.
h. Special Incentive: Quarterly Cash Prizes Judging Rules
This reward is exclusively for female-oriented (Romance track) works created in 2025.
Besides the judgement rules for Gold/Silver/Bronze, judgement for "Quarterly Cash Prizes" will prioritze the following factors:
Engagement (40%):
Reader feedback, including income, privilege, comments, reviews, and collections.
Writing Quality (30%):
Plot consistency, character development, and originality.
Update Frequency (20%):
Regular updates and word count growth during the evaluation period.
Special Theme Relevance (10%):
For special themes, relevance to the selected theme will be considered.