Clone of 2025 Stiletto Contest Judge Signup

1
The Contemporary Romance Writers 2026 Stiletto Contest needs your help! We need judges.

Please fill out this judge sign-up sheet once. All judges will be required to watch training videos and read the judge training page before judging commences.

1. All judges are presumed to be able to judge all entries, whether published or unpublished, no matter the judge's own publishing status.

2. The Stiletto Contest does not assign judges based on what might "fit" a judge's preference to score an entry high. In order to maintain the integrity of the Stiletto Contest, judges are not vetted based on what they "like" to read.

3. The Stiletto Contest prides itself on judge anonymity. We will not release the identity of judges to entrants.

4. All entrants are required to judge at least 1 entry packet in the 2026 Stiletto Contest.

5. Any judge who enters the 2026 Stiletto Contest and does not return and complete their assigned entries to judge will be disqualified from the contest. Judges will receive a reminder email to return their score sheets by the end-date.

6. An entrant will not be permitted to judge an entry in the category in which they submitted an entry.

7. The contest closes for entries on May 31, 2026. Judges will begin to receive their entries to judge by June 12, 2026 and will have until July 20, 2026, to return for unpublished entries and Aug 28, 2026, for published entries.

Rules and guidelines for the 2026 Stiletto Contest can be found HERE.

The Stiletto Contest does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, or religion. We expect the same from our judges and entrants with a zero tolerance policy.

Thank you for agreeing to judge the 2026 Stiletto Contest! We appreciate your valuable time and willingness to help our contest for another great year!
2
Name* This field is required.
First Name
Last Name
3
Email* This field is required.Enter best contact email.
example@example.com
4
Are you entering the 2026 Stiletto Contest?* This field is required.
YESNO
5
If YES, in which categories are you entering?* This field is required.(Select all that apply)
Contemporary Romance Short (20-50k)
Contemporary Romance Long (80k+)
Contemporary Young Adult/New Adult
Contemporary Speculative / Paranormal set in the contemporary world
Contemporary Romantic Suspense
6
If YES, in which division are you entering?* This field is required.(Select all that apply)
Published
Unpublished
7
You are:* This field is required.Select all that apply
Published in Romance
Published, not in Romance
Unpublished
8
Judge Training* This field is required.I understand that for the 2026 Stiletto Contest, I will be sent a judge training packet and agree to read and acknowledge that packet. (The Stiletto Contest believes in training judges to fairly judge all entries.)
I understand and agree
9
Opt-Out Category* This field is required.If you could opt out of judging ONE category (in addition to the one you entered, if applicable), which would it be?
Contemporary Romance Short
Contemporary Romance Long
Contemporary Young Adult/New Adult
Contemporary Speculative / Paranormal
Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Would not opt out
10
Can you judge more than one packet of entries?* This field is required.We expect your judging packet to contain 2-4 entries. If you're able to judge an additional packet (5-8 entries total), please let us know.
YESNO
Should be Empty: