Readers’ Choice Competition
Novelmint Selects - Issue No. 3
This issue’s theme
Memorable Characters
This issue is judged mainly on Characters, with Enjoyment, Pacing, Immersion, Hook counting for less.
Welcome to the third issue of Novelmint Selects. This one is about characters, the people you remember long after you've finished a good book.
Two categories this time and you pick the one your book belongs in. Strong Lead is for a book carried by one person. Full Cast is for a book carried by a group, where no single character is the center. If your book has two leads, either category is fair, so choose the one that describes how it reads.
$50 to the best book in each category, and $100 for Best of the Selects across both. Prizes are paid as earned tokens, withdrawable through Stripe or Wise.
Any genre is welcome. Write something here or import your back catalogue from elsewhere, free of charge. Full books and short stories are both encouraged.
No panels and no gatekeepers. Readers decide, by reading chapters and rating them. Novelmint staff cannot vote. Every vote is a real read by someone who finished a chapter, so the winners are chosen by the people who actually showed up.
Read a few. The winners are yours to choose.
Entries open Oct 1, 2026
Any book you’ve published is eligible — new or from your back catalogue. Publish or import it before then and you can enter the moment entries open.
Prizes
Strong Lead: 1st $50
Full Cast: 1st $50
Best of the Selects · $100
How the voting works
No panel, no gatekeepers — the readers decide. Here’s exactly how a winner is chosen, so the result is one you can trust.
Your vote is a finished read
To rate an entry you have to actually read it. Novelmint tracks real reads — not clicks — so a rating left without a genuine read doesn’t count.
Ratings are weighted by reader reputation
Every reader has a reputation earned only by genuinely reading and leaving feedback authors find useful. It can’t be bought, and it fades if you go quiet. A brand-new or throwaway account counts as one reader who had to read first; a long, credible track record counts for more.
Won on quality, not turnout
Entries are scored by a reputation-weighted average rating, not a raw vote count — so a book wins by being well-rated by credible readers, not by whoever can rally the most accounts. A stack of fresh accounts barely moves the needle.
Scores stay hidden until the reveal
Live standings are kept private during the cycle, so ratings stay honest and bandwagon-free. The ranked issue is revealed when voting closes.
Strong Lead
1st $50
No entries in this category.
Full Cast
1st $50
No entries in this category.