A while back, I entered Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers in the 20th Annual Writer’s Digest Annual Self-Published Book Awards. Today, I received my judges evaluation and was blown away by the positive review. If only I had won…. Here’s the evaluation, verbatim:
Entry Title: Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers
Author: S.M. Stevens
Judge Number: 75
Books were evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5. This scale is strictly to provide a point of reference, it is not a cumulative score and does not reflect ranking.
Structure and Organization: 5
Grammar: 5
Production Quality and Cover Design: 5
Plot (if applicable): 5
Character Development (if applicable): 5
What did you like best about this book?
I really enjoyed this novel by S. M. Stevens about a high school drama club. I was a Theatre ( I like the “uppity” spelling too!) major and have been acting all my life. I loved that the author captured the sights, sounds, and feel of the theatre. It is obvious that she has a background here and loves it.
The characters are interesting and I became invested in them. The best friends, one changing, is classic and most middle school kids will identify with this. The resolution for this was handled very well. It felt real. The teachers competing was a nice touch too.
But the song parodies…they were amazing. I worked with a comedy troupe that did song parodies and these were spot on! I loved that Ms. Stevens recommend that you pull up the original songs on your computer, especially if you are not familiar with the tune, then you can sing along. They were “brilliant”.
How can the author improve this book?
No worries here…no suggestions. This was a very well written novel. I enjoyed it!
Bit Players 