[JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!
-
Having a chance to enter this competition was a great boost to writing. Although I didn't get into the next round, I am even more charged to push forward. There is no mountain I will not climb to publish.
Good luck to the winners. See you in 2026.
-
@Hylebos Thank you so much for your insight, and congratulations on passing the first round!
-
Only 18 in the completed works category? I wasn't too confident about my entry there, but just 18 novels feels more like this is a second round type deal.
@kitason said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
As a new writer, I tried not to expect too much to happen this year, but I could not help being hopeful. As others have mentioned, this is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for us to have our works adapted to Japanese, manga, or a potential anime. An anime is an ultimate dream, but to be honest, I would be perfectly happy and extremely grateful to simply have one volume published for people around the world to enjoy, even if it has a smaller fanbase than many. As a new writer, I was proud of myself for committing to this novel, writing a story I enjoyed, and enjoying myself while writing it. Right now, it feels wonderful to be able to say "I wrote a novel" even if nobody will be reading it yet. It is like a whole new world has opened up. I have also appreciated reading this forum and seeing how genuine and friendly the other writers are and how willing they are to help each other when you could argue that we are all rivals with the same goal.
One final question I have is this: Are these contests the only way to really land a publishing opportunity with Japan Novel Club, or are there other opportunities?
A question I'm sure many of us want answered. I feel as though that the competition by design doesn't quite do as good a job as it could in leading to authors outside of Japan getting a publishing deal. While I do think the prizes should remain the same, I do feel some of the finalists that don't win or even those that fail to pass the first round, shouldn't just be cast aside until they're resubmitted to the next iteration of the contest. I know it's a sad fact that often times publishers will reject something that can potentially become the next big thing, but I feel trying to create a better system that could allow those living outside of Japan a better chance of getting a publishing deal, should at the very least be taken into consideration.
-
Soon...?
-
@sunvulpine said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
Soon...?
Hopefully!
-
@Hylebos said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
@sunvulpine said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
Soon...?
Hopefully!
E...Eventually?
-
@sunvulpine said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
@Hylebos said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
@sunvulpine said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
Soon...?
Hopefully!
E...Eventually?
One would assume!
We've not heard anything from them yet either here or on Discord, I would just assume the process is just taking a wee bit longer than they were expecting and that they are working hard on it.
-
Hello,
Our apologies for the delay. The round 2 results will be delayed.
While we do not have a set date for the results to be announced yet. I will be back with a further update later this week. At the latest, Friday the 6th US time. Probably around 3 pm ET.
Thank you
-
Thank you for keeping us informed!
-
Am I missing something or when will the novel previews for voting become available? It is almost time for the Anime Expo 2025, so... not much time left.
-
@shiratori-keira said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
Am I missing something or when will the novel previews for voting become available? It is almost time for the Anime Expo 2025, so... not much time left.
The finalists were announced but they've not been mentioned in this thread yet, and so I shall post them here in case you haven't seen it yet:
ONGOING SERIES - FINALISTS
Cavalier Magica
Forgotten Girl Quest
His Reluctant Thrall
Knight and Flower
Soul Sentinel
The Goddess Forgot to Make me OP when I Reincarnated in the New World
The Hotel Acheron: Dreams in Death's Garden
The Villainess of Caerleon
With the Age Gap Gone, Will the Witch Fall for Me?COMPLETE STORY - FINALISTS
I am the Villainess's Minion!
My Childhood Friend Is in Love with My Mecha!
Our Worlds Align
The Cat Forgot Its TaleAs for when streaming might start, we've not heard any word about that yet, but it could theoretically happen at any point now.
-
@Hylebos Yes, I also received the email with the finalists and it was mentioned that the streaming would become available soon. But still nothing. At this point, I guess that user voting won't be that influential to the final selection.
-
@shiratori-keira said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
@Hylebos Yes, I also received the email with the finalists and it was mentioned that the streaming would become available soon. But still nothing. At this point, I guess that user voting won't be that influential to the final selection.
During last year's contest, on discord, they mentioned that user voting is useful info but hardly definitive, as they fully expect the author with the most online followers to win the vote. Personally speaking, I feel like they only need to have the previews up for a business week or so to collect the data they need, so they could wait as late as the 23rd and still have plenty of time to make their final selections before the award ceremony on July 6th.
My assumption at least is that most people who use JNC really just focus on the series they are pre-pubbing and when encountering the possibility of browsing the contest finalists, they'll likely click on one or two of the ones that sound the most interesting to them but ultimately not get around to reading the majority of them. It won't take long for that initial burst of activity to play out before it's just a handful of people who are committed to browsing all thirteen of the finalists.
-
I was one of those who did read all of the entries last year (because of mild insanity).
And, to be honest, there are some I remember vividly and others I would need a prompt to recall :)
It is also worth noting that I assume the Grand and Bookwalker prizes will be more heavily weighted by feedback from the relevant judges from Kadokowa and Bookwalker rather than the popular vote.
So the previews probably have the greatest impact on the First and Runners Up places.
That said, there is nothing we can do except wait for them to appear like chocolate from a vending machine.
-
@Damon-Cavalchini said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
I was one of those who did read all of the entries last year (because of mild insanity).
And, to be honest, there are some I remember vividly and others I would need a prompt to recall :)
It is also worth noting that I assume the Grand and Bookwalker prizes will be more heavily weighted by feedback from the relevant judges from Kadokowa and Bookwalker rather than the popular vote.
So the previews probably have the greatest impact on the First and Runners Up places.
That said, there is nothing we can do except wait for them to appear like chocolate from a vending machine.
I don't think there's a bookwalker prize this year, at the very least it's not mentioned anywhere in the actual text of the contest or on the terms and conditions page except for in the opening banner of the contest page, which might just be an erroneous inclusion.
-
Thanks. I thought it was initially removed and then came back so I was assuming things settled down after the merger and so on.
It could just be human error though.
It gives us something extra to be excited about at the announcement ceremony (is there or is there not a Bookwalker :)).
-
For those who are interested, the previews are finally online: https://j-novel.club/series/jnc-original-light-novel-contest-2025
-
It's weird for me to ask this. But, would there be another contest for 2026?
-
@lenovoaxioo said in [JNC LIGHT NOVEL CONTEST 2025] Round 1 Judging for "Ongoing Series" & “Completed”Category Announced!:
It's weird for me to ask this. But, would there be another contest for 2026?
They confirmed at the award ceremony for this year's contest that they'll indeed be doing another contest in 2026, no further information has been announced yet.
-
@Hylebos thanks for the reply
-
H hirei unpinned this topic on
