Non-Technical Support Forum

That is a tough call. Would depend on the contest and the judge as I know there are some who will offer reviews but other contests it's nearly impossible to do reviews for every entry all of the time. And I know some review with more detail than others.

Honestly, most results are on such a personal preference level. I know I've entered a number of contests and either don't come close to placing or get surprised with a better result. And I've also judged a number of contests over the years.

Having judged the official site contests, I can say that interacting with different judges, since it's three per round on those contests that judge all of the stories. I can say that person preference is a big factor. What I enjoy in a story and expect from a prompt is very different than someone else. It's rare that you will see the top entries being agreed upon from the different judges.

So, it may be that there isn't anything wrong with the story or other type of entry. It may just be the other had something that struck the judge more. And they might be willing to explain their reason, or the judge might not even be able to express the exact why. It's hard to say.

As for the actual question of etiquette. That depends. How you word it, the way the judge views the request and such will all facto whether it's an inquiry to improve or viewed as questioning the results. I don't mind someone asking me, but there are probably others who don't want lots of emails asking about the reasons for their decisions. Will all depend on the varying factors.

Hope my ramble helps a little at least.