A panel of judges is selected by the marathon committee and may include librarians, book store owners, former publishers, editors or professional writers. They read and discuss the manuscripts among themselves and make their selections. The winning manuscript in each category (Best Novel, Adult, Best Novel, Young Adult/Juvenile) is then sent to a publisher and/or agent for review.
Past publishers have included:
- Latitude 46 Publishing (2019 and 2020)
- Kids Can Press
- Annick Press
- Thomas Allen
- Napoleon & Company (no link available – 2020-06-22)
- Key Porter Books (no link available – 2020-06-22)
- Owl Kids/Maple Tree Press
- Cormorant Books
- Red Deer Press
- Lobster Press (no link available – 2020-06-22)
- Guernica Editions
- The Porcupines Quill
- Blue Moon Publishers
- Marc Cote of Cormorant (Adult category) MNM2010
Mahak Jain of Lobster Press (Juvenile and YA categories) MNM2010