/ SpecFaith

Enter The Realm Makers 2017 Awards

Realm Makers and these two awards celebrates art that is excellent, speculative, and made by people of faith.
on Jan 20, 2017 · 2 comments

We read because we imagine. Our Creator gifted us with fantastic, weird, and curious minds. We wonder as we travel through realms onto scenes that steal our breath, make us swoon, rally us to fight, convince us again that there are Truths—and souls—worth dying for.

There are books that invite us to do this again and again.

And then there are books that don’t.

You can help us celebrate novels that make people want to read them until they’re worn out.

That’s what the Realm Awards are about. Realm Makers exists to celebrate art that is excellent, speculative, and the handiwork of people of faith. Often, the world sees “Christian” and “art” connected to “shoddy” and “craftsmanship.” At Realm Makers we want to turn that on its head. We believe in skill, in doing what we do unto Christ to the very best of our ability.

And that’s why we want to celebrate remarkable fiction.

The Realm Award is our Book of the Year. Right now—until Jan. 22, Sunday night at 11:59:59—speculative novels released in 2016 can still be entered. If you’ve written one that you believe deserves a shot, enter. If you’ve read one that you’re confident others will love, contact the author and encourage them to enter.

(And don’t let me hear you saying you don’t want to bother the author by being a fan. I don’t know a single author who isn’t thrilled to hear that their words affected someone. It’s true.)

The Parable Award is a celebration of excellence in cover design. Since we began the award in 2013, image quality on speculative fiction books in the family-friendly market has been improving. We hope that, by raising awareness of what makes a quality book cover and by celebrating excellence, authors and designers will continue to strive toward that standard. These covers are rated on execution, typography, and general effect. Same deadline, so enter quickly.

Whether the books are written for a faith-based readership or for the general market, believers are called to write and design (and play music) skillfully. Celebrate the authors and artists who do that well!

Further up and further in!

Bethany Kaczmarek is a sojourner. So far, she's just explored Earth, but her love for adventure and old stories make her yearn for a chance to wander in other realms in the not-too-distant future. Author of Strains of Silence (summer 2017) and ACFW finalist for Editor of the Year, she enjoys tales that take a guess at what's out there. And she loves to add her own ideas to the mix. Other job titles: Realm Makers Awards Director, Wielder of Red Pens, Grammar Ninja, Wiper of Tears and Milk, Indie Music Connoisseur, and Friend. You can connect with her at www.bethanykaczmarek.com.
  1. CE Martin says:
    January 20, 2017 at 8:14 am

    Question: I wrote a novel that would fit this contest nicely, as it has Christian themes and world view central to the plot. I chose to begin releasing the book in serialized format back in November, stretching it out until the end of December, in 6 parts. In January, I released the full, novel-form compilation. (MY hope was the serialized version would keep readers coming back to see how the story ended).

    Since I technically didn’t release the novel form until January 2017, is this disqualified from the contest? The entire story, serialized was released in 2016.