Many Christian speculative writers know about the Realm Makers conference, but as an organization Realm Makers has grown. Certainly the conference is still the centerpiece.

This year it takes place on July 19-21 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet in Saint Louis, Missouri. While it’s mostly geared toward writers, readers and fans of Christian based speculative fiction are also welcome. Here’s what RM has to say about themselves:

Realm Makers’s first priority is to help foster excellence in the speculative arts, whether fiction, film, illustrations, or whatever way we can imagine to tell our stories. It’s our goal to help the artist who wants to market his or her work under the Christian umbrella, as well as those who want to pursue their goals in the mainstream marketplace. After all, both the “secular” and “religious” markets need excellent content. We recognize and applaud the fact that different artists are called to take their work to different audiences.

In addition to the conference, Realm Makers is at the heart of social media—such as the Facebook group, Realm Makers Consortium—connecting speculative writers and fans with one another.

A more formal association is also offered through membership in Realm Makers. Three different levels offer an array of benefits, from discounts to the conferences to webinars, opportunity to be included in the RM store, and marketing opportunities at the conference and elsewhere.

Another piece of the Realm Makers pie is an array of contests, most for books entered by the author or publisher, but one, a reader-based contest called the Alliance Award:

Only READERS can nominate books into the contest. Anyone submitting nominations may choose up to three books.

Books must be in the genre of fantasy, science fiction, horror, or related subgenre, published in 2017, either traditionally or self-published. They must be 60,000+ words, unless they are young adult which can be 50,000+ words.

The nomination phase for this award is closed, but voting starts in May. The more books a reader has read, the more books they get to evaluate.

Lastly, for writers, Realm Makers works to help bring them together to promote their work. As part of this endeavor, the administrative team has arranged to have vendor booths where member books will be available to the reading public in the following places and times:

Salt Lake Comic Con-September 21-23, Salt Lake City, Utah

World Fantasy 2017-November 2-5, San Antonio, Texas

PhilCon-November 10-12, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Teach them Diligently Conference– March 8-9, Nashville, Tennessee

So remember Realm Makers this year: vote in the contest for the Alliance Award. Attend the conference, visit the vendor booths, join the conversations on Facebook. Connect with other readers and writers with interests like yours.