The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Inspiring and Uplifting Non-Fiction and Memoirs. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here. 

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2025 Hearten Non-Fiction Long List to the 2025 Hearten Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2025 Hearten Semi-Finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC26).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 28 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference. 

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Short List authors and their works in the 2025 CIBAs.

• Alia Luria – Geri O Shimasu: Adventures of a Baka Gaijin
• Andy Becker – Grandy Let’s Play: Reflections on the Joy Blessings and Wonder of Grandparenting
• Barb Drummond – I Finally Have the Smoking Hot Body I Have Always Wanted Having Been Cremated
• Brent Larsen – You Make My Heart Giggle Dad-isms the Wisdom and Wit of Dad
• Candace Macphie – Finding Color
• Cerridwen Fallingstar – Rocket in My Pocket: Defying Gravity with Levity, From the Frontiers of Space… To the Frontiers of Consciousness
• Charlene Pell – In This Altered Body: A Survivor’s Story of Resilience and Love
• Christine Amoroso – Bare Naked in Public: A Memoir
• Cynthia Waine Brandt – Song of the Cardinal: A True Story of Miracles and Magic After Heartbreaking Loss
• Doug Cameron – My Tarzan Tree and Other Farm Boy Memories
• Dr. Deb Miller – Forget the Fairy Tale and Find Your Happiness
• Jeff Richards – Nothing Left To Lose: Or How Not To Start a Commune
• Jennifer Celeste Briggs – Watching Sarah Rise: a Journey of Thriving with Autism
• Julie Ryan Mcgue – Twice the Family: a Memoir of Love Loss and Sisterhood
• Kate Grant – No Woman Left Behind: a Journey of Hope To Heal Every Woman Injured in Childbirth
• Kathy Sechrist – Sara’s Redemption: a Journey of Courage Resilience and Hope
• Kay Brooks – Behind the White Beard Dale Ballew’s Story
• Kee Kee Buckley – Seeking Shama: Me, My Dog, and the Road To Inner Peace
• Maggie Enriquez – The Rebirth of a Phoenix
• Margie Crowe Wildblood – Because He Loved Me
• Marti Tote – Up Grief Creek Without a Paddle
• Patricia Eagle – Dog Love Stories the Canines Who Changed Me
• Rabei A. Wazzeh – The Masterpiece of Nature
• Rhona Morrison – From Crime Scenes to Cruise Ships: Navigating life’s troubled waters with resilience and hope
• Ricardo Jose Gonzalez-Rothi – The Mango Chronicle
• Robert Macauley – Because I Knew You: How Some Remarkable Sick Kids Healed a Doctor’s Soul
• Stacey Hettes – Dispatches From the Couch
• Sue Vana – Shaken by God’s Love From Fear To Favor in Grief’s Upside-Down World
• Tammy Dietz – Falling From Disgrace

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

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The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 Hearten Awards is:

Elk Love: A Montana Memoir

By Lynne Spriggs O’Connor

See the full list of 2024 First Place Hearten Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Hearten Book Awards for Inspiring and Uplifting Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 16 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference and discover why!