Category: Contest News

  • The 2025 SEA Shorts Awards Long List for Short Stories, Essays, and Novellas

    The CIBA Badge for the SEA Shorts Awards has a small pencil on a blue background

    The SEA Shorts Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Short Stories. The Shorts Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    The Chanticleer International Book Awards program discovers today’s best works. The SEA Short Stories Awards discovers the Best New Short Form Fiction, Narrative Non-Fiction and Essays. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    These titles have moved forward from all of the 2025 SEA SHORTS entries to the 2025 SEA Shorts Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 SEA Shorts Award Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

    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 at the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 SEA Shorts Book Awards novel competition for Short Stories!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • AJ Skelly – Murder at Mistlethwaite Manor
    • Amichai Kolberg – A Sweet and Faithful Lullaby
    • C. V. Lee – Her Noble Groom
    • Catherine Brown – Purrfect Revenge
    • Cathryn Devries – Son of Osivirius
    • Charlie Robinson – Bow Tie Sex a Serious Scientific Study
    • Chell Linn Araya – Don’t Talk To Strangers
    • Christopher Macdonald – The Wobbly Man
    • Dan Baltrusis Jr. – My Wife Was Right the Zombie Apocalypse
    • David Fitz-Gerald – A Pioneer Christmas Beyond the Oregon Trail
    • Don Jacobson – The Last Gift: An Austenesque Short Story
    • Dr. Gregory Steinberg – No More To Lose Till Death Do Us Part
    • Elizabeth Klein – Kingdom of Longing
    • Gail Heath – Minuet
    • Gail Noble-Sanderson – All Is Fair
    • Grace Haygood – A Love To Call Home
    • J. L Oakley – Mr. Brown Reads
    • Jackson Kuhl – The Island of Small Misfortunes
    • Jalon J Jakab – Inside the Walls
    • Jamie Kirkpatrick – The Dreamcatcher
    • Joseph Kovler – At the Corner of Hitler and Goering
    • Julia Marie Davis – Catbird
    • K. E. Adamus – Last Episode
    • K. E. Adamus – Sanity Test
    • K. E. Adamus – To Outwit the Fate
    • Katherine Smith Dedrick – Tangled Verdict
    • Kathleen Kaska – The Diary of Simone Lablanc
    • Kregg P.J. Jorgenson – An Accidental Muse
    • Kregg P.J. Jorgenson – Emotional Loss Prevention
    • Lasse Toft – 70 Things You Can Do While Being Hospitalized
    • Linda Griffin – Morgan’s Landing
    • Linda Harris Sittig – B-52 Down the Night the Bombs Fell From the Sky
    • Maggie Enriquez – The Rebirth of a Phoenix
    • Marie Sutro – For the First Time
    • Marie Sutro – Not the North Pole
    • Marie Sutro – You Oughta Know
    • Mary Ann Bernal – Anarose and Medusa’s Curse
    • Morris Hoffman – Boy of Heaven
    • Murray Eiland – Mount Zephon Gateway To Mot
    • Murray Eiland – Philosopher of Fire
    • Natia Khaduri – Leading with Love a Journey of Resilience and Impact
    • Paisley Summer – The Movie Theatre
    • PJ Devlin – Original Sins
    • Richard Leslie Brock – Cephalonia
    • Richard Leslie Brock – The Atonements
    • Ruud Richardson – The Spy: A Short Story
    • Sandra Wagner-Wright – The Life & Times of Sarah Good Accused Witch
    • Sarena Straus – The Patchwork Man
    • T.O. Paine – The Abduction
    • TK Sheffield – Horse Thief: A Nomad Vet with a Score To Settle Takes on Horse Thieves in a Midwest Showdown
    • TK Sheffield – The Glitching Ghoul: AI Terror at a Writer’s Retreat

    Congratulations once more to the 2024 Shorts Grand Prize Winner for Short Prose

    Something About Lizzy

    By Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi

    Something About Lizzy cover by Robin Elizabeth Kobayashi

    Click here to see the full list of 2024 SEA Shorts Book Award Winners for Short Stories and Essays.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 SEA Shorts Book Awards for Short Stories, Novellas, and Essays!

    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 17 – 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 as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The 2025 Fiction Cover Design Awards (CCDAs) Long List

    The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Our design is inspired by books designed by the incomparable Coraline Bickford-Smith. Her simple, beautiful, and evocative designs do so much to make the book work as a visual ambassador, capturing the essence of story and compelling potential readers to pick it up, click on it, or share it with others. A well-designed cover signals professionalism, sets expectations for your genre, and serves as a powerful marketing tool to stand out in both digital and physical spaces.

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring clear genres, audience, time periods, typography, and longevity across genres of Historical Fiction, Romance, Literary, Satire, Speculative Fiction, and Youth Reads.

    These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CCDA Fiction entries to the 2025 CCDA Fiction LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 CCDA Fiction Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

    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 SHORT LIST of the 2025 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards novel competition for Fiction Books!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works:

    • AJ Humphreys – Trip a Psychological Horror Novel
    • Andrew D.H. Moore – Children of Solo
    • Anne Polli – Mason the Magnificent
    • McKinley Aspen – Cogitatio Shadows in the Wind Book Two
    • Catherine M Mathis – Ines the Queens of Portugal Trilogy
    • Charlie Robinson Cover by Ruth Noble – Bow Tie Sex
    • Christine Knapp – Murder on the Green
    • Debbie Black Cover by Kelly Black – Deetjen’s Closet a Quest for Magic
    • Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
    • Ellis K. Popa – Dawn To Dusk
    • Erika Lynn Adams – Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder
    • Gary Gabel – The Constitution Kids
    • George Petersen – The Summer of Haight
    • Glen Dahlgren – The Wrath of Order
    • Gregg Brandalise – The Death of Us All
    • JL Spears – Daemon Protocol
    • Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
    • KD Straus – To Be True
    • Leslie Liautaud- Butterfly Pinned
    • Margaret Porter – Sequins and Starlight
    • Maria Giuseppa – R&R a Feast of Words
    • Mark A. Gibson – Roses in December
    • Michael Bailey – Sweet Hunger
    • Michele Sayre – Darke Realms One Tough Temporary She Alpha Arcana 2
    • Miki Taylor – Bentley Makes a Dump Cake
    • Once Upon a Dance – A Tail of Twirls
    • Richard G Nixon – The Legend of Fingerless Will Nixon the Scottish Borderlands 1508-1509
    • Sarah V Barnes – She Who Rides Horses a Saga of the Ancient Steppe Book One
    • Sarah V. Barnes – A Clan Chief’s Daughter
    • Sean Hagerty – Cabal
    • Sue C. Dugan – Cat-Atonic
    • Sue C. Dugan – Forever Ever Always
    • Susan Rogers – Warrior Pose
    • Sydney Roubian – Scarecrow Finds a Heart
    • Tamar Anolic – The Keepers
    • Theresa Janson – Reservations a Samantha Wright Crime Series
    • T.O. Paine – The Crisis
    • Travis Davis – War on the Porch

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

    Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations to our very first Fiction Cover Design Grand Prize Winner!

    Luna, Rhone & Stone Book Two

    By Strider S.R. Klusman

    Click here to see the rest of the 2024 Winners.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards for 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 17 – 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 as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The 2025 Harvey Chute Spotlight for Business & Finance

    Mastering Financial Success!

    Three Black stripes on a yellow badge CIBA Badge

    The Harvey Chute Awards for Business & Finance

    In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, financial literacy and strategic thinking have never been more crucial. From navigating investment complexities to building sustainable business models, professionals and entrepreneurs need reliable guidance to thrive. The Harvey Chute Awards for Business & Finance celebrate the exceptional works that provide this essential knowledge, recognizing authors who translate complex financial concepts into actionable insights that empower readers to take control of their economic futures.

    Celebrating Our Grand Prize Winner!

    Stop Worrying About Money Cover

    We’re proud to celebrate our 2024 Harvey Chute Division Grand Prize Winner, Jacqui Clarke for her transformative guide Stop Worrying about Money. This comprehensive work goes beyond traditional financial advice to address the psychological and practical aspects of money management. Clarke, described as “Australia’s best-kept money secret,” delivers a holistic approach that helps readers clarify their values, set realistic goals, and build genuine financial security. Her book tackles everything from combating expense creep and avoiding common money traps to overcoming setbacks and mastering long-term planning, all while maintaining an accessible and encouraging tone.

    What sets Stop Worrying about Money apart is its emphasis on financial literacy as a journey of self-awareness rather than merely a destination of wealth accumulation. As our review noted, Clarke “blends theoretical financial advice with pragmatic applications, incorporating real-life examples, case studies, and interactive exercises” that transform potentially dry subject matter into engaging and digestible content. The book addresses critical issues from building a trusted “finance village” of advisors to understanding the impact of financial decisions on personal relationships. Clarke will be invited to participate in a Chanticleer Author Interview, offering readers deeper insights into her expertise and approach to financial empowerment.

    The Harvey Chute Awards recognize the full spectrum of business and finance literature, encompassing categories from traditional Finance and Investing & Money to contemporary essentials like Social Media, Technology Guides, and Communications. This comprehensive approach reflects the reality that modern business success requires mastery across multiple disciplines, whether you’re developing a Motivational framework, crafting Business Strategy, understanding Economics, or building Marketing expertise.

    Explore All Business & Self-Help Divisions

    The Harvey Chute Awards are part of Chanticleer’s comprehensive celebration of transformative non-fiction:

    The Doctor’s Voice
    By Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli

    A Harvey Chute First Place Winner!

    Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli speaks out on serious professional issues faced by modern healthcare workers, in The Doctor’s Voice.

    Doctors deal with overwhelming stress, leading to burnout, illness, many of them leaving the profession, and even a higher-than-average rate of suicide. The Covid19 pandemic both heightened and helped illuminate some of the causes of this stress, prompting author Garbelli to write this book as a set of advice for his colleagues and as advocacy for broader changes in hospitals and other healthcare systems.

    Garbelli highlights a common disconnect in communication—administrators and higher-ups telling doctors what to do while those doctors don’t have much opportunity to bring up the problems they encounter day-to-day.

    Read More Here

    The Money Map
    By Kasey J. Claytor

    A Mind and Spirit First Place Winner!

    “There is something magical about money—the way it appears and disappears, grows and shrinks, and, in a similar way of taming a hesitant wild horse, with calm assuredness and confidence, not only will you learn to control it, but you will find you can joyfully master it.” -Author Kasey J. Claytor

    Claytor insists that every successful endeavor starts with an individual’s thinking and beliefs. She details this concept – and how to live with it in mind – in her new book, The Money Map: A Spiritual Guide for Financial Success.

    From the onset of her business-oriented career, Claytor has drawn from her beliefs as she upholds financial success as a spiritual goal. In this volume, she takes the mystery out of money to show it as an extension of the mind, body, and spirit. Claytor ensures the beginning of an endearing journey toward clearer financial decision-making, investments, and goals by asking readers to identify the worries of their own ego and to eliminate unproductive ideas and actions. 

    Read More Here

    Tax MythBusters
    By Lily Tran

    Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions, compiled by tax professional Lily Tran with essays by other financial, tax, and accounting professionals, gives valuable insight into the myths of what can and cannot be claimed as a deduction for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

    This work provides tips and strategies to optimize tax planning and make the most of available deductions. As the foreword reminds the reader, “Knowledge is power when it comes to taxes,” adding that gaining a better understanding of the tax rules and regulations will allow you to “make smart financial decisions and protect yourself from unnecessary risks.”

    The essays that make up this work are short, succinct, and to the point about the pitfalls and challenges that face small business owners, framing these dangers as “myths.”

    Read More Here

    Reconfigurement Cover

    Reconfigurement
    By E. Alan Fleischauer

    Chanticleers 2022 Harvey Chute Grand Prize Winner!

    A guide to achieving financial freedom in retirement, E. Alan Fleischauer’s bestseller Reconfigurement™ reveals a roadmap guided by the Mantra, “Navigate, Customize, and Thrive.”

    Advances in medicine, nutrition, and longevity planning now offer unparalleled possibilities to live longer, higher-quality lives. However, looming over this rosy image is a genuine concern: the financial ramifications of a longer retirement term. More alarming is that a sizable portion of the American populace is not harnessing their 401(k) retirement plans.

    In light of this scenario, can traditional investment programs with fraying safety nets, such as pensions, remain viable? Reconfigurement combines the emotional fulfillment of making retirement dreams a reality with practical guidance that rejects the notion of a set retirement age of 65. This work’s personal tales and sound financial guidance entice readers away from the constraints of traditional retirement approaches.

    Read More Here

    These reviews represent just a glimpse of the strategic insights and practical wisdom waiting to be discovered in today’s business and finance literature.


    See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

    We’re excited about all the exceptional business and finance works we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. Throughout this year’s Harvey Chute Book Awards, we had the pleasure of promoting numerous outstanding titles as they advanced through our competition tiers. In a market flooded with millions of books, professional recognition cuts through the noise. The CIBAs provide ongoing promotion that maximizes your digital footprint and expands your readership through:

    • High-traffic website features
    • Social media promotion across established platforms
    • Newsletter spotlights like this reaching thousands of industry professionals
    • Long-tail marketing that continues promoting winners throughout the year

    This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each advancement tier is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

    You wouldn’t hide a business! Don’t hide your book!

    The business and finance market continues to demand fresh perspectives and proven strategies, with professionals, entrepreneurs, and individuals seeking guidance they can trust and implement. Whether your work provides innovative investment strategies, practical business solutions, cutting-edge technology insights, or foundational financial education, the Harvey Chute Awards provide the recognition and promotional platform your expertise deserves.

    Three Black stripes on a yellow badge CIBA Badge

    Business and finance literature has the unique power to transform lives, build wealth, and create sustainable success. From comprehensive guides that help readers master complex financial concepts to targeted strategies that solve specific business challenges, every expertly crafted work has the potential to become an essential resource. Don’t let your knowledge remain untapped! Enter the Harvey Chute Awards today and join the distinguished authors who’ve found their professional audience through Chanticleer!

    Submit to the Harvey Chute Awards today! Deadline: September 30th

    You know you want it…
  • The 2025 Dante Rossetti Hall of Fame for YA Fiction

    Got a Young Adult in your life?

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The Dante Rossetti Awards finds the best books for them!

    The Dante Rossetti Awards celebrate stories that bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood. Young readers exist in a liminal space, and we are pleased to feature Young Adult Fiction in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

    Join us in celebrating the previous Grand Prize Winners of the Dante Rossetti Awards!

    The Realm of the Gods cover by Glen Dahlgren

    The Realm of Gods: The Chronicles of Chaos Book 3
    By Glen Dahlgren

    Our review for the newest Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner is still upcoming. In the meantime, here is what GoodReads readers have been saying:

    “I honestly cannot begin to describe how much I loved The Realm of Gods!! I’ve been so very invested over all four books and I’m so very sad it’s come to an end – but what an ending it was!

    I’m not even sure what to say without spoiling it, I’m still absolutely reeling from how epic the ending was!!

     think I’ve gone through just about every emotion reading these books. I’ve laughed, I’ve grieved, I’ve whooped with joy – even nearly throwing my phone (always at those halfway points) and the ending literally gave me goosebumps it was just brilliant!!”

    -Toni

    The Realm of Gods is an epic conclusion to The Chronicles of Chaos series, and I absolutely LOVED it. The story picks up right where the last book left off, diving straight into the action. The world-building is fantastic, and the characters continue to grow in ways that feel natural yet surprising. I especially appreciated how even the villains were complex and interesting, making the stakes feel higher and more intense. Listening to the audiobook added another layer of immersion, and the narration really brought the characters to life.

    This final book wraps up the series beautifully, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you hooked. The pacing is perfect, and the emotional depth of the story shines through. If you’re a fan of epic fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time, this is definitely a series worth diving into. Highly recommend!” -Amber

    The Realm of Gods is a perfect ending to a great series however this reader is very hopeful the author will add to the series in the future. Like with the previous books I found the story to be interesting and captivating and just an absolutely fun, thought-provoking read.” -Dwayne

    Sour Flower

    A Manuscript

    By Maryanne Melloan Woods

    Sour Flower, the unpublished feel-good coming-of-age novel by Maryanne Melloan Woods, contrasts the joys of teen friendship with the hardships of growing up in a broken family.

    As a fourteen-year-old in 1970s San Francisco, Marigold (call her “M”) Hayes is fed up with her life.

    M is very much aware of her role as the mature buzzkill in the family. Her parents, college dropouts and now divorced hippies, barely have it together. M often has to act as the mature adult for the sake of housing and basic necessities. With a spaced-out father who barely supports them and a mother who thinks her daughter is a square, it’s a miracle that M has kept her family afloat for so long.

    When her English teacher suggests M apply to Barnum—an elite prep school offering scholarships to students in need—she dares to hope. Maybe this could give her a chance to pursue her dream of becoming a financially stable businesswoman.

    Read More Here

    Wages of Empire

    Wages of Empire
    By Michael J. Cooper

    Michael J. Cooper’s latest historical fiction novel, Wages of Empire, draws readers into the perilous journey of sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair and his father into WW1. On this path, their lives will intersect with such historical figures as TE Lawrence, Gertrude Bell, the Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, the Arab nationalist Faisal ibn Hussein, the proto-Nazi and advisor to the German kaiser Guido von List, and Kaiser Wilhelm II himself.

    Set in the summer of 1914 we find Evan living in the American southwest where his father moved the family from England for his Oxford sabbatical. Evan struggles to cope with his mother’s death in childbirth and yearns to escape his father’s controlling grip. As war breaks out in Europe, Evan decides to leave home and join the fight, without telling his father.

    Read More Here

    TARO Legendary Boy Hero of Japan Cover

    Taro: The Legendary Boy Hero of Japan
    By Blue Spruell

    Adventure, classic tales, fantasy, and exciting action combine in TARO: Legendary Boy Hero of Japan, a well-poised debut novel by award-winning author Blue Spruell.

    In the turbulent final decades of the sixteenth century, feudal Japan reeled in mayhem as the central hereditary dictatorship collapsed, and tyrannical powers fought to control the empire. TARO: The Legendary Boy Hero of Japan is the story of how one man revolutionized a nation by taking its reigns and forging a new destiny through his depths of compassion and determination.

    The story begins with Taro as a young boy. As an heir to the Takeda family, Taro enjoyed reading, much to his father’s disapproval, as he wanted him to follow in his footsteps as a skilled Samurai. Tragedy changes Taro’s presumed destiny when his parents are murdered in a fierce power struggle, leaving him an orphan. Shortly after, a witch saves him from drowning and begins Taro’s new life of adventure, introducing him to a world of mythical creatures. On this new journey, Taro discovers shocking secrets about his lineage, and with them, his ultimate purpose in medieval Japan.

    Read More Here

    Cover of The Best Week That Never Happened by Dallas Woodburn

    The Best Week That Never Happened
    By Dallas Woodburn

    Dallas Woodburn’s debut novel The Best Week that Never Happened is a roller-coaster ride through Hawaii and the mysterious depths of its briny deep, sparkling with unreal magic, a poignant romance, and incessant hope.

    Tegan Rossi, a freshly graduated eighteen-year-old, awakens in the secretive hideout she discovered with Kai Kapule as two eight-year-old children on her first trip to Hawaii Island. She needs to make amends with Kai as they had a major squabble over something very important that she now oddly forgets. When Tegan catches up with Kai in Hawaii, she enters her best week yet – the Best Week That Never Happened.

    The first-person narrative is a fusion of Tegan’s past three years ago and ten years ago, as well as a mystified chronicling of her present with Kai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

    Read More Here


    You know you want it…

    Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Dante Rossetti Winners is to enter today!

  • The 2025 Global Thriller Awards Long List for High Stakes Suspense!

    The 2025 Global Thriller Awards Long List for High Stakes Suspense!

    Global ThrillerThe Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of High Stakes Thriller and Lab Lit Fiction. The Global Thriller Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.

    These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 GLOBAL THRILLER High Stakes Thriller Fiction entries to the 2025 Global Thriller Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Global Thriller Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

    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 SHORT LIST of the 2025 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for High Stakes Thriller Fiction!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • Alexandra Pugachevsky – I Rodion
    • Angela Greenman – The Child Riddler
    • Anne Louise Girodet – Plan A
    • Avanti Centrae – The Picasso Job a Phoenix Thriller
    • Brad M Meslin – The Moldavian Gambit
    • C.W. James – Mission Red Scythe a James Vagus Teen Espionage Thriller
    • Dave Mckeon – Sabotage
    • David R Leng – Echoes of Fortune the Search for Braddock’s Lost Gold
    • Dheepa R. Maturi – 108 an Eco-Thriller
    • Ellis K. Popa – Dawn To Dusk
    • Ernesto H Lee – Action This Day
    • Gerard Shirar – The China Paradox
    • J.L. Spears – Daemon Protocol
    • James Alan Mcgettigan – The Altered Moon Dust Cosmos Book 1 the Second Edition
    • JH Gruger – Gravity of Sol-3
    • Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
    • Kevin Hwang – The Regression Strain
    • Kevin Miller – High End
    • L.M. Weeks – Bottled Lightning
    • M. E. Schuman – The Catalyst
    • M. E. Schuman – Where the Sleeping Lady Lies
    • Michael Maloof – Relentless
    • Nick Hoy – Hollow Men
    • Ralph R. Rick Steinke – Vital Mission a Jake Fortina Series Love Story
    • Randall Krzak – Mission Yemen Xavier Sear Thriller Book 2
    • RK Jack – Devourer From Beyond
    • Stephanie Bretherton – The Fire in Their Eyes
    • Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Warrior Pose
    • T. D. Severin – Deadly Vision
    • T.O. Paine – The Crisis
    • Thomas Lapham – Beyond the Signal
    • Thomas M. Wing – Against All Enemies
    • Tom Dolan – Boba Wars Zero

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

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

    Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2024 Global Thriller Grand Prize Winner

    A Blanket of Steel

    By Timothy S. Johnston

     

    Click here to see the full list of 2024 Global Thriller Book Award Winners for High Stakes Thriller Fiction.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards for High Stakes Thriller 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 17 – 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 as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The 2025 M&M Mystery and Mayhem Long List for Cozy and Not-so-Cozy Mysteries!

    The 2025 M&M Mystery and Mayhem Long List for Cozy and Not-so-Cozy Mysteries!

    Cozy Mystery Fiction AwardThe Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Light-Hearted and Cozy Mysteries. The M&M Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards.)

    These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 M&M entries to the 2025 M&M Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 M&M Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

    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 SHORT LIST of the 2025 Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards novel competition for Cozy Mysteries!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • Beth Riner – Odd Job Annie
    • Bill Cusano – The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club the Ghost and the Key
    • BL Smith – The Unpleasantness on Orchard
    • B.T. Polcari – Lucky Secrets
    • C.B. Wilson – Puppied To Death
    • Carolyn Summer Quinn – The Mystery From Way Back When
    • Charlotte Stuart – In$urance Blues: A John Smith Mystery Book 3
    • Christine Knapp – Murder at First Light
    • Christine Knapp – Murder on the Green
    • Connie Berry – A Collection of Lies
    • Connie Berry – A Grave Deception
    • D. J. Adamson – Cookin Up Murder
    • D. J. Adamson – Without a Doubt
    • D. W. Thompson – The Mystery at Love’s Manor
    • Diane Weiner – The Deadly Reveal
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Round Up the Unusual Suspects
    • Ellis Elliott – A Witch Awakens a Fire Circle Mystery
    • George Petersen – The Summer of Haight
    • Jane Bitomsky – An Inquest of Eels
    • John W. Feist – Ship of Perils
    • Jolie Tunnell – Shadows in Chinatown
    • Joy Ann Ribar – Shake-Speared in the Park
    • Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
    • Kate Damon – Jury Duty Is Murder
    • Kathleen Donnelly – Killer Secrets
    • Kathleen Kaska – Murder at the Faust
    • Kathryn Gauci- Murder in the Garden of Enchantment: The Constantinople Diaries a Madame Theodosia Mystery
    • Kathryn Lane – Murder in Monte Carlo
    • KD Straus – To Be True
    • Keith Steinbaum – You Say Goodbye
    • L. J. Aldon – Riddle of the Jeweled Cipher
    • Laurel Martin – Her Last Few Days
    • Laurel Martin – The Lowlands a Missing Couple a Family Desperate To Find Them
    • Leta Serafim – The Nameless Dead
    • Lisa M. Lane – Bummer at Luna Beach
    • Louisa West – Baby Got Ghost
    • Lyn Squire – Fatally Inferior
    • Lynn Slaughter – Missing Mom
    • M. K. Dean – A Nose for Death
    • M. S. Spencer – Railroad Ties the Marmion Grove Murders
    • Maggie Parks – Knocked Off in Nederland
    • Marshall Highet and Bird Jones – The Washashore
    • Mary Seifert – Airplanes, Atlanta & an Assassin
    • Mary Seifert – Juleps, Jockeys & Justice
    • MJ Mac – Betrayed on the Promenade
    • ML Barrs – Parallel Secrets
    • Patrick E. Craig – 3 X 3
    • Peter Gooch – Seren
    • Sandy Zelka – Blood Red Poppy
    • Shannon Bennett Riester – The Lottery Aspect
    • Sharon Lynn – The Romantic
    • The Sisters Spurlock – The Faceless Ghost
    • TJ Stecker – Redacted
    • Tracy Carter – Sick As a Dog
    • Virginia Ann – The Potter’s Final Piece: A Pooka Women’s Club Mystery
    • Wanda Brunstetter and Martha Bolton – The Rise and Fall of Miss Fannie’s Biscuits

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

    Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2024 M&M Grand Prize Winner

    If Two Are Dead

    By Jeanne Matthews

    Click here to see the full list of 2024 M&M Book Award Winners for Cozy Mysteries.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 M&M Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

    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 17 – 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 as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The 2024 Dante Rossetti First Place Round Up for YA Fiction

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA FictionThe Dante Rossetti Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Young Adult Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Glen Dahlgren’s book, The Realm of Gods will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Dante Rossetti contest page year ’round!

    The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year!

    The 2024 Dante Rossetti Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

    Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place Dante Rossetti Winners!

    A Gold Ribbon dividing this section from the next

    A note from Chanticleer:

    This year’s Dante Rossetti Winners is special, in the way that half of our First Place Winners for this year are manuscripts. We are very excited to help these authors celebrate their work, and hopefully see them come out someday!

    Mark Kraver – The Willow

    Mark Kraver reveals a swashbuckling side of American history in his latest young adult historical fiction novel The Willow. Heroine Abigail Spragg uses her pirate fortune to fund a school for girls, which teaches its students, including Abigail’s teenage daughter Hannah, to fight like their seafaring ancestors.

    When Abigail receives a letter from one of her many pirate connections requesting that she use his fortune to help a mysterious acquaintance open this school, she finds the idea preposterous. After all, education for women is rare in 1700s New England. The East Coast is bathed in a strict status quo and still recovering from the witch trials that had taken so many lives. Many people go out of their way to avoid straying from societal norms.

    Nevertheless, Abigail sets out, reconnecting with her widowed sister Eunice and bringing her oldest daughter along as they seek the enigmatic Hope Terwilliger and open “The Willow Finishing School”.

    The full review will be released upon publication!

    C.H. Brown – The Appearance of Power

    According to the authors blog, Book 1 is out of the editing stage, and she is going to be releasing all 3 books in the trilogy together once they are finished. We are very excited to see those when they come out!

    Eileen Charbonneau and Jude Pittman- Spectral Evidence: Newfoundland (Canadian Historical Mysteries)

    Seventeen-year-old Newfoundlander Charlotte Jaddore loves nothing more than learning sacred healing arts from the elders of her Mi’kmaq and Beothuk grandmothers. But the year is 1692 and her father needs her help. Their American cousins in Salem, Massachusetts have been accused of witchcraft. Will Charlotte help her father fight for the lives of Philip and Mary English?

    When father and daughter arrive in Salem, their cousins have already been imprisoned. How can the couple survive against spectral evidence— harming their victims from afar as invisible projections? The motives of their accusing neighbors are anything but spiritual. They are after the English family’s wealth.

    And the sights of those accusers are now fixed on the heirs. Can Charlotte get young Mary, Philip and William to Newfoundland, without infecting her own beloved island with spectral evidence fever?

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    J.A. Neilsen – The Winter Heir

    Spense might have saved his country of Telridge and won the heart of the faerie princess. But he doesn’t feel like a hero—not while Dewy is stuck in the Winter lands, all because of a bargain she made on his behalf.

    After months of fruitless research, Spense abandons the libraries of Telridge and turns to the Faerie Oracles to seek a solution. Meanwhile, Dewy is no damsel in distress. She is on a journey of her own, diving deeper into her magic, and finding alliances in the most unexpected of places.

    As they each seek the Winter Heir, they face unsettling truths about themselves, their world, and the steep costs of magic.

    From Chanticleer:

    The Winter Heir, the second book in J.A. Nielsen’s Fractured Kingdoms series, picks up where the first book, The Claiming, leaves off—with its protagonists struggling under the weight of a vital bargain.

    Lady Dew Drop, Dewy to her friends—and her frenemies—is languishing in the court of the Winter Fae, a summer princess nearly frozen in both heart and spirit as she does her best to fulfill the pact she made with the Winter King. Meanwhile, the man who got her into this mess, the human mage and illegitimate princeling of Telridge—Spence Ferrous—tries to fulfill the deal for her.

    But the story is much bigger than these two young lovers. The Winter King is dying without a legitimate heir. And it’s his own proud, arrogant fault. As much as both the humans and the Summer Fae would be willing to let him suffer the consequences of his own actions—he’s not the only one who will.

    Read More Here

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!

    John Middleton – The Pool of Initiation

    We’re currently working with Middleton on his entire series! We can’t wait for it to wrap up so he can share it with our community!

    EL Werbitsky – The Marsh Keeper

    Some secrets aren’t meant to be shared…

    Sixteen-year-old Calvin Hughes can see human energy and in that revealing light learns the best and worst of the people around him.

    He tells no one what he sees, until a young girl vanishes beneath the marsh and the truth behind her tragedy is too disturbing to hide.

    But when enchantments lure Cal toward the haunted waters and his sole confidante betrays him, Cal discovers the danger of knowing too much and the price for sharing secrets, especially one that could change the world.

    Find it Locally and on Amazon!


    Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Dante Rossetti First Place Winners!

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

     

    Got a great Fiction Book? The 2025 Dante Rossetti Book Awards are open through the end of September!

    Submissions don’t officially close until the date on the website changes!

    Blue button that says Enter a Writing Contest
    Submit to the Dante Rossetti Awards Today!
  • The 2025 Clue Long List for Suspense/Thriller

    The 2025 Clue Long List for Suspense/Thriller

    Thriller Suspense Fiction AwardThe Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).

    These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CLUE entries to the 2025 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Clue Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

    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 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Suspense and Thriller!

    Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

    • A.J. Mccarthy – The Boy on the Dock
    • Aja Holland – Casco Bay
    • Ana Manwaring – Kickback
    • Angela Greenman – The Child Riddler
    • Arthur Coburn – Murder in Concrete
    • Ashley Thomas Sheikh – Kentucky Blood: Book I of the Kentucky Blood Series
    • Avanti Centrae – The Picasso Job: A Phoenix Thriller
    • Becky Anyanwu – Mind the Blinds
    • Bill Bennett – Swimming with Manatees
    • Brandon Lawniczak – Home Envy
    • Brian Cuban – The Body Brokers
    • Carlo J. Emanuele – The Sins We Inherit
    • Carolyn Summer Quinn – Fate Can Toss a Boomerang
    • Cathi Stoler – No Good Time: A Nick Donahue Adventure
    • Charlotte Stuart – Unicorns Can Be Deadly a Discount Detective Mystery 5
    • Cheryl Campbell – Bodies in the Bayou
    • Chris Chan – Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History
    • Chuck Morgan – Preserve Protect and Defend
    • Dan Ramm – Long Branch: Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story
    • Danielle M. Wong – Tiny Wild Things
    • David Tenenbaum – Premonition
    • Diana Louise Webb – Last of the Autumn Rain
    • Dwight Holing – The Thunder Head
    • E. Alan Fleischauer – The Dark and Evil Sky
    • Ellis K. Popa – Awaken the Dawn
    • Ephrem Paredes – Pasadena Confidential
    • Eric Magun – Thank God for the Sinners
    • Francesco Paola – Left on Rancho
    • Frank J. Edwards – Doctor Witch
    • Holly Harrison – Death in the Land of Enchantment
    • Italia Tornabene – Femme Fatale: Shades of Retribution
    • Jack Luellen – Someone Had to Lie
    • Jeannée Sacken – The Women Who Stand Between
    • Jl Spears – Daemon Protocol
    • Joe Salerno – The Decision
    • Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
    • Kathleen Troy – Never Believe a Lie Twice
    • Kd Sherrinford – The Whistle of Revenge
    • Kevin Hwang – The Regression Strain
    • Kit Karson – Savage Malice
    • Larry Weindruch and Richard A. Yach – Nicky V: A Chicago Crime Story
    • Leslie Liautaud – Butterfly Pinned
    • Lew Paper – Legacy of Lies
    • Marian Exall – Loners
    • Matthew John Parker – The Lost Last Prophecy
    • Melanie Anagnos – Nightswimming: A Jamie Palmieri Mystery
    • Michael Wendroff – What Goes Around
    • Mike Van Horn – The Ivy Leaguers
    • Miriam Verbeek – The Bank
    • Nannette Potter – Deception’s Edge
    • Otho Eskin – Black Sun Rising
    • Paty Jager – Crapshoot
    • Paty Jager – Wolverine Instincts
    • Paul Levine – Midnight Burning
    • Phillip Vega – Death in Utopia
    • Sarah P. Blanchard – Grabtown
    • Sean Hagerty – Cabal
    • Sharon Lynn – Dark Web Gaslight
    • Sheila Sharpe – Artist, Lover, Forger, Thief
    • Stephen G. Eoannou – After Pearl
    • Stephen J Wallace – Hazardous Lies
    • Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Warrior Pose
    • T.O. Paine – The Crisis
    • Tamar Anolic – This Side of the Law
    • Theresa Janson – Reservations: A Samantha Wright Crime Series
    • TJ Stecker – Redacted
    • William Forester – The Secret Book

    PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

    This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us.

    Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE.

    We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

    Congratulations once more to the 2024 Clue Grand Prize Winner

    Enemies Domestic

    By John DeDakis

    Enemies Domestic Cover by John DeDakis

     

    Click here to see the full list of 2024 Clue Book Award Winners for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Clue Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

    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 17 – 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 as we enter our second decade and discover why!

  • The 2025 Dante Rossetti Spotlight for YA Fiction

    Has your book come of age?

    Then it’s time to enter the Dante Rossetti Awards!

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The submissions for the 2025 Awards are underway, and Dante Rossetti closes on September 30, 2025!

    The Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction are named for Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), the British painter, poet, and a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Better known for his romantic paintings, Rossetti was also a prolific poet who, along with his siblings, formed one of literature’s most creative families. His sister Christina was a celebrated poet, Maria became an essayist before joining a religious order, and brother William served as a prominent editor and literary critic.

    We chose Dante Rossetti to represent our Young Adult Awards because the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s core principles: having genuine ideas to express, studying nature attentively, sympathizing with what is direct and serious and heartfelt, and producing thoroughly excellent work. These mirror what the best young adult literature achieves. Like the Pre-Raphaelites who defied Victorian social conventions, exceptional YA fiction encourages young readers to question norms, observe the world carefully, and find their own authentic voices.

    La Viuda Romana by Dante Rossetti

    The Art of Writing for Hearts and Minds in Transition

    Creating exceptional young adult literature means respecting the intelligence and emotional capacity of readers who are simultaneously naive and wise, hopeful and cynical, dependent and fiercely independent. YA authors walk a fascinating tightrope: addressing mature themes and complex emotions while remembering that their readers are still developing their understanding of themselves and the world.

    The best YA fiction doesn’t talk down to its audience or oversimplify complex issues. Instead, it explores themes like identity, justice, love, loss, family, friendship, and social change with the nuance and respect that young adult experiences deserve. Whether it’s a dystopian rebellion that mirrors real-world social justice movements, a contemporary romance that explores healthy relationships, or an epic fantasy that examines power and corruption, exceptional YA literature helps readers process their own experiences while providing the escapism and adventure that makes reading addictive.

    Young adult readers have sophisticated BS detectors that can spot condescending or inauthentic writing from a mile away. The authors who succeed in this space are those who remember what it feels like to be young while bringing adult writing skills and perspective to stories that honor the complexity of the teenage experience.

    Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!

    The Realm of the Gods cover by Glen Dahlgren

    We’re excited to honor Glen Dahlgren, whose epic fantasy conclusion The Realm of Gods: The Chronicles of Chaos Book Three claimed the 2024 Dante Rossetti Grand Prize with a story that pulls no punches in its exploration of power, rebellion, and the battle between order and chaos. In this climactic volume, protagonist Galen must navigate the Dreaming – an ethereal realm where past, present, and future collide – while confronting both his nemesis Carnaubas and the horrifying truth that the exiled gods of Order still hunger for dominion.

    What makes The Realm of Gods exemplary YA literature is its refusal to simplify complex themes of tyranny, rebellion, and human connection. Alongside Eve, a young girl with the ability to see the threads connecting everything, Galen embarks on a desperate quest to prevent Order’s return – a premise that resonates with young readers who understand that fighting against oppressive systems often requires extraordinary courage and unlikely alliances. The novel’s recognition as both a Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Winner and recipient of the American Fiction Award and Indies Today Best Epic Fantasy Award demonstrates how exceptional YA literature can compete on any literary stage. In addition to ongoing promotional features, The Realm of Gods will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Glen Dahlgren will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and The Realm of Gods will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.

    Categories That Capture the Full YA Experience

    The Dante Rossetti Awards welcome young adult fiction across every genre and emotional landscape:

    • Contemporary YA – Stories grounded in today’s reality that explore authentic teen experiences, relationships, and challenges
    • SFF & Paranormal – Science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal tales that use otherworldly elements to explore very real themes
    • YA Adventure/Romance – Action-packed stories and love stories that acknowledge the intensity of young relationships and experiences
    • YA Historical – Past-set stories that help young readers understand different eras while exploring timeless coming-of-age themes
    • Dystopian/Edgy/Urban – Darker stories that don’t shy away from difficult topics or challenging social commentary
    • Mystery/Thriller/Suspense – Puzzle-solving adventures and high-stakes narratives that respect young readers’ ability to handle complex plots

    Each category acknowledges that young adult readers seek different types of stories depending on their mood, interests, and life experiences, from light romantic escapes to heavy social commentary and everything in between.

    The Complete Youth Literature Journey

    The Dante Rossetti Awards complete Chanticleer’s comprehensive celebration of youth literature at every developmental stage:

    • Little Peeps Awards – Picture books and early readers that introduce children to the magic of storytelling
    • Gertrude Warner Awards – Middle grade fiction for readers developing independence and exploring more complex themes

    Together, these three divisions ensure that exceptional youth literature receives recognition at every stage of the reading journey, supporting the development of lifelong readers and critical thinkers.

    Looking at Young Adult Excellence

    Check out some of these outstanding YA books we’ve celebrated recently!

    An Empty House Doesn't Sneeze Cover

    An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze
    By David Scott Richardson

    In David Scott Richardson’s YA WWII historical novel, An Empty House Doesn’t Sneeze, teenager Scott Johannsen—“Scotty” to his mom and friends—leads us on an adventure through the wartime Ravenna neighborhood in Seattle, Washington.

    Boeing manufactures B-17s, his grandparents and neighbors grow victory gardens, his parents build a bomb shelter in their basement, and mandatory blackouts occur every night. Scotty navigates a chaotic world filled with danger and wonder yet finds security with family and friends in this heartfelt story.

    Scotty runs with his pack—James, Marty, and Burr. We witness what lengths they will go to on a search for chocolate. With Ravenna Park as a backyard and Puget Sound just a short drive away, Scotty’s life is filled with exploration of the natural world. His fishing adventures with his dad in the Sound become an exciting way to supplement his family’s food rations as he dreams about netting a fighting salmon.

    Read More Here

    Luna: Rhone and Stone Book 2
    By Strider S.R. Klusman

    A Chanticleer Dante Rossetti First Place Winner and Cover Design Grand Prize Winner!

    Luna, the second book in Strider S.R. Klusman’s YA Rhone and Stone Series, follows Rhone and his alien partner Stone as they develop a ship that can sail through the air.

    The two train to become agents for the Office of Public Recrimination, urged to join by their friend – and now boss – Aundrea. Rhone struggles through training with the help of his trusty partner, but a much more difficult test remains before them – their first assignment.

    Aundrea sends them to Corgy, a port town, without explaining their mission. But it doesn’t take long for Rhone to encounter troubles from shore and sea alike.

    He and Stone meet Mayor Dugan, who takes an instant dislike for Rhone, posing as a wealthy merchant’s son. But it’s his front, designed so by the ladies of the OPR, and commands a great deal of respect and authority from the locals, if not Bella. Sometimes it’s difficult not to forget his actual purpose for being at Corgy. As an agent of the OPR, he must solve the town’s greatest problem, a rash of pirate attacks on Corgy’s vital ocean-borne trade; if they continue, Corgy won’t survive.

    Read More Here

    Crossroads of empire, green

    Crossroads of Empire
    By Michael J. Cooper

    A Chanticleer Hemingway First Place Winner!

    Crossroads of Empire by Michael J. Cooper brings readers back into sixteen-year-old Evan Sinclair’s journey through the battlefields of WWI. The adventures and the war itself pick up right where the award-winning Wages of Empire left off.

    As in the first book, Evan begins his part of this story by going missing, this time not just from his father’s perspective, but from his own. Severely injured during his service with the Flemish resistance, Evan is discharged from a French field hospital. He’s on his way back to England by hospital ship when it is sunk by a German U-boat. When he reaches British shores as the sole survivor in a lifeboat, he’s left with amnesia and has no memory of who he is.Evan’s search for his own identity leads him to Rosslyn Castle, the Sinclair family’s ancestral home in Scotland. There he unravels secret family histories and connections long buried. Finally, with assistance from a wise woman, Evan regains his memory. Without the protection the amnesia provided, he faces a host of painful and traumatic memories.

    Read More Here

    The Hidden Library Cover

    The Hidden Library, Book 2 of the Isle of Dragons Series
    By L.A. Thompson

    Isle of Dragons: The Hidden Library by L.A. Thompson is a breathtaking race to seize the reins of destiny and find a magical library that was once the subject of stories and lore. Jade and Kaylen, once friends, oppose each other in search of this hidden library and its world-changing secrets.

    Demoted and dejected, Kaylen reels from her valiant but failed attempt to bring back the final item that King Jarrod needs to fulfill a prophecy. The iconic stone remains out of reach. Kaylen is summoned for an audience with the king. A glimmer of hope for the future flickers, but the king demands an even more ambitious mission of her. He will restore her rank and honors if she finds for him the mysterious hidden library that can open a gateway between worlds. It’s a deadly challenge that will once again pit her against an old friend.

    Jade summons all her strength and courage with others who stand against the king who has made her family suffer. When she and Kaylen clash, sparks will ignite as hot as a dragon’s roar.

    Read More Here

    These works demonstrate how the best young adult literature combines sophisticated storytelling with authentic understanding of the teen experience.


    See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

    We’re excited about all the exceptional young adult books we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

    The Dante Rossetti Awards recognize the unique challenge and responsibility of writing for young adults, readers who deserve stories as complex, authentic, and emotionally honest as their own experiences. Whether you’re exploring contemporary issues, dystopian futures, epic fantasies, or historical periods, these awards celebrate books that respect young adult intelligence while providing the emotional satisfaction and escapism that great literature offers.

    Your Young Adult Story Matters

    Young adult readers are at a crucial point in their relationship with literature where they’re deciding whether books will remain an important part of their adult lives. Your YA novel could be the book that helps a teenager understand they’re not alone, provides comfort during a difficult time, or simply offers the perfect escape when life feels overwhelming. These readers are passionate, loyal, and influential; when they love a book, they become its most enthusiastic ambassadors.

    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    Speak to the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s leaders – the deadline is September 30, 2025!

    You know you want it…

    Submit to the Dante Rossetti Awards today and help us celebrate literature that takes young adults seriously!

  • The 2025 Gertrude Warner Hall of Fame for Middle Grade Fiction

    Know a kid looking for that Middle Grade winner?

    The Boxcar Children from the famed series by Gertrude WarnerEveryone likes a good book, and kids are no different.

    The Gertrude Warner Awards celebrate Middle Grade Fiction, which means books aimed for kids of ages 8-13. This isn’t our only Division aimed for younger readers! For Young Adult (14-18), see Dante Rossetti, and for Children’s see Little Peeps.

    Lets take a look at and celebrate the Past Grand Prize Winners of the Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle Grade Fiction!

    Back to Bainbridge
    By Norah Lally

    Back to Bainbridge cover by Norah Lally

    Our review of the newest Gertrude Warner Grand Prize Winner is still upcoming. In the meantime, here is what GoodReads readers have been saying:

    From the opening moments, this book grabs your attention and does not let go!

    Vicki’s family suddenly faces eviction after her single mother is unable to pay the bills. The story opens as she, her mom, and her two younger siblings scramble out of the house, on the sheriff’s orders, lost with nowhere to go. We slowly learn more about Vicki’s character and past- her father had left the, six years earlier and her mother struggled ever since. Vicki is a determined, fierce, but confused young lady. Full of energy and personality, but lacking direction. This coming of age novel takes us on her journey of self-discovery. Its personal, touching, and heartfelt.

    But the lessons of this book aren’t solely for teens. Its a story about family and love, and its morals apply to all ages. Everyone, regardless of age group, should read this book at least once.” -Phin

    Back to Bainbridge was a delight to read from the breezy beginning to the satisfying and endearing end. Told in the first person, the reader is immediately intrigued by fourteen-year-old Vicki’s voice: leery, weary, and wise beyond her years, or so she thinks. Vicki’s impatience with her single mother and two younger siblings is in full throttle when their family has to move (yet again!) and this time she’ll be forced to share a room with a needy 10-year-old brother and a sarcastic 12-year-old sister.” -M.C.

    Excellent, unique coming of age story set in the vibrant environment of the Bronx, NY. The story includes many interesting, diverse characters and vivid depictions of the city that really bring the whole scene to life. The prose is well-written and engaging — youth and adults alike should enjoy this book!” -R.

    Buy it here!

    EXOSTAR
    By Rae Knightly

    A piece-of-scrap. That’s how the townsfolk on Trinket’s planet label her. The twelve-year-old is determined to prove that she’s more than just a discarded android, but her prosthetic leg and blue veins in her hands make her wonder about her true identity. Trinket knows that she must get off-world before the cruel and powerful Remnants send her to the scrap yard, but things take a turn for the worse when the Remnant Supreme Leader discovers her existence.

    Trinket could be the key to a lost spaceship that is rumored to hold the greatest hoard of gems in the galaxy, and the Supreme Leader wants it. As the alien civilizations of the Magnus Star Cluster wake up to the possibility that the legendary treasure exists, a frantic hunt for the lost spaceship – and its key – pits Trinket against an enemy that will stop at nothing to get what they want.

    To uncover the truth about her identity, Trinket must confront the evil Supreme Leader or get to the treasure first. But what if the truth is too shocking to bear?

    Award-winning author Rae Knightly presents EXOSTAR, Book 1 in The Lost Space Treasure Series, which thrusts a young girl into a universe full of alien civilizations and an epic hunt to uncover the greatest treasure of all. This witty upper middle-grade science fiction story with a cast of unforgettable characters is perfect for the space explorers of tomorrow and fans of Alita, The Prometheus Project, Hana Hsu, and Dragon Pearl. Ideal for readers aged 10+.

    Find it here!

    Mystery Force: Volume 1
    By Ted Neill and Suzi Spooner

    Mystery Force - Volume One Cover

    Set in a world where magical talking creatures are a normal part of society, the Mystery Force series by Ted Neill is a must-read for any animal-loving kid.

    Book One, Mystery Force, Assemble!, begins with warehouses of previously unheard-of magical creatures being discovered and freed. Out of fear, these new creatures continue to hide, and a group of curious kids – Rasheed, Jonathan, and Jojo – decide to get to the bottom of the mystery!

    In book two, The Case of the Stolen Horn, Rasheed, Jonathan, and Jojo are on the case after their unicorn drama teacher, Mr. Twinkles, is attacked, with their pegasus geometry teacher Ms. Weymont being arrested for the crime. The Mystery Force kids are determined to clear Ms. Weymont’s name by finding the real culprit.

    Read More Here

    Fishing For Luck
    By Murray Richter

    Fishing for Luck Cover

    During the pre-internet era of 1980, Kevin and his friends just want to enjoy a good fishing adventure, but troubles from the past come back to complicate their carefree boyhood in Murray Richter’s novel, Fishing for Luck.

    As the group prepares their fishing raft for its maiden voyage, Kevin tries to solve these problems himself before anyone else knows of them, but no matter what he tries, the situation only gets worse. His parents seem on the verge of a divorce, his mentor struggles to find his long-lost love, and his sister just wants her bike back already. As Kevin takes on more and more responsibility to avoid what seem to be inevitable consequences, will he be able to see that this is all too much for one kid to handle and ask those he trusts for help?

    Fishing For Luck is a wild ride of pre-teen hijinks reminiscent of the golden age of coming-of-age comedies and sitcoms we all know and love. Our young main character gets into a situation where everything goes wrong, and scrambles to fix it before anyone notices. Kevin’s predicament becomes engrossing with an extra dose of danger.

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    Kassy O’Roarke Cub Reporter
    By Kelly Oliver

    Cover of Kassy O'Roarke Cub Reporter by Kelly Oliver

    In this first installment from the new Kassy O’Roarke Pet Detective Series, award-winning author Kelly Oliver delivers a fun and engaging kid-friendly literary experience. Here is a story intended for middle-graders, Cub Reporter proves a quality blend of adventure and mystery involving a smart, inquisitive 12-year old with aspirations of becoming a spy.

    As a reporter for her school paper, Kassy’s hoping to nab a front-page scoop and win the honorable Thompson Award for Journalism. Unfortunately, help from her pesky, but the well-intentioned younger brother, sets in motion a roller coaster of calamities she never expected. From animal-nappings and a mixed-bag of clues to car chases and rescues from entrapment, ultimately the constant reinforcement from family, friends, and a menagerie of furry companions bring positive lessons to the forefront of this likable tale.

    Amidst popular classics like Emil and the Detectives and the resurgence of the Nancy Drew mysteries, Oliver has hit the mark with this bright and entertaining series opener. Though geared toward a younger audience, readers of all ages can look forward to more investigative capers on the horizon featuring the creative escapades of Kassy and company. Highly recommended!

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    Remember to add your next reads to your StoryGraph or Goodreads account! Now that you’re set on your next five reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Chatelaine Winners is to submit today! 

    Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

    The Boxcar Children from the famed series by Gertrude Warner is the background badge for these Middle Grade Fiction Awards
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