Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Overcoming Adversity

Two Weeks left to submit to the Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (CCDAs!)
Two Divisions Close at the end of July

Two excellent divisions close at the end of July!

Don’t let your cover miss out!
- The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards for Fiction
- The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards for Non Fiction
Only 2 weeks left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!

The Cover Design Awards are still open!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Award for Fiction!
- Ann Phillipp – Grand Theft Death
- C.L. Olsen – Old Crabby Turtle
- Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath
- Laura C. Rader – Hatfield 1677
- Gail Noble-Sanderson– The Book of Rules
- Margaret Porter – A Change of Location
- Mark A. Gibson – A Song That Never Ends
- Travis Davis- One of Four
- R.W. Meek- The Dream Collector Book 1; Sabine and Sigmund Freud
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Cover Design Fiction Grand Prize Winner:

Luna, Rhone and Stone Book 2 by Strider S.R. Klusman

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Awards for Non-Fiction!
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf and Skin Cancer
- Kasey J. Claytor– Finding The Light: Navigating Dementia with My Son
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
- Marianna Marlowe – Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Cover Design Awards Non-Fiction Grand Prize Winner:

Teaching in the Dark by Genet Simone

The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!

The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards for Fiction and Non-Fiction

Your book deserves to be discovered
July 17, 2025
The Chanticleer Cover Design CCDAs Non-Fiction First Place and Grand Prize Winners for 2024!

The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Genét Simone’s book, Teaching in The Dark will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design 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 ‘round!

The 2024 CCDA 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 very first group of First Place CCDA Winners for Non-Fiction!

Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer

Also a 2024 Journey First Place Winner!

Australians love the sun – our outdoor lifestyle is part our trademark appeal. It’s also the reason that every thirty minutes someone is diagnosed with melanoma. Why skin cancer is called Australia’s National Cancer, and two out of three Australians are likely to be diagnosed with it before turning 70.

After living an average Aussie life playing sport, spending languid days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma.

Yet Anne is one of the lucky ones. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the clear and present prospect of death, head-on. In Sunburnt, her revealing memoir, Anne recounts the emotions and challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long to come through the other side.

Not only has Anne survived, she is issuing a clarion call for a change to the bronzed Aussie culture. In Sunburnt Anne combines a nostalgic view of a charmed Aussie childhood, a jolting review of Australia’s sun-worshipping norms, and enough scientific research to encourage us all to redefine our relationship with the sun.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Marianna Marlowe – Portrait of a Feminist

Through braided memories that flash against the present day, Portrait of a Feminist depicts the evolution of Marianna Marlowe’s identity as a biracial and multicultural woman—from her childhood in California, Peru, and Ecuador to her adulthood as an academic, a wife, and a mother.

How does the inner life of a feminist develop? How does a writer observe the world around her and kindle, from her earliest memories, a flame attuned to the unjust?

With writing that is simultaneously wise and shimmering, nuanced and direct, Marlowe confronts her own experiences with the hallmarks of patriarchy. Interweaving stories of life as the child of a Catholic Peruvian mother and an atheist American father in a family that lived many years abroad, she examines realities familiar to so many of us—unequal marriages, class structures, misogynist literature, and patriarchal religion. Portrait of a Feminist explores the essential questions of feminism in our time: What does it look like to live in defense of feminism? How should feminism be evolving today?

From Chanticleer:

Marianne Marlowe’s memoir, Portrait of a Feminist, reveals the evolution of her feminism through a collection of thought-provoking essays.

“I would say, if it were possible, I was born a feminist” is at the heart of Marlowe’s story. She relates to this defining identity throughout years spent in Peru, California, and Ecuador, where she navigates childhood, marriage, motherhood, and a professional career.

The section titles reflect periods in Marlowe’s life that correspond to nature’s rhythms— “Seeds Planted”, “The Growing Years”, “Maturation”, and “Harvesting”—and maintain strong connections between her thematically-linked experiences.

As a Peruvian American woman, Marlowe navigates the concepts of gender, race, and culture from a personal and critical point of view.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in The High Country

At the age of eight, Linda Lockwood moves with her family to an isolated ranch in eastern Washington State. Within two years, she’s patrolling the ranch on horseback alongside her border collie—herding sheep, killing rattlesnakes, and defending the ranch’s livestock from coyotes, bears, and even trespassing hunters—and working tirelessly to realize her dream of training horses. But her most daunting challenge is one hard work can’t overcome: her mother is descending into madness. And Linda’s deepest fear is that she might inherit the schizophrenia that threatens to dismantle her family.

At age twenty-five, Linda marries, but the joy of her first pregnancy is darkened by her mother’s suicide. Then she endures a painful miscarriage and the death of her beloved grandmother, traumatic events that send her back in time to the births and deaths of animals—domesticated and wild—that she loved in childhood. Eventually, her own family grows, but her happiness is haunted by questions people have tiptoed around all her life. How did her mother become schizophrenic? What did she endure as a patient in 1960s mental hospitals? Might Linda and even her children be next to battle that catastrophic mental disorder? Driven by the courage and will she sharpened as a rancher, Linda vows to find out.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me

Also the 2024 Journey Grand Prize and a Clue First Place Winner!

This book about the author’s harrowing experience with a stalker is not yet released, but we are excited to see it come out and see her story get told. To find more information see the authors website kathryncaraway.com or her advocacy project at unfollowme.com

This book also releases on Kickstarter soon, along with a fictional thriller sequel where the victim gets her revenge! Follow it here: The Unfollow Me Duet by Kathryn Caraway — Kickstarter

Kasey Claytor – Finding the Light: Navigating Dementia with My Son

What happens when a younger person gets dementia and becomes filled with peace?

Finding the Light is a poignant memoir about a mother’s journey caring for her son with a terminal form of early-onset dementia, Frontotemporal Degeneration, or FTD. From the overwhelming tasks that must be done to ultimately sharing the meaningful insights that can be gained in this experience, you can’t come away without being deeply moved.

Claytor shares ways to lessen the toll of caregiving with stress-reducing methods and options for self-care, financial tips, and suggestions for good estate planning.

But most importantly, her message is about developing a way to instill a sense of well-being in dementia sufferers and their caregivers.
When Kasey Claytor found out that her 49-year-old son had Frontotemporal Degeneration, her world came crashing down…

Finally grappling with this situation head-on, she set out to learn everything she could about this devastating condition and create an environment around her son that would hopefully give him a sense of well-being despite the odds.

From Chanticleer:

Some stories are impossible to look away from, and from its very first sentence, Finding the Light, Navigating Dementia with My Son by Kasey J. Claytor proves itself one of them. “…when my 49-year-old son, Justin, was first diagnosed with a form of early-onset dementia, I was stunned.” Without hesitation, the book draws readers into a saga of family, illness, and resilience.

Although a memoir, Finding the Light is in many ways an instructional text, too. Readers don’t need similar medical situations to draw from Claytor’s lessons of improvement. The conversational, approachable writing style serves this purpose well.

Although it’s in chronological order, this is an unconventional, modern text.

Traditional scene-based paragraphs are offset by poetry, informative sidebars, and even the full text of letters sent throughout Justin’s illness. Claytor deftly shifts between these sections, building a cohesive narrative from which readers can easily learn.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

And now, the first ever GRAND PRIZE WINNERS in Non-Fiction for the Chanticleer Cover Design Awards!

Genét Simone- Teaching in the Dark

Also a 2024 Hearten First Place Winner!

A young teacher buys a one-way ticket to Shishmaref, Alaska. Within minutes of landing, she finds herself dealing with unexpected, rustic accommodations, and the culture shock of living in a remote Iñuit community. She relies on her courage, resilience, and wit while enduring freezing temperatures, power outages, loneliness, and first-year teacher anxieties and missteps, but eventually realizes that those challenges pale in comparison to the life lessons she learns about the heart of teaching—lessons from her students, their culture, and their community, on the vast, windy landscape at the edge of the Chukchi Sea.

From Chanticleer:

How does place shape who we are—and who we’ll become? In this memoir, Teaching in the Dark, Genét Simone puts that question to the test by recounting her first year as a teacher.

The initial year of teaching is never an easy feat, but for Simone it was especially challenging, and transformative. She spent it with Native students in the remote island village of Shishmaref, on the Arctic edge of Alaska—no small wonder the school year became an unforgettable one.

Today, Simone has decades of teaching experience to draw upon. Yet, in this memoir she rarely employs her present voice to reflect on the past. Instead, the narrator remains in the moment: a young and inexperienced Simone, who only knows that she feels destined to be a teacher. When she signs up for the Shishmaref teaching job, she doesn’t even realize that it’s on an island.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Cover Design First Place and Grand Prize Winners!

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 Cover Design Awards are open through the end of July!

Note: Late submissions are accepted until the dates change on the website!

Submit to the Cover Design Awards Today!

July 9, 2025
The 2024 JOURNEY Book Awards WINNERS for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey 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. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Erika Shepard on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at the Bellingham Yacht Club in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2024 LIST of

the JOURNEY BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners

and the JOURNEY Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following award-winning authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf and Skin Cancer
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 JOURNEY Awards is:

Unfollow Me

By Kathryn Caraway

You can see all of our amazing 2024 Journey Finalists! Congratulations to all and thank you for submitting!

Well done climbing the CIBA Levels of Achievement!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our website, social media posts, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the new CIBA Hall of Fame for Divsion Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook. Our handle is @ChantiReviews

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in May. We will email you in the next few weeks with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information. To receive your CIBA Blue Ribbon Package, you must reply to the email that verifies your address and contact information.

NOTE: We will post at least two 2024 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 14, 2025. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2024 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program. If you have any questions, please email either Kiffer Brown at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or DBeaumier@ChantiReviews.com. We also have a Support Desk at Info@ChantiReviews.com

Snail Mail:

Chanticleer Reviews, LLC

1050 Larrabee Ave
Suite 104 #334
Bellingham, WA, 98225
United States

Thank you for participating in the 2024 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Team Chanticleer
April 24, 2025
The 2024 Military and Front Line Book Award WINNERS for Service to Others Non-Fiction
The Military & Front Lines Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir exploring the lives of those who serve their country and others. The Military & Front Lines Service 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 experience in the Military and Armed Forces Service, Medical Services, Stories of Community Service Workers and First Responders, Service Organizations, Work in Agencies that service communities, and Service Life. 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.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the 2024 CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Janet Oakley on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at the Bellingham Yacht Club in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2024 LIST of the MILITARY & FRONT LINE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the MILITARY & FRONT LINE Grand Prize Winner.

Please join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Roderick S. Haynes – Unauthorized Disclosures a Navy Memoir of the 1980s
- David Huntley – The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: a WWII Final Honor
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, You Say?
- Shari Biery – It’s Your Turn How To Rediscover Yourself Prioritize Your Well-Being Thrive with Purpose
- Max Lauker & Antonio Garcia – Number 788: My Experiences in Swedish Special Operations – Preparing for NATO and the War on Terror
- Bibi LeBlanc – Wings of Freedom – The Story of the Berlin Airlift | Flugel der Freiheit – Die Geschichte der Berliner Luftbrucke
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 MILITARY & FRONT LINE Awards is:

Memoirs from the Frontlines: Four states, Two years, One pandemic

by Kim Sloan

You can see all of our amazing 2024 Military & Front Line Finalists! Congratulations to all and thank you for submitting!

Well done climbing the CIBA Levels of Achievement!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook. Our handle is @ChantiReviews

A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in May. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

We will post at least two 2024 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 14, 2025. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2024 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.

Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.

Thank you for participating in the 2024 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

Team Chanticleer!
April 22, 2025
On the 7th Day of Christmas, Chanticleer Brings to Me 7 Non-Fiction Divisions| 12 Days of Christmas 2024!

Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas – One Day at a Time

And the Seventh Day of Christmas brings us a New Year!

“But Jiminy Crickets, it’s after December 25th! Is it not too late for the 12 Days of Christmas?” you say.

Not to fear, Chanticleerians! The 12 Days of Christmas begins on December 26th! And it continues to the 6th of January – Three Kings Day. The four weeks leading up to Christmas is known as the Advent.

So if you haven’t finished wrapping presents, sending out those cards, and baking cookies—don’t worry—you’ve got an extra six days!

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Seven Swans-a-Swimming

Six Geese-a-Laying

Five Golden Rings

Four Calling Birds

Three French Hens (Chanticleer’s favorite #justsaying)

Two Turtle Doves

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

The 7th Day of Christmas is January 1st! A new year means new beginnings, new habits, new routines, and new hopes and dreams for the future.

The Seven Swans symbolize Seven Graces: Service, Teaching, Encouraging, Giving and Sharing, Planning, Leadership, and Reaching Out to Others

What are your favorite ways to mark the new year? Resolutions? Thorough cleaning? A polar plunge?

On the 7th Day of Christmas, Chanticleer brings to me….

Seven Non-Fiction Divisions!

At Chanticleer, we’re proud to honor these remarkable stories through our seven Non-Fiction Divisions, each one representing a unique facet of the human experience. Whether overcoming adversity, inspiring others, or sharing expert insights, these authors remind us that there’s much more beneath the surface.

The Journey Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction

The Journey Awards honor memoirs of pain, survival, and endurance. These books will have you on the edge of your seat, pulling at your heartstrings and keeping you hooked until the very last page. Authors in this division share stories that explore the depths of human struggle, yet they also reveal the strength it takes to overcome the greatest of obstacles. These are stories that not only survive hardship but turn it into a testament of the human spirit.

The Hearten Awards for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction

If adversity fuels transformation, then The Hearten Awards shine with the light of hope. These books embody the courage to face hardships head-on while remaining a beacon of inspiration. Authors in this division tell tales of kindness, resilience, and triumph, showing us the best of humanity even in the most difficult times. Their works inspire us to rise above challenges and make the world a better place.

The Military and Front Line Awards for Service to Others

In the spirit of selflessness and community, the Military and Front Line Awards honor those who serve others. Whether through the military or community service, these authors’ stories remind us of the dedication and sacrifice required to serve others. This division was inspired by figures like Florence Nightingale and aims to shed light on those whose service makes the world a better place. Their stories are a testament to the power of giving and serving others.

The Mind & Spirit Awards for Metaphysical Non-Fiction

Sometimes, we need to expand our view of the world. That’s where The Mind & Spirit Awards come in. These works span from self-help to memoir, guiding readers on their personal journeys of transformation, healing, and spiritual discovery. Authors in this division offer wisdom and insights that encourage introspection, growth, and a deeper understanding of the world around us.

The I&I, Instruction and Insight Awards for How-To and Self-Help

In our busy lives, we all need a little guidance from time to time. The I&I Awards recognize how-to and self-help books that provide practical solutions and insights. Whether offering expert advice or simple, actionable tips from those who’ve been there, these books are an essential tool for navigating everyday challenges and taking the next steps in life, business, or personal growth.

The Nellie Bly Awards for Longform Journalism

For those who seek depth and thoroughness in their reading, the Nellie Bly Awards celebrate longform journalism. These works offer well-researched, in-depth dives into subjects both timely and timeless. Whether investigating social issues, politics, or human rights, these authors bring critical attention to important stories and provide the detailed, comprehensive reporting we need to better understand the world.

The Harvey Chute Awards for Business and Finance

For those looking to elevate their careers and deepen their business knowledge, the Harvey Chute Awards are the gold standard. Recognizing works in business and finance, this division helps authors make sense of the complex world of corporate leadership, finance, and entrepreneurship. Whether you’re a business owner, aspiring leader, or investor, these books provide invaluable insights to help you take your professional journey to the next level.

Stay tuned for the 8th Day of Christmas!

Our favorite part about having the 12 Days of Christmas is that we can have the time we need to celebrate with our loved ones. We have time for wrapping our presents, meeting with friends for hot cocoa, and setting ourselves up in the New Year for publishing success (with Chanticleer Professional Services and the Chanticleer Authors Conference).

Wishing you Happy Holidays from Chanticleer from Kiffer, David, Dena, Scott, Anya, and Argus!

January 1, 2025
The 2024 JOURNEY Awards Finalists for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey 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 2024 Journey Non-Fiction SEMI-FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 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 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE and GRAND PRIZE WINNERS of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Finalist authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
- Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
- Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
- Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
- Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
- David Vass – Liar, Alleged
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!

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

Barbed: A Memoir

By Julie Morrison

See the full list of 2023 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! 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!
November 22, 2024
The 2024 JOURNEY Awards Semi-Finalists for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey 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 2024 Journey Non-Fiction SHORT LIST. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 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 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Semi-Finalist authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Michael Salsbury – Running From Tragedy
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
- Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
- Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond – The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
- Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
- Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
- Natalie Kohlhaas – Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Léonie Rosenstiel – Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp
- Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
- Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
- Kathi N. Miner – The Committed Professor – My Fall from the Lectern to the Ward
- Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
- Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
- Lisa Rhyne – Coming Out of the Metaphysical Closet
- Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
- Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
- David Vass – Liar, Alleged
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!

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

Barbed: A Memoir

By Julie Morrison

See the full list of 2023 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! 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!
October 30, 2024
The 2024 Short List JOURNEY Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey 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 2024 Journey Non-Fiction LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Journey Semifinals List. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 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 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMIFINALISTS of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Michael Salsbury – Running From Tragedy
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
- Shannon Bohrer – Judicial Soup
- Judie Dziezak – Petals from Mars: A Memoir of Resilience and Triumph over Adversity
- M. Lorrie Miller – Invitation to Co-Creation: A Spiritual Path from Child Abuse and Religious Trauma to Love, Healing, and Oneness
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
- Aja Mia – The Heartbreak of Time Travel
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
- C.J. Hudson – Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
- Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
- Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond – The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
- Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
- Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, you say?
- Natalie Kohlhaas – Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Léonie Rosenstiel – Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp
- Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
- Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
- Kathi N. Miner – The Committed Professor – My Fall from the Lectern to the Ward
- Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
- Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- Deborah L. Staunton – Untethered
- E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
- Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
- Lisa Rhyne – Coming Out of the Metaphysical Closet
- Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
- Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
- Ana Manwaring – Saints and Skeletons A Memoir
- David Vass – Liar, Alleged
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!

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

Barbed: A Memoir

By Julie Morrison

See the full list of 2023 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! 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!
August 18, 2024
The 2024 Long List JOURNEY Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction
The Journey Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Journey 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 all 2024 Journey Non-Fiction entries to the 2024 Journey Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Journey Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 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 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Four Points by Sheraton sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Journey Book Awards novel competition for Overcoming Adversity in Non-Fiction!

Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
- Michael Salsbury – Running From Tragedy
- Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
- Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
- Shannon Bohrer – Judicial Soup
- Judie Dziezak – Petals from Mars: A Memoir of Resilience and Triumph over Adversity
- Carolyn Saletto – One Hazel Green Eye
- M. Lorrie Miller – Invitation to Co-Creation: A Spiritual Path from Child Abuse and Religious Trauma to Love, Healing, and Oneness
- Tamra McAnally Bolton – His 100th Year
- Kirsten Throneberry – Guided: Lost Love, Hidden Realms, and the Open Road
- Irena Smith – The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays
- Aja Mia – The Heartbreak of Time Travel
- Jennifer Gasner – My Unexpected Life: Finding Balance Beyond My Diagnosis
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Jill Vanneman – The Betterment Campaign
- C.J. Hudson – Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
- Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
- Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond – The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
- Karen Elizabeth Lee – The Village That Betrayed its Children
- Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
- Anne Gately – Sunburnt – A memoir of sun, surf and skin cancer
- Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, you say?
- Natalie Kohlhaas – Hello Anxiety My Old Friend: Harness Your Invisible Superpower
- Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
- Léonie Rosenstiel – Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp
- Ernestine Whitman – Countermelodies: A Memoir in Sonata Form
- Jacqueline Acho – Cancer Culture: Fixing the Landscape by Infusing Empathy
- Kathi N. Miner – The Committed Professor – My Fall from the Lectern to the Ward
- Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
- Bridey Thelen-Heidel – Bright Eyes
- Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
- Deborah L. Staunton – Untethered
- E. Adrienne Wilson – I’d Rather Be Dead Than Deaf: A Young Woman’s Journey with Liver Cancer
- Lindsey Henke – When Skies Are Gray
- Turtle – Turtle
- Heidi Beierle – Heidi Across America – One Woman’s Journey on a Bicycle through the Heartland
- Claudia Marseille – But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World
- Mary Jumbelic, M.D. – Here, Where Death Delights
- Lisa Rhyne – Coming Out of the Metaphysical Closet
- David H. Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
- Tracy Mayo – Childless Mother: A Search for Son and Self
- Marsha Jacobson – The Wrong Calamity
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – Weeds Beneath the Open Meadows
- Ana Manwaring – Saints and Skeletons A Memoir
- David Vass – Liar, Alleged
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!

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 JOURNEY Awards is:

Barbed: A Memoir

By Julie Morrison

See the full list of 2023 First Place Journey Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Journey Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity in Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! 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!
August 1, 2024
Beginning the 2024 CIBA Year!
Summer is in full swing!

The Journey and the Cygnus Awards 2024 Submissions are closed.

OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction submission closes July 31st *

GOETHE Book Awards for post-1750s Historical Fiction closes July 31st*
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* Get yours in before the webmaster updates the web pages.
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The 2024 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Long List has been published.

The 2024 JOURNEY Book Awards for Overcoming Adversity Narrative Non-Fiction Long List will be published soon!

The Ozma and Goethe Awards both close at the end of July! Don’t let your History become a Fantasy!

We’re delighted to continue promoting the First Place Winners in our brand new “Round Up Articles” here, and our Grand Prize Winners in the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Hall of Fame Articles!

These are the promotions that have come out so far!

Goethe Hall of Fame

Goethe First Place Round Up

Ozma Hall of Fame

Ozma First Place Round Up

Cygnus Hall of Fame

Cygnus First Place Round Up

Journey Hall of Fame

Journey First Place Round Up

We’re committed to maximizing our authors digital footprint through long tail digital marketing. Through our prized Editorial Reviews, we do this with our Chanticleer Under The Hood SEO Boost.

We use the same technology for our CIBA posts combined with reposting. A lot of reposting. Every time an author’s book advances on our list we promote it on our website, social media, and in a newsletter blast. Why?

Your book is worth being discovered!

You put in so much work to create this book, we want to treat it with the respect and care it deserves! That’s why we take you through the Levels of Achievement.

Our normal posts tend to have double the response and interaction rate of comparable businesses. The CIBAs posts announcing when work advances in the Book Awards is five times greater than our regular posts and still double that of comparable businesses that run writing competitions. And that is for every Award post that goes out. The way we do this is simple.

First, we give each division breathing room on Social Media, on our high traffic website, and in our Newsletter. The consistent promotion and spaced promotion keeps every post prioritized instead of devalued by search engines for over-posting.

We also try to tag each winner on Facebook within their CIBA divisions. Again, the spacing prevents Facebook from devaluing our posts and lowering your exposure.

Under the Hood with SEO

Publishing is the Hub of Technology. There’s a lot great at Chanticleer, but our emphasis on being ahead of the technical curve is something we pride ourselves on. Our Robust SEO system that we use for both our CIBAs and our Editorial Reviews are the cornerstone of using technology paired with promotion.

You can see the article we put together specifically on the All In One Search Engine Optimization Tool (AIOSEO) we use here.

While most SEO tools recommend a score between 60-80, we always strive to exceed that, with many of our Book Award posts receiving a score over 90. We do this through our rigorous attention to detail surrounding the optimization of heading distribution, sentence length, alternative text, key phrases, meta data, tagging, and much more. There’s no replacement for basic elbow grease when it comes to the secret sauce that maximizes our posts so that web crawlers love them and promote our authors’ writings as much as possible. We know from client feedback that it really makes a difference!

Human Beings Make the Difference

A rare photo of the Chanticleer staff all in one place. And, yes, that is a bag pipe under the table.

We are a small business with huge reach that works hard to address every question, email, and comment we receive directly with care, empathy, and expertise. Putting together an internationally attended conference with authors from India, Australia, Portugal, the UK, and other countries takes hours of dedication and careful planning. We bring that same energy and enthusiasm to the CIBAs and promoting the books submitted to us year round

Most of all, the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards is a labor of love!

Love of Books, love of words, love of storytelling, love of authors,

And love of the writing community!

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the 2023 CIBAs and to the outpouring of submissions that have come in to the 2024 CIBAs already! Every year the quality and intensity of the competition is better than the year before, and we are always blown away by the incredible work you send our way.

Thank you for making Chanticleer possible and trusting us with your work!

There’s still time!

You know you want it…

Only 2 CIBA Divisions have closed so far! You can even sneak into the Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction and Ozma Awards for Fantasy Fiction Awards by the end of July! Plus, we have 21 more divisions ready and waiting!

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!
July 31, 2024