Only 10 days 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 Journey, Hearten, Military and Front Line and The Nellie Bly Awards are still open!
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Journey Awards for Overcoming Adversity!
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
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Journey Grand Prize Winner:
Unfollow Me
By Kathryn Caraway
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Hearten Award for Uplifting Non-Fiction!
Genét Simone –Teaching in the Dark
David Hutton –Drums of a Distant Tribe
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi –Diamond: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden –An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Susan Cole –Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
Tony Jeton Selimi –The Unfakeable Code®
And a huge round of applause for our 2024 Hearten Grand Prize Winner:
Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
By Lynne Spriggs O’Connor
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Nellie Bly Award for Long Form Journalism!
Carla Conti – Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir
Kori Reed – Men-in-the-Middle Conversations to Gain Momentum with Gender Equity’s Silent Majority
Bonnie Bley – Stolen Voices: Missing and Murdered in Big Horn County
Sarah Towle – Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands
And a huge round of applause to our 2024 Nellie Bly Grand Prize Winner:
The Sing Sing Files:
One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice
By Dan Slepian
Congratulations to our 2024 Winners of the Military and Front Line Award for Service to Others!
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
And a huge round of applause to the 2024 Military and Front Line Grand Prize Winner!
Memoirs From The Front Lines:
Four states, Two years, One pandemic
By Kim Sloan
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 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 25 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.
You have until August 31st to submit to the 2025 CIBAs!
Elizabeth Cochran Seaman (Better known by her Pen Name, Nellie Bly) created a new brand of Investigative Journalism. Best known for beating Jules Verne’s Around The World in 80 Days in 72 days, and even more amazingly, Going undercover to get herself put into a New York Mental Hospital to then publish an exposé on the unlivable conditions and mistreatment of marginalized women. Journalist, Novelist, Inventor and overall amazing Woman. So its only fitting that our Division for Investigative Journalism be named for the woman who made the genre.
We’re excited to celebrate the excellent caliber of work that we have had the honor of promoting in the CIBAs for Longform Journalism.
The Nellie Bly Awards are one of a kind. Check out the following books to find out why!
The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, And a 20 Year Fight for Justice
By Dan Slepian
In 2002, Dan Slepian, a veteran producer for NBC’s Dateline, received a tip from a Bronx homicide detective that two men were serving twenty-five years to life in prison for a 1990 murder they did not commit.
Haunted by what the detective had told him, Slepian began an investigation of the case that eventually resulted in freedom for the two men and launched Slepian on a two-decade personal and professional journey into a deeply flawed justice system fiercely resistant to rectifying—or even acknowledging—its mistakes and their consequences.
The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justiceis Slepian’s account of challenging that system. The story follows Slepian on years of prison visits, court hearings, and street reporting that led to a series of powerful Dateline episodes and eventually to freedom for four other men and to an especially deep and lasting friendship with one of them, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. From his cell in Sing Sing, JJ aided Slepian in his investigations until his own release in 2021 after decades in prison.
Like Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, The Sing Sing Files is a deeply personal account of wrongful imprisonment and the flaws in our justice system, and a powerful argument for reckoning and accountability. Slepian’s extraordinary book, at once painful and full of hope, shines a light on an injustice whose impact the nation has only begun to confront.
You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America By Paul Kix
Paul Kix shows readers the bloody front lines of the civil rights movement in his novelYou Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America.
This historical nonfiction novel explores in-depth the Birmingham, Alabama campaign known as Project C. Kix dives deep into the minds of dozens of key historical figures who helped orchestrate the campaign, such as Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, and Fred Shuttlesworth. Despite an overwhelming fear of failure, Project C needed to catch the attention of the nation.
When the brutal murder of George Floyd sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, Kix and his wife were faced with the difficult task of explaining racism to their children. Kix, who is white, and his wife, who is Black, chose not to shield them from news coverage of the deaths and the protests that followed.
The jarring footage of Floyd’s death paralleled another startling image: that of a 15-year-old boy being attacked by a German shepherd handled by the Birmingham police.
To many, atrocities such as mass shootings and violent counter-protests seem to appear out of thin air, undertaken by independent actors. But Rita Katz, in her groundbreaking exploration of internet-age terrorism Saints and Soldiers, reveals a sinister ecosystem of violence multiplying worldwide, visible yet largely ignored.
Katz – executive director of the counterterrorist organization SITE Intelligence Group– uses a strategic blend of primary media sources, personal narrative, and research analysis to unearth the haunting truths of internet-age terrorism. Although SITE once focused mainly on monitoring the actions of Islamist terrorist groups, Katz describes how it began applying the same tracking methods to white supremacists and neo-Nazis over a decade ago. As Katz writes, “the internet is more than just an asset for today’s new breed of terrorists. It is a necessity.”
America’s Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor By Nicole Evalina
Comprehensive in its own right, America’s Forgotten Suffragists by Nicole Evelina is an essential addition to the canon of women’s suffrage and first-wave feminism.
Equal parts local history of women’s right to vote in the nineteenth century and biography of Virginia and Francis Minor, America’s Forgotten Suffragists illuminates the story of a wife-and-husband feminist duo who were the first to fight for women’s suffrage at the Supreme Court level.
We learn about the lives of Virginia and Francis Minor by way of historical records, intersecting timelines with other suffragists, and news articles and letters. Virginia Minor was raised on the new and intellectually stimulating University of Virginia campus, where her father worked. Born into a colonial settler and slave-owning family, Virginia came into her own as she grew older, forming abolitionist and feminist beliefs.
Prison From The Inside Out By William “Mecca” Elmore and Susan Simone
Prison from Inside Out: One Man’s Journey from a Life Sentence to Freedom is an illuminating chronicle that tells the story of a man who not only survived the stoniest soil but used his experiences to thrive as a human being.
This arresting memoir is essentially a road trip of William ‘Mecca’ Elmore, a man with a tumultuous childhood, growing up in a neighborhood chock full of social problems. It is in this environment that Elmore is involved in a crime that consequently leads to his arrest and trial. The story builds upon his incarceration in various correctional facilities, his experiences, his release through a Mutual Agreement Parole Program, and his eventual redemption.
In 1887, a young reporter named Nellie Bly feigned mental illness to expose the horrific conditions at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, forever changing how society treated the mentally ill. Her courage to go undercover, endure personal risk, and challenge powerful institutions established a tradition of investigative journalism that continues to hold the powerful accountable and give voice to the voiceless.
The Nellie Bly Awards honor this fearless tradition, celebrating the journalists, researchers, and truth-tellers who dedicate years – sometimes decades – to exposing corruption, fighting injustice, and demanding accountability from systems that would prefer to operate in shadows. These are the stories that don’t just inform readers; they change laws, free the innocent, and restore faith in the power of persistent, ethical journalism.
The Vital Role of Investigative Journalism
In an era of instant news, social media speculation, and AI hallucinations, deep investigative work has never been more crucial. The authors recognized by the Nellie Bly Awards understand that real accountability journalism requires time, resources, and extraordinary persistence. They dig deeper than daily news cycles allow, following leads that others abandon, and asking questions that make uncomfortable people uncomfortable.
The best investigative non-fiction sparks conversations, policy changes, and sometimes legal action that creates lasting positive change. These authors transform individual investigations into broader understanding of systemic issues that affect us all.
Celebrating Our 2024 Grand Prize Winner!
We’re deeply honored to recognize Dan Slepian, whose extraordinary work The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice claimed the 2024 Nellie Bly Grand Prize with an investigation that exemplifies the very best of accountability journalism. What began as a single tip from a Bronx homicide detective in 2002 became a twenty-year personal and professional journey that ultimately freed six innocent men from prison.
Slepian’s story demonstrates the persistence that defines great investigative journalism—years of prison visits, court hearings, and street reporting that challenged a justice system “fiercely resistant to rectifying—or even acknowledging—its mistakes.” His work resulted not only in powerful Dateline episodes but in actual freedom for wrongfully convicted men, including his deep friendship with Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, who aided Slepian’s investigations from his Sing Sing cell until his own release in 2021.
The Sing Sing Files represents investigative journalism at its most vital, exposing systemic flaws while honoring individual human stories, requiring both professional skill and personal courage, and ultimately creating change that extends far beyond the pages of the book. In addition to ongoing promotional features, The Sing Sing Files will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Dan Slepian will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview, and The Sing Sing Files will receive a coveted Chanticleer Editorial Review.
Categories That Cover Every Beat
The Nellie Bly Awards welcome investigative work across every section of the metaphorical newspaper, recognizing that corruption and injustice can emerge anywhere:
Social Science – Research-driven investigations into societal patterns and behaviors
Data Driven Reporting – Stories powered by statistical analysis and empirical evidence
Equality and Justice – Exposés of discrimination and fights for civil rights
Ethics – Investigations into moral failures in institutions and leadership
Human Rights – Documentation of abuses and advocacy for fundamental freedoms
Refugees, Immigrants, Migrants – Stories of displacement and the policies that affect vulnerable populations
Activist Groups – Investigations into movements, both positive and problematic
Crimes and Corruption – Classic investigative journalism exposing criminal behavior and institutional corruption
Environmental – Reporting on ecological crimes and environmental justice
Whistle Blowers – Stories of those brave enough to expose wrongdoing from within
Politics Regional, National, International – Government accountability at every level
Wartime/Military – Investigations into conflicts and military institutions
\Health and Medicine – Medical investigations and healthcare system accountability and interest stories
Nature and the Environment – Environmental science and conservation investigations and interest stories
Pop Culture, Social Issues, Current Events – Contemporary cultural criticism and social analysis
Home & Garden – Largely interest stories focused on how-to home changes and possible investigations that can result
Like the sections of a great newspaper, these categories ensure that no corner of society escapes the scrutiny that democracy requires.
Other August Non-Fiction Opportunities
The Nellie Bly Awards are part of Chanticleer’s comprehensive celebration of narrative non-fiction, all closing at the end of August:
Journey Awards: Courageous stories of overcoming adversity and transforming trauma into purpose
Hearten Awards: Uplifting non-fiction that inspires hope and positive transformation
Check out some of these powerful investigative works we’ve celebrated recently!
You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live
By Paul Kix
Paul Kix shows readers the bloody front lines of the civil rights movement in his novelYou Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America.
This historical nonfiction novel explores in-depth the Birmingham, Alabama campaign known as Project C. Kix dives deep into the minds of dozens of key historical figures who helped orchestrate the campaign, such as Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, and Fred Shuttlesworth. Despite an overwhelming fear of failure, Project C needed to catch the attention of the nation.
When the brutal murder of George Floyd sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, Kix and his wife were faced with the difficult task of explaining racism to their children. Kix, who is white, and his wife, who is Black, chose not to shield them from news coverage of the deaths and the protests that followed.
The jarring footage of Floyd’s death paralleled another startling image: that of a 15-year-old boy being attacked by a German shepherd handled by the Birmingham police.
Dave Tabler’sDelaware from Freeways to E-Wayspresents a nonlinear kaleidoscope view of Delaware’s twentieth-century history, braiding together snapshots of the state through a variety of lenses.
By dissecting the history of the state’s education system, economy, politics, war, technology, social dynamics, religion, agriculture, and conservation of the natural world, this book becomes a patchwork quilt of Delaware’s contributions to recent American history.
Tabler strategically places historical images throughout the first half of the book to help paint a vivid picture of what Delaware life has been like across the years. The second half of the book then expounds on every snapshot, allowing the reader to pursue the parts that most interest them. Tabler concludes each of these deeper dives by describing the impacts on present-day Delaware and America. These threads of connection to current events help the reader find meaning within the overall arc of history.
Italians in the Pacific Northwest
By Tessa Floreano
Tessa Floreano’sItalians in the Pacific Northwest is an inviting pictorial narrative featuring both ordinary and extraordinary individuals of Italian heritage who helped to create and develop Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Concentrating on the decades from 1880 to 1950, Floreano begins by referencing the earliest Italian explorers of the Pacific Northwest Territory, then quickly moves to the efforts of those who sought a better life through hard work and new opportunities on American shores.
Floreano’s research shows through the fascinating details of this book.
She includes stories, photographs, and memorabilia to highlight both the struggles and triumphs of these pioneering Italian Americans. From the backbreaking labor of building the road and rail infrastructure that connected this new land, to working in the coal mines, logging and milling the giant cedars, farming the soil, fishing the waters, and becoming savvy entrepreneurs, these people proved a hearty, steadfast bunch.
I Am a Prisoner of Hope
By Samuel Ole Lotegeluaki, Ph.D.
Author Samuel Ole Lotegeluaki, PhD, states in the very title of this book, I Am a Prisoner of Hope. He goes on to explain why this is the case and why hope is central to our beingness.
A Maasai originally from Tanzania and one of three boys in a family with eight children, Lotegeluaki has been living in the United States for many years and has seen much good and much bad, in the country and around the world. In defiance of social inequality and bigotry, Lotegelauki maintains a strong belief in human unity, “Day and night I am reminded of the fact that we as human beings, regardless of culture, language, religion, gender, skin color or social economic status, are all under God’s huge canopy, and we are convincingly related.” He reminds us, “You may not look exactly like me, but rest assured, we are not just related, but more importantly, we are siblings.”
Lotegeluaki tells the reader his experiences, the histories of places he has lived and the people he has met, and observes what each has to teach and offer humanity. He remains dedicated to the pursuit of togetherness within diversity, no matter our differences. In Chapter Four, “Grandmother’s Quilt,” he uses the metaphor of a handmade quilt with emotional overtones and ties to explain human nature and all that it entails.
To many, atrocities such as mass shootings and violent counter-protests seem to appear out of thin air, undertaken by independent actors. But Rita Katz, in her groundbreaking exploration of internet-age terrorismSaints and Soldiers, reveals a sinister ecosystem of violence multiplying worldwide, visible yet largely ignored.
Katz– executive director of the counterterrorist organization SITE Intelligence Group– uses a strategic blend of primary media sources, personal narrative, and research analysis to unearth the haunting truths of internet-age terrorism. Although SITE once focused mainly on monitoring the actions of Islamist terrorist groups, Katz describes how it began applying the same tracking methods to white supremacists and neo-Nazis over a decade ago. As Katz writes, “the internet is more than just an asset for today’s new breed of terrorists. It is a necessity.”
ThroughoutSaints and Soldiers, Katz uses her decades of intensive experience to describe how a new generation of internet-born white supremacist movements followed the same trajectory as ISIS. She exposes the network of threads that link white supremacist violence such as the Christchurch massacre of 2019 to their origins on messaging platforms such as 8chan, Discord, Stormfront, and Telegram. Indoctrinating vulnerable minds with extremist neo-Nazi ideology, these violent groups use a “screw your optics” mantra that celebrates gruesome violence and the “saints” and “martyrs” that drive their hateful cause.
These works demonstrate how great investigative journalism combines rigorous research with compelling storytelling to create accountability and change.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
The CIBAs offer multiple levels of recognition designed to augment your digital footprint and provide long-tail marketing that makes you easier for readers to find. Each reward builds on the previous and continues promotion:
Long List: Recognition across our website, newsletter, and social media
Short List/Semi-Finalist: Digital badges and promotional stickers
Finalists: Conference discounts, review discounts, certificates, and genre-specific badges
First Place Winners: Coveted Chanticleer Blue Ribbon, premium review discounts, lifetime Roost membership discount, and year-round promotion
Grand Prize Winners: Awarded Editorial Book Review and Author Interview, featured on Awards page all year, promoted in Hall of Fame articles for five years
Overall Grand Prize Winner: $1000 cash prize
The Nellie Bly Awards provide recognition for work that often takes years to complete and may challenge powerful interests who would prefer these stories remain untold. Whether you’re a professional journalist, academic researcher, or citizen investigator, these awards celebrate the courage and persistence required to hold the powerful accountable and give voice to those who need advocates.
Carry Forward the Legacy
In Nellie Bly’s tradition, the best investigative journalism requires both courage and compassion—the bravery to challenge systems and the empathy to understand how those systems affect real people. Your investigation, your exposé, your carefully researched account of injustice or corruption could be the story that creates change, demands accountability, or gives voice to those who have been silenced.
To many, atrocities such as mass shootings and violent counter-protests seem to appear out of thin air, undertaken by independent actors. But Rita Katz, in her groundbreaking exploration of internet-age terrorism Saints and Soldiers, reveals a sinister ecosystem of violence multiplying worldwide, visible yet largely ignored.
Katz– executive director of the counterterrorist organization SITE Intelligence Group– uses a strategic blend of primary media sources, personal narrative, and research analysis to unearth the haunting truths of internet-age terrorism. Although SITE once focused mainly on monitoring the actions of Islamist terrorist groups, Katz describes how it began applying the same tracking methods to white supremacists and neo-Nazis over a decade ago. As Katz writes, “the internet is more than just an asset for today’s new breed of terrorists. It is a necessity.”
Throughout Saints and Soldiers, Katz uses her decades of intensive experience to describe how a new generation of internet-born white supremacist movements followed the same trajectory as ISIS. She exposes the network of threads that link white supremacist violence such as the Christchurch massacre of 2019 to their origins on messaging platforms such as 8chan, Discord, Stormfront, and Telegram. Indoctrinating vulnerable minds with extremist neo-Nazi ideology, these violent groups use a “screw your optics” mantra that celebrates gruesome violence and the “saints ” and “martyrs” that drive their hateful cause.
Katz reveals her first-hand experiences with neo-Nazi organizations that have targeted her and her community for their counterterrorist work and her vulnerable identity as an Iraq-born, Jewish woman. Saints and Soldiers cements Katz’s commitment to creating a safer future for her loved ones and the world at large.
While the truth of this violence may seem hopeless, Katz urges readers to keep reasonable goals toward change in sight.
Katz faults the US government and tech companies with responding too late and neglecting the warning signs pointing toward future violent actions. While any internet posts connected to ISIS are treated with immediate action, white supremacist violence is largely ignored or dismissed with an excuse of “free speech.” As a result, responsible actors miss obvious signs pointing toward real danger. Katz implores tech companies to extend the digital walls that they have created to block ISIS terrorism to white supremacist platforms whenever possible, halting their ability to attract and radicalize more people.
Katz’s intense storytelling does not shy away from reality, however grim.
Graphic descriptions of terrorist attacks tied to antisemitism, racism, sexism, and xenophobia will resurrect fresh mourning in readers. However, although shocking, Katz’s writing is widely accessible. Rather than relying solely on written text, Katz incorporates images, screenshots of social media posts, tweets, and extremist artwork, creating a multimedia project that allows readers to deeply invest in and connect with the truth of her research. Similarly, Katz carefully deconstructs the process SITE uses to investigate possible terrorist concerns, bringing ethical transparency into a conversation often concealed from the larger public.
Saints and Soldiers is eloquent, eye-opening, and timely. Katz compares and contrasts white nationalist neo-Nazi internet terrorist groups with the declining presence of ISIS extremist organizations, searching for solutions to violence. Threads of true stories weave together a chilling portrait of white supremacist terrorist threats proliferating in plain sight, while offering steps toward safety.
We recently reorganized our Book Awards program at the request of our readers to keep a more even balance for reading and to lighten the load during the holiday season. As we settle into this new schedule, we’re hearing great feedback from authors regarding the best times for them to submit their work. This depends on conferences and workshops (many of which are genre specific) where they can regularly receive feedback and writing retreats that allow them to finish their manuscripts. Thank you to everyone who reaches out and makes our Awards a success every year!
Elizabeth Cochran Seaman (Better known by her Pen Name, Nellie Bly) created a new brand of Investigative Journalism. Best known for beating Jules Verne’s Around The World in 80 Days in 72 days, and even more amazingly, Going undercover to get herself put into a New York Mental Hospital to then publish an exposé on the unlivable conditions and mistreatment of marginalized women. Journalist, Novelist, Inventor and overall amazing Woman. So its only fitting that our Division for Investigative Journalism be named for the woman who made the genre.
We’re excited to share some of our favorite reviews featuring Journalistic Non-Fiction worthy of (and often winning) the Nellie Bly Awards!
The Black Foster Youth Handbook By Angela Quijada-Banks
The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I Learned to successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal is a distinguished compilation of award-winning author Ángela Quijada-Banks’ insights, seeking to assist those in foster care to stay optimistic and triumph over traumatic experiences.
The text features the author’s candid revelations regarding the disarray she encountered in foster care and the overwhelming emotional roller coaster she underwent through family upheavals and a heart-breaking rift between her siblings.
Foster care had seen her forget her goals and aspirations, as traumas and emotional misfortunes spread their venom in her soul. Banks had found herself misplaced, perplexed, wounded, irate, and unloved. Her background, past wounds, and pessimistic beliefs ruled over her. In a painful recap, she reveals how she became accustomed to constant alarming incidents, creating in her a perpetual state of survival.
Prison From the Inside Out By William ‘Mecca’ Elmore and Susan Simone
Prison from Inside Out: One Man’s Journey from a Life Sentence to Freedom is an illuminating chronicle that tells the story of a man who not only survived the stoniest soil but used his experiences to thrive as a human being.
This arresting memoir is essentially a road trip of William ‘Mecca’ Elmore, a man with a tumultuous childhood, growing up in a neighborhood chock full of social problems. It is in this environment that Elmore is involved in a crime that consequently leads to his arrest and trial. The story builds upon his incarceration in various correctional facilities, his experiences, his release through a Mutual Agreement Parole Program, and his eventual redemption.
In the Federal Prison Handbook-The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prison, Christopher Zoukis has meticulously identified, collected, and organized a compendium of information regarding life in federal prison. Zoukis’ straightforward writing, free of personal bias or opinion, is neither mysterious nor titillating—reality is not sensationalized—it’s not fiction, it’s the facts.
However, if through some twist of fate, you or a loved one finds yourself in the unthinkable situation of going to prison, it may become the best book you’ve ever read.
Consider. You’ve been sentenced to serve time in one of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ 125 stand-alone facilities, a private contract facility, or a satellite prison camp scattered throughout the United States. You, who need directions to find your way through Costco to the deli, must now enter an unfamiliar world with its own lexicon, rules, and consequences. How will you survive?
A realistic, up-close look at life as a cancer patient and survivor. The Breast Is History is a strong tool of hope and humor in the darkest days of any woman’s life.
In September 2011, Bronwyn Hope received her initial diagnosis of breast cancer; by March 2013 she had had both breasts removed, had gone through numerous chemo and radiation treatments, taken thousands of pills, and come out of it with a gritty, positive philosophy.
When she was first diagnosed, a close friend advised her to start a blog, something very far from her mind at that moment. But, her friend reasoned, she could inspire others with her story. This was not a fanciful idea, given that Bronwyn was and is a powerhouse—an avid athlete, media maven, entrepreneur, activist, mother, and writer. She took her friend’s advice and this book is the result, a sometimes day-by-day journal of her battle with a disease she admits we often think of as a death sentence.
For untold millennia, the region that would come to be known as Whatcom was occupied by the indigenous conglomerate of tribes known as the Salish, who were peaceful and civilized. The Nooksack, who are a part of the Coast Salish, spent their time fishing, building canoes, weaving, and farming. In the 1850s, that began to change as the native peoples had to learn to co-exist with a new incursion of settlers—hardy people from the Eastern states and as far away as Europe.
They came to the region with the lure of inexpensive land ownership that had been made possible by the Homestead Act. A few had drifted in earlier when false rumors of gold were sounded, those early explorations revealing arable land and an abundance of natural resources.
Early homesteaders found the resources both sustaining and at times, daunting. For example, the trees themselves were so enormous that felling them was perilous, and logjams were frequent, cutting off the river’s flow. The winters were harsh and the summers, bug-infested. But families like the Galbraiths (the author’s ancestors) were hardy and determined. By the early 1900s, a thriving town had been established.
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 NELLIE BLYAwards was:
Saints & Soldiers
by Rita Katz
A gripping account of the parallel rise of Islamic Terrorist groups compared to White Supremacist Groups. Thoroughly researched, an expert author, and a chilling book.
Explore the accomplished minds that have graced the winner’s circle of the Nellie Bly Awards. Be inspired by the depth and breadth of investigative journalism as we celebrate the achievements of the 2022 Nellie Bly Award Winners.
You have until August 31st to submit to the 2023 CIBAs!
Elizabeth Cochran Seaman (Better known by her Pen Name, Nellie Bly) created a new brand of Investigative Journalism. Best known for beating Jules Verne’s Around The World in 80 Days in 72 days, and even more amazingly, Going undercover to get herself put into a New York Mental Hospital to then publish an exposé on the unlivable conditions and mistreatment of marginalized women. Journalist, Novelist, Inventor and overall amazing Woman. So its only fitting that our Division for Investigative Journalism be named for the woman who made the genre.
We’re excited to celebrate the excellent caliber of work that we have had the honor of promoting in the CIBAs for Longform Journalism.
The Nellie Bly Awards are one of a kind. Check out the following books to find out why!
Prison From The Inside Out By William “Mecca” Elmore and Susan Simone
Prison from Inside Out: One Man’s Journey from a Life Sentence to Freedom is an illuminating chronicle that tells the story of a man who not only survived the stoniest soil but used his experiences to thrive as a human being.
This arresting memoir is essentially a road trip of William ‘Mecca’ Elmore, a man with a tumultuous childhood, growing up in a neighborhood chock full of social problems. It is in this environment that Elmore is involved in a crime that consequently leads to his arrest and trial. The story builds upon his incarceration in various correctional facilities, his experiences, his release through a Mutual Agreement Parole Program, and his eventual redemption.
Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D., introduces the journalistic theories of Walter Lippmann in her new non-fiction work, Shaping Public Opinion: How Real Advocacy Journalism™ Should be Practiced.
Walter Lippmann, considered one of the foremost journalists in the field over the last 100 years, was a mentor in absentia of Dr. Ellis in the art of advocacy journalism. During Lippmann’s 40+ year career, his columns were syndicated in over 250 newspapers nationwide and over 25 other international news and information outlets. Lippman focused on the ethical dissemination of information, especially about communities, society, and the world. A theory, which Dr. Ellis calls Real Advocacy Journalism™.
Reviews are forthcoming for recent winners, and you can see the full list of 2021 winners here and 2022 winners here. Huge congratulations again to all our Winners!
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 NELLIE BLYAwards is:
America’s Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor
by Nicole Evelina
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 NELLIE BLYAwards is:
Saints & Soldiers
by Rita Katz
Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Nellie Bly 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!
Be Part of the Legacy: Join the Illustrious Roster of Winners
As the deadline for the 2023 Nellie Bly Awards creeps closer, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the exceptional achievers.
