The HARVEY CHUTE Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Business and Enterprise Non-fiction. The Harvey Chute Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring motivational, strategy, technology guides, social media, finance, investing & money, communications, marketing, business, and economics. We will put these books 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 2022 Harvey Chute Non-Fiction entries to the 2022 Harvey Chute Book Awards SHORT LIST. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).
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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the Finalists Level of Achievement for the 2022 Harvey Chute Book Awards novel competition for Business, Finance, and Enterprise Non-Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
J.W. Huebner – The Irrelevant Old Brand: A Business Fable About Taking Your Brand from Mediocre to Must-Have
Melina Palmer – What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You
Bruce Graham – Unemployment and You
Melina Palmer – What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You
Joanne Griffin & Declan Foster – Humology
Christopher H. Volk – The Value Equation: A Business Guide to Wealth Creation for Entrepreneurs, Leaders and Investors
Mitzi Perdue – Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
Morag Barrett – You, Me, We: Why we all need a friend at work (and how to show up as one!)
Chad Carr – The Art and Science of Culture: The Power of Seeing What’s Hidden
Edmund Yeung – Winning Your Biggest Paycheck
E. Alan Fleischauer – Reconfigurement
Louise Carnachan – Work Jerks: How to Cope with Difficult Bosses and Colleagues
Asha Aravindakshan – Skills: The Common Denominator
Donna McCart Welser – Rue’s Butterfly
Jeff Kavanaugh and Corey Glickman – Practical Sustainability: Circular Commerce, Smarter Spaces and Happier Humans
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
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.
The I & I Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Instruction and Insight non-fiction that are self-help, how-to, guides, or explanatory. In non-fiction works, the author assumes responsibility (in good faith) for the truth, accuracy, people, places, or information presented. The I & I Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best Instruction and Insight books featuring How-To, Guidance, Travel Guides, Cookbooks, Self-Help, 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 2022 I&I Non-Fiction entries to the 2022 I&I Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2022 I&I 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 (CAC23).
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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 I&I Book Awards novel competition for Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Tana Hope – Healthy Habits for Desk Potatoes
Kenneth Nixon Jr. – Born Into Crisis
John W. Feist – Pocket Japan: a concise guidebook for business travelers to Japan
Deborah Vinall, PsyD, LMFT – Trauma Recovery Workbook for Teens
Kip and Pam Rosser – Vegetarian Tales From the Mushroom Rooms
Natalie Dale, MD – A Writer’s Guide to Medicine. Volume 2: Illness & Injury
Kerrin Margiano – Enjoy the Gift of Childhood
Simran Sadana & Meena Iyer – Ramayana Through Ikebana
Michael J. Freeman Ph.D. – Freeman Explains! The Things That Can Change That Should Be Changed
Matthew J. Louis – Mission Transition: Navigating the Opportunities and Obstacles to Your Post-Military Career
Gene Berardelli – Schnooks, Crooks, Liars & Scoundrels: A Field Guide to Identifying Political Buffoons
Wendela Whitcomb Marsh – Dating While Autistic: Cut Through the Social Quagmire and Find Your Person
Mitzi Perdue – Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
Christopher H. Volk – The Value Equation: A Business Guide to Wealth Creation for Entrepreneurs, Leaders and Investors
Daniel Shyti – American Gaslighting: How America Is Being Systematically Taught to Hate Itself
Ellen Notbohm – Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew
Gustavo J. Gomez, Ph.D. – Hair Loss: Options for Restoration & Reversal 2nd Edition
Ann E Feldman – Building Communities of Trust: Creative Work for Social Change
Margaret Tran – The ACTIONS
E. Alan Fleischauer – Reconfigurement
D. TERRENCE FOSTER, MD – The Stress Book: Forty-Plus Ways to Manage Stress & Enjoy Your Life
Tracy Cram Perkins – Dementia Home Care, How to Prepare Before, During, and After
Sandy Gerber – Emotional Magnetism – How to Communicate to Ignite Connection in Your Relationships
Donna McCart Welser – Rue’s Butterfly
Jocelyn Jones – Artist: Awakening the Spirit Within
Jennifer Browdy – Purposeful Memoir as a Quest for a Thriving Future
Linda Kolsky – Heavenly Hindsights: How One Mother Found Meaning in Life After the Death of Her Child
Benjamin Plumb – The Satisfied Introvert: A Memoir About Finding Safety in an Extroverted World
Daryl Potter – Even the Monsters. Living with Grief, Loss, and Depression
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post.
We are now accepting submissions to the 2023 I&I Book Awards for Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.
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.
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Uplifting & Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir. The Hearten Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Hearten Non-Fiction entries to the 2022 Hearten Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Hearten 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 (CAC23).
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 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspirational Non-Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
Bill Leone – My Life With My Wife
Kerrin Margiano – Enjoy the Gift of Childhood
Ed Norwood – Be a Giant Killer: Overcoming Your Everyday Goliaths
Mitzi Perdue – Mark Victor Hansen, RELENTLESS
Megan Whitmer – Mom Life Versus the Everyday Apocalypse
Laura Whitfield – Untethered: Faith, Failure, and Finding Solid Ground
Regina Petra Meyer – Change of Course: Sailing into Love & Adversity on Caribbean Shores
Ann E Feldman – Building Communities of Trust: Creative Work for Social Change
Randi Benator – Awaken to Your Calling: A Guide to Discovering Your Career Path and Life Direction
Beverly J. Armento – Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope
C.J. Hudson – Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street
Mark Berridge – A Fraction Stronger
Kyomi O’Connor – A Sky of Infinite Blue- A Japanese Immigrant’s Search for Home and Self
Mohan Ranga Rao – Inner Trek – Trek Himalayan
Roselle Madrone, Robin Detmer, & Kris Dutter – The Open Book: A Family Memoir of Adventure, Trauma, and Resilience
Jocelyn Jones – Artist: Awakening the Spirit Within
Janet Thompson – The Golfer’s Wife: From Birdies to Quadruple Bogies and the Rough in Between
Jackie Haines – Pinball, the Stray I Needed
Laura Bartnick – Being Creative
Benjamin Plumb – The Satisfied Introvert: A Memoir About Finding Safety in an Extroverted World
Mike Coleman – The Way from Me to Us
Linda C Wright – A Bittersweet Goodnight
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews
Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.
Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.
The Grand Prize Winner for the 2021 HEARTEN Awards is Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo for DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them
We are now accepting submissions into the 2023 Hearten Book Awards for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction & Memoir. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC24.
Winners will be announced at the 2022 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!
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.
You have an idea. Not just any idea, a big idea! We’re talking ten thousand pages, hundreds of thousands of words, the next Great Doorstop of a novel!
Consider breaking that up into a series!
It might be easier to split up the book digitally
Smaller books are more accessible, and a series keeps you in the front of your readers’ minds. With books consistently coming out, winning awards, and receiving reviews, the marketing for those happens much more naturally than having to bring out a backlist of unrelated novels. When a book takes place in a series, a reader who read an earlier book already knows they’re going like what they pick up.
Theme is the central idea of the series. Your theme informs the main character’s goal, their motivation to pursue that goal, and the threats to their success.
Your stories are grounded in the theme. A hero who saves the world from evil plans will experience different challenges than two teenage friends who love to solve small-town mysteries. The theme helps you maintain the tone of each book in the series. If one book is filled with irony and another is deadly serious, your readers will be disappointed and stop reading. That’s why your theme is important to the success of the entire series.
There’s no guaranteed formula, but you can start out by doing some serious research into great series that have already succeeded. The tools you discover will help fashion unique work for you and your voice.
Let’s Dive in!
Research and Read
All good story research starts somewhere
Everyone will tell you to be a great writer, you should be a great reader. Think about the series you want to write, and ask yourself: What authors do I admire who are doing something similar? You’re going to want to look through their books for all that we will discuss here, as well as comparing it to your own understanding of structure and what makes a good story.
Now that you have your list and a running understanding of what’s making the books work, you can take notes on what your favorite series are doing that makes them your favorite series! Your notes should cover the important events in each book, and then ask yourself what the overall point of the book was, and finally how did that book fit into the series as a whole.
With regards to character, you’ll want to examine which central characters return, and how many new characters come on the scene (these are named characters where you receive background on them and they have a non-trivial impact on your main cast).
At the end, do a comparison of themes between books and ask how they relate to other books in the series.
Here are some of our favorite series that also won First Place in the Series Awards! you could look through for ideas. Let us know if any of them are similar to what you want to write!
“Children understand that ‘once upon a time’ refers not only – not even primarily – to the past, but to the impalpable regions of the present, the deeper places inside us where princes and dragons, wizards and talking birds, impassable roads, impossible tasks, and happy endings have always existed, alive and bursting with psychic power.” ~ Stephen Mitchell
From the first must-be-transporting words to the shattering conclusion, readers demand layers of fantastical invention. It all begins with a captivating opening salvo.
“Once upon a time” or “A long, long time ago” makes a promise to your readers. Open these pages and you’ve been wrested from your 21st century sphere. You are about to enter a kind of dream world, encounter wonderment, and find age-old conflicts wearing fantastical guises.
While fantasy is untethered from our current world, as in real life, don’t make promises you cannot keep. You’ve got to deliver an adventure so potent it invades the reader’s senses and alters his or her heartrate. Your adventure needs a diverse cast, a clash of titans, and the wondrous–dragons soaring overhead, ancient spells and curses, night walkers, or battles fought over lands or pride or brute necessity.
Khal Drugo – Game of Thrones
Opening sentences are everything
They start the whole transporting apparatus to assure readers they’ve landed in a faraway time and place. Amid a world of richly embroidered textures, sights, tastes, smells, and sounds all while entanglements with a fascinating cast of characters are underway. A world that has a carefully built history, scenes unfolding in distinct reality replete with atmosphere, tension and mood.
Is Your Opening Delivering:
Characters tossed off balance somehow by a force outside themselves.
A nettling question emerges that demands answers.
Something is amiss. The opening acts typically create threats. Humans are biologically programed to respond to threat, but will go along for the ride anyway. Because, after all, the threat is long ago and far away.
Introduce story people we’ll never meet in the real world. Story people we just can’t quit. People we can follow up close. So close we can hear their laughter or scorn, smell the stink from their terror, or experience what has lit their fierce desires.
Readers need to care about who is threatened. Some aspect of the main characters need to be identifiable, possibly pitiful, worrying, or vexing. Has life already handed your protagonist near-starving rations or brutality? Or has a royal family member longed to escape to an ordinary life?
No matter if dreaded, or later regretted, a choice must be made. {Excuse the almost-rhyme.”}
Note from Kiffer: This is where I paused to reread the opening lines of A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian. Yes, each one delivered!
“Perfect words in perfect places”
Which brings us to oh-so important first lines with those perfect words. Let’s forget about first person or third person for now.
Start with a powerful moment.
Don’t be afraid to startle the reader.
Always create a mood and perhaps a stirring dread.
As in these examples:
“The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is famous for wizards.” Ursula K. Leguinn,A Wizard of Earthsea
“Logen plunged through the forest, bare feet slipping and sliding on the wet earth, the slush, the wet pine needles, breath rasping in his chest, blood thumping in his chest. He stumbled and sprawled onto his side, nearly cut his chest open with his own axe, lay there panting, peering through the shadowy forest.” Joe Ambercrombie, The Blade Itself
“The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do.” Hugh Howey, Wool
“Sometimes, I fear I’m not the hero everyone thinks I am.” Brandon Sandborne,Mistborn:The FinalEmpire
“When Lilia was four years old, her mother filled a shallow dish with her blood and fed it to the boars that patrolled the thorned fence.” Kameron Hurley,The Mirror Empire
Something is surely amiss, right? I’m especially struck by the opening ofThe Blade Itselfbecause I’ve hiked many a wet forest living here in the Pacific Northwest. But not barefoot. Never barefoot.
And what is a felling night?Feeding a child’s blood to boars? Shiver. Make that an icy shiver.
I need to know more, don’t you?
Take care. Have heart. Jessica
Jessica Page Morrell
Jessica Morrell is a top-tier developmental editor and a contributor to Chanticleer Reviews Media and to the Writer’s Digest magazine. She teaches Master Writing Craft Classes along with sessions at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that is held annually along with teaching at Chanticleer writing workshops that are held throughout the year.
Jessica Morrell’s Classes and Workshops at CAC22
June 23 – 26, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.
You can register for her Master Writing Class here – Using Film Techniques for Writers
Using Film Techniques for Fiction Writers– Camera angles, method acting for getting into a character’s pov, and creating subtext and tight dialogue
Your Brain on Writing
Captivating Co-Starsthat add depth to your work-in-progress
We are delighted to welcome Jodé Millman to present “Protecting Your Artistic Rights” at CAC22!
Jodé Millmanis a life long resident of Poughkeepsie, New York, which serves as the setting for her crime fiction. Her writing draws upon her many years as an attorney to capture the tensions that arise when a small community is rocked by tragedy.
Author of the best-selling SEATS: NEW YORK Theatre guidebook, her debut thriller, The Midnight Call was released by Immortal Works Publishing in 2019. The Midnight Call won the 2020 Bronze IPPY Award, the American Fiction Award for Legal Thriller, was short-listed for the 2019 Clue Award, and received the First Place Blue Ribbon as “Best Police Procedural” by Chantireviews.com.
Jode will present the following session at CAC 22: The Writer’s Law School: Protecting Your Artistic Rights
For writers, it’s difficult to obtain information about protecting your rights in your creative projects. And if you do, it’s difficult to decipher the “legalese.”
In this workshop designed for writers, we’ll cover the basics of copyrights, trademarks and key provisions of publishing contracts so that you’ll understand the fine print without having a law degree.
Details
In this session, you’ll learn:
The differences between Copyright, Trademarks, Patents and Service Marks
The Copyright Registration Process and the CASE law
What is the Public Domain?
What is the Fair Use Doctrine?
Which Business Entity is best for my writing career?
What are the Right of: Privacy, Libel and Slander?
Her new thriller, Hooker Avenueis being released by Level Best Books in April 2022.
Millman developed “The Writer’s Law School,” an educational program designed to inform writers and artists about how to protect their artistic rights. Jode has presented the program to international writing associations, arts organizations and libraries. The schedule for her session on Law and Writing is TBA.
Presently, she also co-hosts and co-producesBackstage with the BardavonPodcast. The program invites the listener backstage for intimate conversations with musicians and performers appearing at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and UPAC in Kingston, NY. Find it wherever you listent o fine podcasts. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters In Crime, and Romance Writers of America.
Life is full of ups and downs, but you know that it’s those things that inspire and uplift us, that hearten us so we can make it through each day and onto the next. This doesn’t mean every day is easy, but it does follow the idea that every cloud has a silver lining.
The Hearten Awards came into existence thanks to the Journey Awards. In addition to burgeoning submissions of narrative Non-Fiction and Memoirs, our six Non-Fiction Awards have been exploding in popularity. The competition has never been steeper, and the time to submit has never been better. You can see the full list of Non-Fiction Awards here.
We saw the Hearten Awards as a necessary addition due to the high number of stories we receive that inspire us to live a life full of love and joy as best we can. These stories are heartwarming, empowering, and help show us a world where we are our best selves.
Tenets of Uplifting Fiction
While this fiction often has religious undertones, that isn’t alway the case, and even when there is religious inspiration at work in the text, it doesn’t proselytize or distract from the narrative at hand. The work is still meant to engage and delight readers with or without a faith background.
Handholding is a-okay in Heartwarming Non-Fiction
What the work does not include is violence, profanity, or explicit sexual content. Despite this, the emotional impact and journey taken in most inspirational texts can often lead the reader to tears, so don’t take that light-heartedness lightly. Also, don’t count out romance! Inspirational fiction has it all!
If you love writing inspirational fiction or are interested in learning to write more of it, reading it is a great way to learn more. Here are heartwarming books that we’ve read and would recommend!
A YEAR of LIVING KINDLY
By Donna Cameron
First Place Winner in I&I Awards
Donna Cameron’s guide,A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You, invites readers to live more richly, thoroughly, and fruitfully.
Perhaps the best way to enjoy Cameron’s guide to kindness is to drink it in slowly, for a year, as its structure suggests. Savoring one of its 52 meditations – thoughtful, introspective, resonate, and wide-ranging discussions – each week. She turns to a new topic grouping with the advent of each new month, traversing the four parts, the “seasons,” as the year progresses.
Dan Juday’s memoirWaltzing A Two-Stepis a humble and compassionate look at his formative years.
Born a few years after the second world war, Dan experiences a peaceful and happy childhood in rural Indiana, moving frequently before the family settles on a rural area of land named Springwood in Clinton County, Indiana. The Juday family were devout Catholics and enrolled Dan and his siblings in Catholic schools until the family moved to Springwood. Public school became the only option for the siblings. There Dan does his best to fit in but his status as a minority Catholic in a mostly Protestant community in the 1950s brings its own challenges.
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.
Odyssey of Love: A Memoir of Seeking and Finding by Linda Jämsén is an utterly charming Eastern European take on Eat – Pray – Love.
This odyssey begins with its 40-something author exchanging her job and dead-end relationship in Boston for two years in Budapest. The goal? To explore new career opportunities, live an adventurous life as an American expat in Europe, and, possibly, hopefully, find her soulmate.
Looking to submit to our other Non-Fiction Divisions? See them all here!
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
And remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Writer’s Toolbox
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Spotlight Article.
Spiritual guidance is often difficult to talk about
No matter who you are, there’s probably some baggage in your life tied into your personal development in terms of your mind and spirit than we’d like to admit.
Have you had a spiritual journey or advice for people in their own quest for well-being?
As Self-Help books become more and more popular with books about enlightenment and well-being have made mindfulness a household term. Publisher’s Weekly puts it nicely:
“Mindfulness” is everywhere in publishing — and in American society. Its roots are in Buddhist religious practice around meditative attention — focusing on fully inhabiting the present moment without attachment to external experiences or inner emotions and thoughts. But it is also grounded in modern scientific research into the mind-body connection. Thus “mindfulness” has become fertile ground for books across multiple categories, including health, spirituality, popular science, and self-help.
Of course, there’s some overlap between the Mind & Spirit Book Awards and the I&I Book Awards. You are always welcome to submit to both, but the question of spirituality is really what drives home the difference between the two divisions.
No matter what kind of spiritual book you are writing, experience is often key
Offering support, care, and advice to people in a book is huge undertaking that should be treated seriously. In writing, be sure to be mindful of the practices you borrow from and where they lead. In teaching, the strongest instructors know how to admit they don’t know something while inexperienced teachers will often try to conceal their lack of knowledge. When people read a Mind & Spirit book, they are offering the author vulnerability, and it can help for the author to be vulnerable in return.
Publishers Weekly also offers a word of caution:
The term mindfulness can be “very fraught,” agreed Lil Copan, senior acquisitions editor at Broadleaf Books, particularly if it has been “diluted in its origin” in Buddhism. Christian authors often want to avoid acknowledging the Buddhist roots of mindfulness as a practice, connecting it instead with Christian contemplative practices they trace to the early church, or merely using “mindfulness” as a substitute for words like “presence” or, in the Quaker context, “quietude.” Still, Copan said that even amid concern about using the term, mindfulness is “such a good word. It does so much work that I can’t think of another word in which you aren’t saying 30 words or long sentences to get at what most people think of as mindfulness.”
It makes sense that such a thoughtful genre would require serious thought before jumping in, but luckily, at Chanticleer, we work with serious authors who approach their writing with care.
As always, reading in a genre helps writing in that genre. Check out our recommendations below!
GUIDED to WISDOM: The JOURNEY to EMOTIONAL HEALING
By Susan D’Agostino
Susan D’Agostino has wisdom to share, garnered from a lengthy battle with cancer and the medical establishment. This is her intimate story.
“In 2002 I found a lump in my breast, maybe the size of a pea.” Like anyone faced with a possible dire diagnosis, D’Agostino was scared and confused. Her encounters with medical people left her feeling like a statistic, and when she got the dreaded prognosis after a painful biopsy, it was accompanied by the standard recommended next steps: months of chemo and radiation treatment. Fearing the treatment almost as much as the cancer, she sought alternative healing methods.
SACRED LIFE: Healing from the Virus in Consciousness
By Bedri Cag Cetin
In his biographical work, Sacred Life: Healing from the Virus in Consciousness, Bedri Cag Cetin, Ph.D. explains his version of “The Golden Key,” a phrase he uses to formulate an “Inner Guide” which seeks above all else “…peace, happiness and harmony for all involved.”
Cetin uses his advanced education, world travels, failed and then healed personal relationships, business dealings, and training under spiritual leaders to formulate his thoughts. According to Cetin, decisions based on or that cause fear, chaos, or blame reflect Ego-driven actions in one’s journey toward inner peace; whereas using one’s Inner Guide to make decisions will result in peace and harmony.
InThe YOU beyond you – The knowledge of the willing, Ramzi Najjar addresses his audience with the contemplative calm of a mystic guru and the fervor of an old-time evangelist, in a how-to guide to good health, happiness, and inner peace as a personal philosophic treatise addressing the physical and spiritual quality of life in the 21stcentury.
In the Preface, Najjar quickly captures readers’ attention with the question, “In a chaotic world, and a life of prevalent restlessness, how can we make sense of the non-sensical?”
The Druids are not just a fictional group of magic wielders in funny hats, but a people of ancient Celtic cultures that prosper to this day. If you are looking for a short, accessible guide to the history and way of life of the Druid people, Ilene Birkwood offers an easy to understand introduction to Druidry in The Druids: An Informal Read. Druidry is not a religion like some may think, but a way of life through peace and preservation of nature.
Druids have seen a surge in numbers in recent years as a result of people around the globe feeling dissatisfied in a world continually damaged by pollution, greed, and war. These people wish to promote a more peaceful and simpler way of life. Birkwood’s guide touches on different areas of the culture throughout the long history of the druids, such as their education system, various sacred sites, history of persecution, and, yes, their roles as witches. Birkwood even shows us how Druidry is practiced today.
COCOON of CANCER: an INVITATION to LOVE DEEPLY
By Abbe Rolnick & Jim Wiggins
When author Abbe Rolnick’s husband Jim Wiggins slipped off a ladder in 2013, he was told he had osteopenia and would need to rest his back. He and Abbe went to Africa, but the pain persisted, in fact, got worse. Finally, the author “…got the call, the one every person dreads.” Jim had cancer, a rare, aggressive form called Multiple Myeloma. The plasma in his bone marrow had increased, taking over the normal cells, causing anemia and acidity that began to eat away at his spine. Life for Abbe and Jim would never be the same. What followed was a total disruption: for Jim it involved chemo, radiation, stem cell implants, pain, weight loss, and even height loss; for Abbe, an exploration of basic fears, and, of course, the deepest terror of loss of a loved one.
Rolnick’s book is told for the most part in a series of emails among friends and family. Since she is a fiction writer (River of Angels, Color of Lies) she was able to express her feelings to others, especially to Jim, in a manner both poignant and poetic. She recounts the couple’s simple acceptance, the moments of despair, and the daily activities and routines they shared despite the discouraging limitations of Jim’s medical necessities. Whenever possible, the couple cuddled at night, exchanged kisses, watched funny, upbeat fare on television. The memoir is remarkable for these moments, balanced by the necessary, at times dreadful and dire medical information that impinged on their lives every day for a year. The couple had to live away from home, ask family for help, including cells donated by a brother, and rely on the kindness and expertise of strangers. As Rolnick puts it, “Cancer explodes with ramifications.” Jim’s round-robin emails form an especially touching piece of the narrative as he attempts to apply logic, masculine bravado and a mild sense of humor to the horrors he is experiencing.
Looking to submit to our other Non-Fiction Divisions? See them all here!
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
And remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Writer’s Toolbox
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Spotlight Article.
“You should be a teacher!” “You do that so well!”
“I love how much you know about that!”
If you hear things like this often, there’s a good chance you should be submitting to our I&I Book Awards! The I&I Awards look at the best Instructional & Insightful work featuring How-To, Guidance, and Self-Help.
You can see all six of our Non-Fiction Divisions here. While these days, the How-To and Self-Help genres are ubiquitous, what do we really know about their origins?
A Closer Look at Instructional Literature
Ani’s Heart is weighed against a feather before Anubis in The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The first recorded genre that could be described as self-help was called “Sebayt” an Egyptian style of reading that translates as “teaching.” You can even think as far back as The Egyptian Book of the Dead which is an instructional guide for Ani as he begins the journey through the afterlife.
But do they work?
Aristotle believed that reading had healing capabilities. While self-help book buyers may not be cured of whatever ails them, feeling better is not to be entirely discounted. People hate their jobs, fail at love, fear getting old, worry about their weight; self-help books address and try to assuage these problems. Life hurts, and the promise that self-help books make is a relief of that hurt. (read more from Publishing Perspectives here)
Carnegie never made it as a fiction writer, and his initial idea to give lectures based on what would become his bestselling work was laughed at by universities. However, he certainly can be said to have succeeded as a writer as people continue to live by his suggestions to this day.
The self-improvement industry has been analyzed in a variety of academic disciplines, but its literary import has not received the attention it demands. The omission is even more glaring in light of the fact that self-help guides are among the most lucrative book genres of the past 30 years, with approximately 150 new self-help titles published every week.
The competition for book sales is sky high!
Like the entire publishing industry since the Kindle came out in 2007, the Self-Help industry is blowing up! With Chanticleer’s goal of Discovering Today’s Best Books, we aim to shine a light on the best How-To books, becoming a link in the circle that helps those books find their way into the hands of readers everywhere! We do this through our Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards and through Editorial Book Reviews.
I remember when working at Village Books the book that was sold back the most was Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It always came in with at least three other bags full of books from the same household. It seemed to be working! – David
Marie Kondo is an incredible success story with her lifestyle changes and instructions on organization. She did so well that she had her own Netflix series!
Kondo recommends keeping 30 books max in your house. We can’t quite bring ourselves to do that at Chanticleer.
Instructional & Insightful Books That Have Done Well at Chanticleer
Read on to see what we recommend from books that fit into the I&I Division.
TEN THINGS EVERY CHILD WITH AUTISM WISHES YOU KNEW
By Ellen Notbohm
Grand Prize Winner in I&I Awards
Renowned author and mother of a son with autism, Ellen Notbohm here writes from both a personal and a studied viewpoint.
Not so long ago, autism was considered incurable, hopeless, a sort of dead-end diagnosis. But with time and attention to real people on the spectrum, we know now that children with autism can become positive, productive adults. The author’s son, Bryce, decided early on to “be happy” despite his differentness. For parents initially facing the diagnosis, there will undoubtedly be challenges, often on a daily, hourly basis, but Notbohm’s diligent exploration assures us that “autism is not awful.”
The SUBURBAN MICRO-FARM
By Amy Stross
First Place Winner in I&I Awards
Author, educator, and urban farmer Amy Stross offers a comprehensive look at how to repurpose a small yard in the city for basic sustenance and so much more.
Award-winning writer Stross has composed a thoroughly practical guide to everything a reader would need to know to do what she did: transform a yard into a farm. Acknowledging that the ground surrounding a town dwelling is hardly what one thinks of when one thinks farmland, Stross draws from her personal experience to show precisely how the transformation can take shape. Her colorfully illustrated manual gives the basics for managing an ample garden space, or micro-farm, almost down to the minute (in fact, seven minutes twice a day).
The SATISFIED WORKBOOK
By Dr. Rhona Epstein, PsyD, CAC
Dr. Rhona Epstein, PsyD, CAC is the leading expert on Food Addiction Recovery.
She is a therapist who has recovered from the problems she now focuses on, seeking to help those who suffer from food addiction to recognize their problem and solve it with spiritual guidance.
Epstein has based this manual around the 12 Steps, a program originally geared to alcoholism and based on Christian principles, but gradually secularized to facilitate outreach to a broader group. The 12 Steps take the addict, of whatever sort, through a series of deepening inner questions and resolutions. Initially, the addict must admit he or she has an addiction – in this case, to food and overeating, resulting in bingeing and other disorders such as bulimia. From that point, there will be a diligent search for relief, aided by faith in God’s care, and concluding with the possibility of helping others with the same problems.
Author and entrepreneur Kris Kelso made a discovery about himself that he shares with others in his book,Overcoming The Impostor: Silence Your Inner Critique and Lead with Confidence.
The author was surprised in a first meeting at a new job to be referred to as an “expert.” It raised doubts in his mind about whether he had earned such a title, but it also forced him to do things he’d never done before and succeed in the process. But the voices in his head persisted, even as he went from accomplishment to accomplishment. His shadow, The Impostor, told him he didn’t know how to do a certain thing; moreover, he was making it up. The Impostor relentlessly mocked him, saying that just been lucky, he wasn’t a “real” businessman at all. When he learned about “Impostor Syndrome” – “a psychological pattern in which people doubt their accomplishments” – he realized that we all have an “Inner Impostor” that needs to be recognized, dealt with, and banished.
SAVORING the OLDE WAYS SERIES
By Carole Bumpus
First Place Winner in I&I Awards
The retired family therapist turned travel writer and culinary memoirist, Carole Bumpus shares the delicious first book in her new series,Savoring the Olde Ways: Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table.
In this first book, Carole takes readers on an intimate food tour of the Champagne, Alsace, Lorraine, and Paris regions of France. After being introduced by a mutual friend, Carole builds a special friendship with Josiane and her mother. Wanting to understand what brings and keeps European families glued together through generations of happiness and hardship, Bumpus begins by interviewing Josiane’s mother. Hearing about traditions passed down and the challenges of cooking during the war, the plan for a culinary tour of France is born among the women. Unfortunately, after travel delays out of their control, Josiane’s mother passes away before they can make the trip. Determined to make a dream trip a reality, Carole and Josiane set off to start a journey of a lifetime in honor of the woman who inspired it all.
EXPLORE EUROPE on FOOT
By Cassandra Overby
Grand Prize Winner in I&I Awards
Due to COVID-19 sweeping across continents, travel restrictions are at an all-time high. With the general population being placed on lockdown, the need for social distancing, and hunkering down moving towards an indefinite timeframe, some much-needed armchair travel adventures couldn’t come at a better time.
Here in Cassandra Overby’s encyclopedic guide Explore Europe On Foot, readers are taken through a step-by-step process of dreaming, planning, and hopefully soon experiencing memorable, slow travel ventures of a lifetime. Whether it’s choosing a route and destination, deciding what to pack, finding appropriate accommodations and food options, or dealing with inevitable challenges, Overby supplies a world of information in this informative foot (and bike) travelers’ guide.
Looking to submit to our other Non-Fiction Divisions? See them all here!
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
And remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Writer’s Toolbox
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Spotlight Article.
Do you have money on your mind and your mind on money?
The Origins of the Harvey Chute Awards
Harvey Chute (1962-2015)
The Harvey Chute Awards hold a special place in our hearts as Harvey was a presenter at Chanticleer in the past. We named the Awards after him to honor his contributions and the business savvy that he brought to all interactions.
An author in his own right, Chute wrote Stone and Slit, a cozy historical mystery set during the gold-rush in British Columbia, just across the border. What he was most well know for though were his guides in the For Dummies series.
This is generally what they look like
For those who might not know: The For Dummies books are a series published by Wiley that break down difficult tasks into approachable, friendly how-to guides. Chute worked on a series detailing how to best use the Amazon Kindle.
Let’s take a closer look at KBoards, one of the many legacies left behind by Chute.
KBoards
KBoards.com is a lot like what you’d expect from a Reddit forum, but everything is related to Kindle and Amazon publishing. It reads like a community run FAQ for best practices. And speaking of, they have an FAQ to help use the platform right here. It’s a remarkable tool for any author willing to invest the time into making it work.
Speaking of authors trying to make it work…
Business & Finance
One of the toughest questions facing authors is how to maximize their book sales. Discounting a global pandemic, this was already hard enough to manage between digital sales and physical hand sales, not to mention author websites, social media, online presence, tours, events, and everything else! Writers are entrepreneurs, whether their books are independently or traditionally published.
If you’re not sure where to get started marketing your book, consider this article here written by Kiffer Brown and Sharon Anderson as your starting point!
Want to write better about business and finance? The best place to start is by reading what others have already written!
You can see some of our reviews of entrepreneurial literature below
RETIRE SECURELY: Insights on Money Management from an Award-Winning Financial Columnist
By Julie Jason
First Place Winner in I&I Awards
If you’re wondering what the difference is between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA, then you’ll want to pick up Julie Jason’s Retire Securely: Insights on Money Management from an Award-Winning Financial Columnist. You will be treated to a crash course on financial terms like these and get inside information on saving and investing thanks to scores of conversations she’s had with her readers over the years.
Plenty of titles on financial planning and investing exist on bookstore shelves, but what makes Jason’s compilation different is that hers is culled from more than 1,000 columns she has written over the years for the Connecticut newspapers, Greenwich Time and the Stamford Advocate. In 2013, King Features syndicated her “Retirement Planning and Investment” column, where she explores topics like 401(k) investing, choosing a financial adviser and how to determine if sending your kid to college is a good value. Jason, who worked as a Wall Street lawyer, money manager, and investment counselor, really knows her stuff: whether it’s unraveling the complicated world of market trends or explaining estate planning, her columns are worth reading and applying to your financial life. Her column has recently moved from King Features to Andrews McMeel Syndicate [Chanticleer Reviews was notified about this change on April 3, 2020].
PRIVATE MONEY LENDING: How to Consistently Generate a Passive Income Stream
By Gustavo J. Gomez, Ph.D.
Are you in retirement, or close to it, wondering how you’re going to make ends meet pulling from your portfolio? Well, you’re not alone if you’re staying up at night thinking about how low-interest rates are killing your investments.
In a practical and easy to read format, Gomez explains to investors the particulars of a little known, yet potentially lucrative investment technique that can handle the ups and downs of the stock market. Unlike stocks, the underlying security of private money lending is a tangible asset – brick and mortar, so there is another layer of protection for you, the investor.
But what is Private Money Lending? According to Gomez, it refers to a private individual or organization that lends money. Typically, when you’re looking for financing, you would go to a bank. With private funds, on the other hand, you’re going to an individual or organization that specializes in this type of lending. The upside of private money lending is that it’s less regulated, which means less red tape. The icing on the cake, he says, is that these investments have consistently generated 9 to 12 percent returns* – not bad considering stock market investments have averaged closer to 7 percent, and with much more fluctuations. We can’t forget the economic crash of 2008 when many stock market investments plummeted close to 40 percent.
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur
By Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch
APE is the how-to compendium for today’s self-publishers.
Authors will findAPEan indispensable resource. Guy Kawasaki passes along his publishing experience in his “no-shitake,” but affable manner. Imagine having an extremely successful uncle in the publishing biz who also has a tech-wizard pal (co-author Shawn Welch) of digital publishing magic. Fortunately for us, this dynamic duo decided to share their publishing know-how.
APE’s premise is that publishing is a parallel process “that requires simultaneous progress along multiple fronts.” Hence, self-publishers are challenged with how to: market, brand, design, promote, publish, distribute, and finance a book–all at the same time. Oh, and don’t forget the time required for actually writing the book. Indisputably, each self-publisher is an:Author, Publisher and Entrepreneur.
WELFARE CHEESE to FINE CAVIAR
By Thomas Wideman, MBA, PMP
Thomas Wideman, the author of this dynamic self-help manual,Welfare Cheese to Fine Caviar: How to Achieve Your Dreams Despite Your Upbringing, rose from poverty and dismay to a life of security and personal achievement through techniques he shares with readers who can incorporate them into their own life plans.
Wideman came from an impoverished African American family wracked by confusion, chaos, and, at times, criminality. His mother had three sons by three fathers, and he would come to know his own father only peripherally, eventually learning that the man murdered people and subsequently died in prison. The boy grew up in tough neighborhoods and ate “welfare cheese” (a block of pre-sliced heavy American cheese that supposedly melted well). Every month, making ends meet became more and more difficult. In an early chapter of this finely woven chronology, we see him taking food from trains parked along the railroad tracks and running from the authorities. In this, as in each new chapter, he speaks of confronting severe issues and finding ways to resolve them. In the case of the theft and other childhood incidents of fighting, experiencing bullies, and battling racism, he speaks of making up his mind that “my circumstances need not be my limitation.”
Looking to submit to our other Non-Fiction Divisions? See them all here!
When you’re ready,did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services?We do and have been doing so since 2011.
Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).
If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.
We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis.Contact us today!
Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.
A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
And remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
Writer’s Toolbox
Thank you for reading this Chanticleer Spotlight Article.
