Tag: Somerset Book Awards

  • SOMERSET Book Awards for the Best Contemporary and Literary Novels – 2019 CIBAs

    SOMERSET Book Awards for the Best Contemporary and Literary Novels – 2019 CIBAs

    Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary and Literary Novels, a division of the 2019 CIBAs.

     

     

     

    The CIBAs Search for the Best in the Somerset Book Awards!

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is celebrating the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, satire, humor, magic realism, or women and family themes. We love them all.

    The 2019 Somerset Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the Somerset Grand Prize Winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of September 8-13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Washington.

    Michelle Rene, author of Hour Glass, Previous Laramie Grand Prize Winner and Overall Best Book Award Winner in 2017 announced the 2019 Somerset Book Award Winners.

    This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the Somerset Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the Somerset Grand Prize Winner. 

    Congratulations to All!

    • Donna LeClair – The Proprietor of the Theatre of Life
    • Carl Roberts The Trial of Connor Padget
    • Judith Kirscht – End of the Race
    • Patrick Finegan – Cooperative Lives
    • Santiago Xaman – After Olympus
    • Claire Fullerton – Little Tea
    • Maggie St. Claire – Martha
    • Jamie Zerndt – Jerkwater
    • R. Barber Anderson – The Sunken Forest, Where the Forest Came out of the Earth
    • HONORABLE MENTIONS:
      • Beth Burgmeyer – The Broken Road, ms
      • Bob Holt – Firebird, ms

    The Somerset Book Awards
    2019 Grand Prize Winner is a manuscript:
    The Proprietor of Theatre Life by Donna LeClair

     

    The Somerset Grand Prize for the 2019 Award Winner.

     

     

    This is the original badge for the 2018 Somerset Grand Prize Winner – Hard Cider by Barbara A. Stark-Nemon.

    How to Enter the Somerset  Book Awards?

    We are accepting submissions into the 2020 Somerset  Book Awards until  November 30, 2020. All submissions into this category after November 30, 2020, will automatically be entered into the 2021 Somerset Book Awards 

    The 2020 Somerset Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.

    Don’t delay! Enter today! 

    A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

    If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.

     

  • The Semi-Finalists Announcement for the SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction – a division of the 2019 CIBAs

    The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction. The Somerset 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 contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, satire, humor, magic realism or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. The best will advance. Which titles will be declared as winners of the prestigious Somerset Book Awards?

    Presenting the following works that have advanced to the 2019 SOMERSET Book Awards Semi-Finals:

    • Leonide Martin – The Prophetic Mayan Queen: K’inuuw Mat of Palenque
    • Beth Burgmeyer – The Broken Road
    • Judith Kirscht – End of the Race
    • John Herman – The Counting of Coup
    • R. Barber Anderson – The Sunken Forest, Where the Forest Came out of the Earth
    • Domenick Venezia – Liberator Legacy
    • Larry Brill – Deja Vu All Over Again
    • Domenick Venezia – Suriname Legacy
    • Alexandrea Weis with Lucas Astor – Damned (A Magnus Blackwell Novel Book 1)
    • Donna LeClair – The Proprietor of the Theatre of Life
    • Bob Holt – Firebird
    • Gail Avery Halverson – The Skeptical Physick
    • Dd Jaseron – Wheelboys
    • Janet K Shawgo – Legacy of Lies
    • Santiago Xaman – After Olympus
    • Sara Stamey – Pause
    • Patricia Averbach – Resurrecting Rain
    • Hannah Edington Tekle – Conflict
    • C. E. Porch – From the Halls of Cuba
    • Maggie St. Claire – Martha
    • Lisa Reddick – The Same River
    • Nick Mancuso – Fever
    • Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg – The Nine
    • Claire Fullerton – Little Tea
    • Gary Driver – God Answers Science
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Bernie, I’m Glad You’re Dead
    • Linda Bledsoe – Through the Needle’s Eye
    • Carl Roberts The Trial of Connor Padget
    • Patrick Finegan – Cooperative Lives
    • Mike Murphey – Section Roads
    • Jamie Zerndt – Jerkwater
    • Prue Batten – Passage
    • Tikiri Herath – Abducted – A Red-Heeled Rebels novel
    • David B. Seaburn – Gavin Goode
    • Joanne Jaytanie – Salvaging Truth, Hunters & Seekers, Book 1

    Congratulations to all! Good Luck to all as your works compete for the First Place Category positions.

    These titles are in the running for the First Place positions of the 2019 SOMERSET Book Awards.

    Semi-Finalists will be recognized at the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2019 CIBA banquet and ceremony. The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 16 CIBA divisions Semi-Finalists. We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

     

    We are now accepting entries into the 2020 CIBAs. https://www.chantireviews.com/contests/

    Don’t delay. Enter today!

    As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, concerns, or suggestions at Info@ChantiReviews.com.

  • The SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction – the SHORTLIST for the 2019 CIBAs

    The SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction – the SHORTLIST for the 2019 CIBAs

    The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction. The Somerset 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 contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, satire, humor, magic realism or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. The best will advance. Which titles will be declared as winners of the prestigious Somerset Book Awards?

    Congratulations to the following titles who have advanced to the 2019 SOMERSET Book Awards SHORTLIST!

    • Susan Dobson – The Sea Glass Road 
    • Stephen F. Frost – The Alaskan Alibi
    • Joanne Jaytanie – Salvaging Truth, Hunters & Seekers, Book 1
    • Beth Burgmeyer – The Broken Road
    • Judith Kirscht – End of the Race
    • Leonide Martin – The Prophetic Mayan Queen: K’inuuw Mat of Palenque
    • John Herman – The Counting of Coup
    • R. Barber Anderson – The Sunken Forest, Where the Forest Came out of the Earth
    • Domenick Venezia – Liberator Legacy
    • Larry Brill – Deja vu All Over Again
    • Domenick Venezia – Suriname Legacy
    • Alexandrea Weis with Lucas Astor – Damned (A Magnus Blackwell Novel Book 1)
    • Donna LeClair – The Proprietor of the Theatre of Life 
    • Bob Holt – Firebird
    • Gail Avery Halverson – The Skeptical Physick
    • Lis Anna-Langston – Crucifix Built for Two
    • Alison Ragsdale – The Art of Remembering
    • Dd Jaseron – Wheelboys
    • Janet K Shawgo – Legacy of Lies
    • Santiago Xaman – After Olympus
    • Sara Stamey – Pause
    • Patricia Averbach – Resurrecting Rain
    • Hannah Edington Tekle – Conflict
    • C. E. Porch – From the Halls of Cuba
    • Leanne Treese – The Language of Divorce
    • Maggie St. Claire – Martha
    • Ted Neill – Reaper Moon: Race War in the Post Apocalypse
    • Alexandrea Weis & Lucas Astor – Death by the River
    • Lisa Reddick – The Same River
    • Nick Mancuso – Fever
    • David Pearson – Upon a Peak in Darien
    • Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg – The Nine
    • Claire Fullerton – Little Tea
    • Theo Czuk – The Black Bottom: The Measure Of Man
    • Hy Brett – The Hitman of Avenue U
    • Mitchell Allen – Count It All Joy
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Bernie, I’m Glad You’re Dead
    • Linda Bledsoe – Through the Needle’s Eye
    • Carl Roberts – The Trial of Connor Padget
    • Patrick Finegan – Cooperative Lives
    • Mike Murphey – Section Roads
    • Jamie Zerndt – Jerkwater
    • Prue Batten – Passage
    • Nagihan Os – Hilda and Nadin: Dry Leaves in the Wind
    • Tikiri Herath – Abducted – A Red-Heeled Rebels novel
    • Kay Bell – Ella’s Secret Family Recipes
    • Patricia Suprenant – Journey to the Isle of Devils
    • St John Karp – Quake City
    • Michael Bowe – The Weight of a Moment
    • Lynn Brentnall – Hope
    • David B. Seaburn – Gavin Goode
    • Gary Driver – God Answers Science
    • Michael T. Tusa Jr – Chasing Charles Bukowski
    • James M Roberts – The Crossroads of Logan Michaels
    • Jarvis Cutter – Speak Loudly and Carry a Flamethrower
    • Adam Cliff – Exposure 

    These entries are now in competition for the 2019 SOMERSET Semi-Finalists Positions. Good Luck to all!

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2019 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors) and have now advanced to the SHORTLIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2019 SOMERSET Semi-Finalists positions.

    The coveted First Place Category Winners of the 2019 SOMERSET Book Awards will be selected from the Semi-Finalists in the final rounds of judging. The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony, which is hosted by the Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the SOMERSET GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition. The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2020, Bellingham, Washington. Hosted by the Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    We are now accepting entries into the 2020 CIBAs. https://www.chantireviews.com/contests/

    Don’t delay. Enter today!

  • The Chanticleer International Book Awards Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners 2018 (CIBAs)

    The Chanticleer International Book Awards Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners 2018 (CIBAs)

    We are deeply honored to announce the 2018 Winners of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs). The winners were recognized at the annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Banquet Ceremony on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

     

     

    We want to thank all of the authors and publishers who participated in the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs). Each year, we find the quality of the entries and the competitiveness of the division competitions increasing exponentially. We added a new level to the judging rounds in 2018—the SemiFinalists. The CIBA judges wanted to add Semi-Finalists as a way to recognize and validate the entries that were not selected for the very few First Place Award positions within each genre division.

    PublishDrive, a global distribution platform, and Hindenburg Systems, audiobooks and podcasts software, awarded more than $30,000 (cash value) in additional prizes to the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Award winners. Thank you!

    A Recap of the CIBA Selection Process

    • There are 16 divisions of the CIBAs: 14 fiction genre divisions and 2 non-fiction divisions.
    • First Place Category award winners were selected for each one of the 16 divisions from an overall field of  titles that progressed to the Semi-Finalists positions from the Shortlists, the Long List, and the infamous beginning slush pile rounds.
    • One Grand Prize award winner was selected from the First Place Category Award Winners for each of the 16 CIBA divisions.
    • One Overall Grand Prize award winner was selected from the 16 divisions of Grand Prize Award Winners

    All CIBA Semi-Finalists in attendance at the CIBA awards ceremony were recognized with their respective division at the CIBA awards ceremony along with receiving a Semi-Finalist ribbon and digital badge and a significant discount to attend the Chanticleer Authors Conference.

    Additional Prize from the DONALD MAASS LITERARY AGENCY

    An additional prize was awarded to the 2018 CIBA Grand Prize Award Winners by the Donald Maass Literary Agency (that represents more than 150 novelists and sell more 100 novels each year to leading publishers in the U.S. and overseas). Donald Maass has offered “a high priority submission” process opportunity to the 2018 Grand Prize CIBA winners and a “priority submission” process opportunity to the 2018 CIBA 1st Place Category winning titles for consideration by his agency.

    An email will go out to all 2018 CIBA grand prize award winners prior to June 10, 2019 with instructions, links, and more information about the awards packages. We appreciate your patience. As stated in the Semi-Finalist notification email, “One does not need to be present at the CIBA ceremony and banquet to win. But it sure is a lot more fun!”

    And now to present the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards Grand winning titles and their authors who were announced on April 27, 2019, at the CIBA ceremony and banquet.

    You read testimonials from the 2019 Chanticleer Authors Conference and the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony at  https://www.chantireviews.com/chanticleer-conference/conference-testimonials/


    Cygnus Award for Science Fiction

    The CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Grand Prize Winner

    The Korpes File by J.I Rogers took home the 2018 CYGNUS Book Awards for Science Fiction Grand Prize Ribbon.

    View the 2018 CYGNUS 1st Place Category Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/04/29/cygnus-book-awards-for-science-fiction-novels-the-grand-prize-winner-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    The JOURNEY Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction

    From Liberty to Magnolia: In Search of the American Dream by Janice S. Ellis took home the 2018 JOURNEY Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction Grand Prize Ribbon! 

    View the 2018 JOURNEY First Place Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/04/30/journey-book-awards-for-narrative-non-fiction-the-grand-prize-winner-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/ 


    Cozy Mystery Fiction Award

    The M & M Book Awards for Mystery and Mayhem

    A PROMISE GIVEN by Michelle Cox took home the M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 M&M First Place Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/01/the-mm-book-awards-for-mystery-and-mayhem-grand-prize-division-winner-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    Gertrude Warner Children's Chapter Books

    The GERTRUDE WARNER Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers

    A manuscript titled The PORTALS of PERIL by Jules Luther took home the Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Readers

    View the 2018 Gertrude Warner First Place Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/04/the-gertrude-warner-book-awards-for-middle-grade-readers-grand-prize-and-first-place-catergory-winners-2018-cibas/


    Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction

    The DANTE ROSSETTI Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction

    WHISPERS by Lynn Yvonne Moon took home the Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult  Fiction

    View the 2018 Dante Rossetti First Place Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/05/the-dante-rossetti-book-awards-for-young-adult-fiction-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    Pre 1750 Historical Fiction Award

    The CHAUCER Book Awards for pre-1750s Historic Fiction

    The SERPENT and The EAGLE  by Edward Rickford took home the CHAUCER Book Awards Grand Prize Blue Ribbon

    View the 2018 Chaucer First Place Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/05/the-chaucer-book-awards-for-pre-1750s-historical-fiction-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    Post 1750s Historical Fiction AwardThe GOETHE Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Post-1750s Historical Fiction

    The Lost Years of Billy Battles by Ronald E. Yates took home the Goethe Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 Goethe First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/07/the-goethe-book-awards-for-post-1750s-for-historical-fiction-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    Western Pioneeer Civil War Fiction AwardThe LARAMIE Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Western Fiction

    Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale by Ruth Hull Chatlien took home the Laramie Grand Prize Ribbon. 

    View the 2018 Laramie First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/06/the-laramie-book-awards-for-western-fiction-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    Romance Fiction AwardThe CHATELAINE Book Awards  GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Romantic Fiction

    The House at Ladywell by Nicola Slade took home the 2018 Chatelaine Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 CHATELAINE First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/07/the-chatelaine-book-awards-for-romantic-fiction-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-2018-cibas/


    Early Readers and Picture booksThe LITTLE PEEPS Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Early Readers

    The Tooth Collector Fairies: Home from Decay Valley by Denise Ditto took home the Little Peeps Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 LITTLE PEEPS First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/08/the-little-peeps-book-awards-for-early-readers-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


    Thriller Suspense Fiction Award The Clue Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Mystery Suspense & Thriller Novels

    California Son by Timothy Burgess  took home the Clue Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 CLUE First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/08/the-clue-book-awards-for-mystery-suspense-thriller-novels-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


    The OZMA Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Fantasy Fiction Novels

    Dragon Speaker by Elana A. Mugdan took home the OZMA Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 OZMA First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/09/the-ozma-book-awards-for-fantasy-fiction-novels-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


    Paranormal Fiction AwardsThe PARANORMAL  Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Supernatural & Paranormal Novels

    The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove, a manuscript by Joy Ross Davis took home the Paranormal Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 PARANORMAL First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/09/the-paranormal-book-awards-for-supernatural-paranormal-novels-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


    The Global Thriller Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Lab Lit & High Stakes Thriller Novels

    The Moving Blade by Michael Pronko
    took home the Global Thrillers Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 Global Thriller First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/09/the-global-thriller-book-awards-for-lab-lit-high-stakes-thriller-novels-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


    The SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, Satire Novels

    Hard Cider – a novel by Barbara A. Stark-Nemon
    took home the Somerset Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 SOMERSET First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/10/the-somerset-book-awards-for-contemporary-literary-satire-novels-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


     The Instruction & Insight Book Awards GRAND PRIZE WINNER for Non-Fiction, Non-Narrative

    Explore Europe on Foot by Cassandra Overby took home the Instruction & Insight Grand Prize Ribbon

    View the 2018 I & I First Place Category Award Winners at https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/05/10/the-instruction-insight-book-awards-for-non-fiction-non-narrative-grand-prize-and-first-place-category-winners-cibas-2018/


    CONGRATULATIONS to Ronald E. YATES for The LOST YEARS of BILLY BATTLES (Book 3 of the Finding Billy Battles Trilogy) taking home the CHANTICLEER OVERALL Grand Prize for BEST BOOK in the 2018 CIBAS

    “…the reader experiences that all too rare sense of complete transport to another world, one fully realized in these pages because the storytelling is so skillful and thoroughly captivating.” 

     

    The photo below is of Ronald E. Yates with his GOETHE Grand Prize Ribbon and his Chanticleer Overall Best Book Ribbon

    “Reading a Book is Like Life: You Live it One Page at a Time.” (Ron Yates) Ron is a former foreign correspondent and Professor Emeritus of Journalism, Dean of the College of Media and is an award-winning historical novelist. Read more about this Pulitzer nominated journalist and Chanticleerian by clicking on this link.

     

    Twelve of the Sixteen Grand Prize Division Winners were present to receive their ribbons on stage at the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards Ceremony.

    We will post more photographs and information. Do check back and subscribe to the Chanticleer Reviews e-news letter.

    We have exciting news for the Chanticleer Community on the horizon so do stay tuned!  

    You know you want a coveted Chanticleer Reviews Blue Ribbon! 

    Submit your works (manuscripts or novels published after or on January 1, 2017, are accepted) to the prestigious Chanticleer International Book Awards today! Entries are being accepted into the 2019 CIBAs in all 16 divisions.

    Be sure to register early for the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference that will take place on April 16, 17, 18, & 19, 2020 with the 2019 CIBA banquet and ceremony scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.

    An email will go out to all 2018 CIBA award winners prior to June 10, 2019, with instructions, links, and more information about the awards packages. We appreciate your patience. As stated in the Semi-Finalist notification email, “One does not need to be present at the CIBA ceremony and banquet to win. But it sure is a lot more fun!”

    As always, please contact us at Chanticleer@ChantiReviews.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

    We have begun planning for the 2020 Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 16, 17, & 18, 2020) and the 2019  CIBA Banquet and Ceremony that will take place on April 17, 2020, at the Hotel Bellwether, Bellingham, Wash.

  • The SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, Satire Novels – Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners – CIBAs 2018

    The SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, Satire Novels – Grand Prize and First Place Category Winners – CIBAs 2018

    We are excited and honored to officially announce the Grand Prize Winner and the First Place Category Winners for the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards at the annual Chanticleer Authors Conference and the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards ceremony. This year’s ceremony and banquet were held on Saturday, April 27th, 2019 at the Hotel Bellwether by beautiful Bellingham Bay, Wash.

     

     

    We want to thank all of those who entered and participated in the  2018 Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, Satire Novels, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs).

    Judith Kirscht, the author of the 2014 SOMERSET award-winning Home Fires announced the 2018 Somerset Award Winners at the Chanticleer International Book Awards Banquet and Ceremony.

    PublishDrive and Hindenburg Systems awarded additional prizes to the 2018 Somerset Book Award winners. Thank you!

    Congratulations to the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, Satire Novels First in Category Winners!

     

    • Night Jasmine Tree by Debu Majumdar
    • Secrets of Innocence by V. & D. POVALL
    • Cowboy by Bob Holt
    • Wishes, Sins and the Wissahickon Creek by PJ Devlin
    • Silent Echo by Beth Burgmeyer
    • Some Kind of Ending by Conon Parks
    • Summer Girl, A Novel by Linda Watkins
    • Hard Cider – a novel by Barbara A. Stark-Nemon
    • Disowned by Tikiri
    • Mourning Dove by Claire Fullerton

    And now for the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, Satire Novels:

    Hard Cider – a novel by Barbara A. Stark-Nemon

    took home the Somerset Grand Prize Ribbon

     

     

     

    An email will go out to all First Place Category Winners and Grand Prize Winners with more information, the timing of awarded reviews, links to digital badges, and more before May 31st, 2019 (approximately four weeks after the awards ceremony). Please look for it in your email inbox.

    When we receive the digital photographs from the Official CAC19 professional photographer, Dwayne Rogge of Photo Treehouse, we will post the photographs of Somerset award winners on this page.

    Click here for the link to the Somerset Semi-Finalists.

    This post will be updated with photos and more information. Please do visit it again!

    The deadline for submissions into the 2019 Somerset Book Awards is November 30, 2019 Midnight (PST).

    Our next Chanticleer International Book Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 18th, 2020, for the 2019 CIBA winners.

     Enter your book or manuscript in a contest today!

     

  • The SEMI-FINALISTS for the SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction – the 2018 CIBAs

    The SEMI-FINALISTS for the SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Satire Fiction – the 2018 CIBAs

    The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, & Satirical Fiction. The Somerset 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 contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, satire, humor, magic realism or women and family themes. This division of the CIBAs is the SOMERSET Book Awards.  We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    The following titles and their authors have progressed from the ShortList to the Somerset Book Awards Semi-Finalists positions.

    Please click on this link to access the digital badges and for information about Semi-Finalists book stickers.

    Congratulations to the Somerset Book Awards 2018 Semi-Finalists:

    • Nanette Littlestone – Bella Toscana
    • R. J. Hershberger – Kicked by a Sparrow
    • J.P. Kenna – Allurement Westward
    • Debu Majumdar – Night Jasmine Tree
    • Chief John J. Mandeville – Bar Tales  
    • V. & D. POVALL – Jackal in the Mirror
    • V. & D. POVALL – Secrets of Innocence
    • Petra March – A Different Kind of Lovely
    • Patrick M. Garry – In the Shadow of War
    • Tim Gingras – RVN   
    • Barbara Stark-Nemon – Hard Cider- a novel   
    • Joe English – A Place Called Schugara   
    • Donna LeClair – Inch By Inch    
    • Patricia Sands – Drawing Lessons    
    • Edythe Anstey Hanen – Nine Birds Singing   
    • Michelle Rene – Maud’s Circus 
    • Ellen Notbohm – The River by Starlight  
    • Bob Holt – Cowboy
    • June N. Foster – The Girl and the Golden Leaf   
    • PJ Devlin – Wishes, Sins, and the Wissahickon Creek   
    • Beth Burgmeyer – Silent Echo   
    • Megan A. Clancy – The Burden of a Daughter    
    • Conon Parks – Some Kind of Ending    
    • Lenore Rowntree – Cluck   
    • Tikiri – Disowned   
    • Yorker Keith – Awakening of the Summer  
    • Linda Watkins – Summer Girl, A Novel   
    • John Hansen – Unfortunate Words
    • Diane B. Saxton – Peregrine Island   
    • Susan St. John – Mad Mischief, A Novel     
    • Claire Fullerton – Mourning Dove   

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors) to the Shortlist. We incorporate the Long List when the judges request an additional round of judging to accommodate the number and/or quality of entries received.  These entries have progressed from the  Shortlist to the 2018 SOMERSET SemiFinalist positions.

    These  Semi-Finalists positions will compete for the coveted First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards.

    Grand Prize Ribbons!

    The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the SOMERSET GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington during the annual Chanticleer Authors Conference. 

     

    For more information about the submitting to the 2019 Somerset Book Awards or the other 15 divisions of Chanticleer International Book Awards, please click here.

  • The SHORTLIST for the SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, and Satirical Fiction – The 2018 CIBAs

    The SHORTLIST for the SOMERSET Book Awards for Contemporary, Literary, and Satirical Fiction – The 2018 CIBAs

    The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, & Satirical Fiction. The Somerset 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 contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, satire, humor, magic realism or women and family themes. This division of the CIBAs is the SOMERSET Book Awards.  We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    These SHORTLISTED titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALIST positions of the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards novel competition for Contemporary, Literary, and Satirical Fiction. 

     

     

     

     

     

    SHORTLISTERS please click here to access the digital badge and for information about book stickers.

    Congratulations to the 2018 Somerset Book Awards Shortlisted Titles and their Authors!

    • Nanette Littlestone – Bella Toscana
    • R. J. Hershberger – Kicked by a Sparrow
    • J.P. Kenna – Allurement Westward
    • Debu Majumdar – Night Jasmine Tree
    • Chief John J. Mandeville – Bar Tales
    • V. & D. POVALL – Jackal in the Mirror
    • V. & D. POVALL – Secrets of Innocence
    • Bob Holt – Cowboy
    • Patrick M. Garry – In the Shadow of War
    • Chynna Laird – Passing Loop
    • Tim Gingras – RVN
    • Barbara Stark-Nemon – Hard Cider- a novel
    • Joe English – A Place Called Schugara
    • Donna LeClair – Inch By Inch
    • Patricia Sands – Drawing Lessons
    • Edythe Anstey Hanen – Nine Birds Singing
    • Michelle Rene – Maud’s Circus
    • Ellen Notbohm – The River by Starlight
    • June N. Foster – The Girl and the Golden Leaf
    • PJ Devlin – Wishes, Sins and the Wissahickon Creek
    • Beth Burgmeyer – Silent Echo
    • Megan A. Clancy – The Burden of a Daughter
    • Helen Bea Kirk – Done Running
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Bernie, I’m Glad You’re Dead
    • Priscilla Audette – Lost
    • Conon Parks – Some Kind of Ending
    • Lenore Rowntree – Cluck
    • Tikiri – Disowned
    • Claire Fullerton – Little Tea
    • Yorker Keith – Awakening of the Summer
    • Linda Watkins – Summer Girl, A Novel
    • John Hansen – Unfortunate Words
    • Bob Holt – Cowboy
    • Diane B. Saxton – Peregrine Island
    • Susan St. John – Mad Mischief, A Novel
    • Petra March – A Different Kind of Lovely: A Novel
    • Claire Fullerton – Mourning Dove
    • Markus McDowell – To and Fro Upon the Earth: A Novel
    • Chad Boles – Blinded Authority

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors) to the Shortlist. We incorporate the Long List when the judges request an additional round of judging to accommodate the number and/or quality of entries received.  These entries are now Shortlisted and are in competition for the 2018 SOMERSET SemiFinalist positions. The  Semi-Finalists positions will compete for the coveted First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards.

    Grand Prize Ribbons!

    The 2018  First Place Category Winners and Grand Prize winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony that will be held during the Chanticleer Authors Conference and CIBA Ceremony and Banquet.

    All Shortlisters and SemiFinalists will be acknowledged at CAC19.

    The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the SOMERSET GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

  • The SOMERSET Book Awards (CIBAs) for Literary, Contemporary, & Satirical Fiction – the 2018 Long List

    The SOMERSET Book Awards (CIBAs) for Literary, Contemporary, & Satirical Fiction – the 2018 Long List

    The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary, Contemporary, & Satirical Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs).

     

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, satire, humor, magic realism or women and family themes, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    Information about the #CIBAs Long Lists and Short Lists and Announcement Rounds.

    These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from SLUSH pile to the 2018 Long List (aka the Slush Pile Survivors).

    These entries are now in competition for the 2018 SOMERSET SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. Semi-Finalists will receive an email confirmation.

    The coveted First  Place Category Winners of the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards will be selected from the Semi-Finalists in the final rounds of judging.  The First Place Category Winners will be announced at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony. 

    The First Place Category winners will automatically be entered into the SOMERSET GRAND PRIZE AWARD competition.  The 16 CBR Grand Prize Genre Winners will compete for the CBR Overall Grand Prize for Best Book and its $1,000 purse. First Place Category and Grand Prize Awards will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 27th, 2019, Bellingham, Washington.

    These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards novel competition for Literary, Contemporary, and Satirical  Fiction.

    The Official  2018  SOMERSET Book Awards Long List:

    • Nanette Littlestone – Bella Toscana
    • R. J. Hershberger – Kicked by a Sparrow
    • Scott M. Madden – The Specter
    • J.P. Kenna – Allurement Westward
    • Heidi M. Thomas – Finding True Home
    • Lee Kaiser – Fairytales of the Unborn/Patna’s Ratcatcher 
    • Debu Majumdar – Night Jasmine Tree
    • Chief John J. Mandeville – Bar Tales
    • V. & D. POVALL – Jackal in the Mirror
    • V. & D. POVALL – Secrets of Innocence
    • Tom Edwards – Undercover: A Jason Franklin Novel
    • Patricia Striar Rohner – Shari’s Secret
    • T. J. Tanksley – Tainted Visions
    • Bob Holt – Cowboy
    • Patrick M. Garry – In the Shadow of War
    • Chynna Laird – Passing Loop
    • Tim Gingras – RVN
    • Barbara Stark-Nemon – Hard Cider- a novel
    • Joe English – A Place Called Schugara
    • Donna LeClair – Inch By Inch
    • J. L. Skirvin – Epitome Place
    • Patricia Sands – Drawing Lessons
    • Edythe Anstey Hanen – Nine Birds Singing
    • Michelle Rene – Maud’s Circus
    • Ellen Notbohm – The River by Starlight
    • June N. Foster – The Girl and the Golden Leaf
    • PJ Devlin – Wishes, Sins and the Wissahickon Creek
    • Beth Burgmeyer – Silent Echo
    • Megan A. Clancy – The Burden of a Daughter
    • Helen Bea Kirk – Done Running
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Bernie, I’m Glad You’re Dead
    • Priscilla Audette – Lost
    • John Stafford – Prayer of Vengeance
    • Conon Parks – Some Kind of Ending
    • Donna LeClair – Fan Fiction Women
    • Lenore Rowntree – Cluck
    • Tikiri – Disowned
    • Claire Fullerton – Little Tea
    • Yorker Keith – Awakening of the Summer
    • Linda Watkins – Summer Girl, A Novel
    • John Hansen – Unfortunate Words
    • Lorenzo Petruzziello – The Love Fool
    • Bob Holt – The Cowboy
    • Diane B. Saxton – Peregrine Island
    • Tom Edwards – If I Should Die 
    • Susan St. John – Mad Mischief, A Novel
    • Petra March – A Different Kind of Lovely: A Novel
    • Claire Fullerton – Mourning Dove
    • Markus McDowell – To and Fro Upon the Earth: A Novel
    • Chad Boles – Blinded Authority

    To view the 2017 Somerset Book Award Winners, please click here.

    The submission deadline for the 2018 Somerset Book Awards was Nov. 30, 2018.

    We are now accepting entries to the 2019 Somerset Book Awards. Please click here for more information and to enter.

  • The IMPROBABLE JOURNEYS of BILLY BATTLES: Book 2, Finding Billy Battles Trilogy by Ronald E. Yates – Action/Adventure, Historical Fiction, War, Literary

    The IMPROBABLE JOURNEYS of BILLY BATTLES: Book 2, Finding Billy Battles Trilogy by Ronald E. Yates – Action/Adventure, Historical Fiction, War, Literary

    Blue and Gold Somerset First Place Winner Badge for Best in CategoryRonald E. Yates continues the robust adventures of a lawman, gunslinger, and journalist in The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles, the second volume in his trilogy about the title character.

    As in the first volume of the trilogy, William “Billy” Battles addresses the reader, but Ted Sayles, Billy’s great-grandson, is the one who compiled Billy’s life story through studying his great-grandfather’s journals, letters, newspaper articles, tapes, and other materials. And what an adventurous life it is! Living a full one hundred years, William Fitzroy Raglan Battles was born in Kansas in 1860 but eventually travels the world. Readers familiar with the first volume will no doubt want to continue William’s journey with the second book which begins in 1894. The Improbable Journeys, however, can function as a stand-alone volume because Yates takes great care to bring the reader up to speed with what has already taken place.

    The opening chapters of Book 2 find William aboard the SS China, bound for French Indochina although the ship will make stops along the way. He is grieving the loss of his beloved wife and seeks to assuage that grief with travel, leaving behind his mother and young daughter, Anna Marie. However, the Pinkerton Detective Agency is hot on his trail, investigating William’s part in the deaths of members of the Bledsoe family back in Kansas.

    His future is also set in play when he meets Baroness Katharina von Schreiber, a brilliant intellectual who, despite her aristocratic German title and surname, was born and raised in Chicago. Like William, her spouse is dead but the circumstances involving Rupert’s death are suspicious, and she takes great pains to avoid questioning by the authorities. William learns that some officials believe she’s in possession of top-secret German documents that she confiscated from her husband. There’s much political intrigue, but Katharina and William delight in each other’s company, and he feels the first stirrings of romance since his wife’s death.

    William’s journeys bring him face to face with the realities of late 19th-century colonialism. As an American traveler and journalist, native peoples expect that he will sympathize with their struggles against colonial powers. After all, America set the example for the rest of the world by throwing off the chains of England more than one hundred years earlier. In the Philippines, Katharina’s brother, Manfred, supports a secret organization that seeks to overthrow colonial rule and establish independence for the nation. And while William has great admiration for the Philippine revolutionary leader, Aguinaldo, William is coaxed into military service. He fights alongside American soldiers from Colorado and Kansas – even though he knows all too well that McKinley’s “Proclamation of Benevolent Assimilation” is not truthful; the U.S. ultimately annexes the Philippines not as “friends” but as invaders and conquerors.

    These fascinating chapters are narrated with an experienced journalist’s objective and encompassing eye. Yates, also a journalist, does an exemplary job of having William note every angle of the despotic nature of colonialism and the vast and complex difficulties involved in native peoples achieving independence.

    The book is not without humor. William is witty and candid, occasionally sliding into cowboy-speak, and he knows a cast of characters, real and fictional, who provide surprising hilarity throughout the book. Bat Masterson is on hand, as is Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith. We leave William anticipating more dangerous exploits, one involving Francisco Villa, better known as “Pancho Villa.”  Thank heavens this is a trilogy because it’s clear Billy Battles adventures are far from over.

    Ronald E. Yates won first place in the 2016 Chanticleer International Book Awards for Somerset, Literary category.

    5 Stars! Best Book Chanticleer Book Reviews

  • SOMERSET Book Awards 2017 Shortlist for Literary and Contemporary Fiction

    SOMERSET Book Awards 2017 Shortlist for Literary and Contemporary Fiction

    Mainstream Contemporary Fiction AwardsThe SOMERSET Book Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of  Literary, Contemporary, and Mainstream Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Novel Writing Competitions.

    More than $30,000.00 dollars worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to Chanticleer Book Reviews 2017 writing competition winners at the Chanticleer Authors Conference April 21st, 2018!

    This is the Official Semi-Finalists List of the Authors and Titles of Works that have been SHORT-LISTED for the Somerset 2017 Book Awards. These titles will now compete for the First In Category positions.

    • Stephanie C. Lyons-Keeley & Wayne J. Keeley – Going All In
    • Julie Carrick Dalton – Four Degrees 
    • Lou Dischler – Too Pretty for a Hit Man
    • John Herman – The Counting of Coup
    • J.P. Kenna – Joel Emmanuel
    • Gregory Erich Phillips – The Exile
    • Gayle Hanratty – Gray Hampton
    • Toni Wilbarger – Words Will Never Hurt Me
    • Lou Dischler – The Benzene Carnival 
    • Blaine Beveridge – A Bit of Candy in Hard Times
    • Samuel Winburn – Ten Directions
    • Justine Avery – The One Apart: A Novel
    • Judith Kirscht – The Camera’s Eye
    • Kaylin McFarren – Twisted Threads
    • David B. Seaburn – Parrot Talk
    • C.L. Ogilvie – Skipping Out on Henry
    • Elizabeth Crowens – Dear Mr. Hitchcock
    • Chuck Gould – The Rabbi’s Gift
    • James Gregory Kingston – The City Island Messenger
    • Malcolm Ivey – On the Shoulders of Giants
    • Michelle Rene – Hour Glass 
    • Yorker Keith – The Other La Boheme
    • J.L. Skirvin – Rollins of Stone House 
    • Jessica Dainty – The Shape of the Atmosphere 
    • Richard Barager – The Atheist and the Parrotfish
    • J. Argo – The Blackest Crow
    • Carol June Stover – Kenmore Square/ A Novel
    • Sarah Houssayni – Fireworks
    • Beth Wareham and Jason Davis – Hair Club Burning
    • Conon E Parks – Empty Bottle of Smoke
    • Kathleen M. Rodgers – Seven Wings to Glory

    Good Luck to all of the 2017  SOMERSET Short-Listers as they compete for the First Place Category positions.

    First In Category announcements will be made at the Awards Ceremony. The SOMERSET Grand Prize Winner and First Place Category Winners will be announced at the April 21st,  2018 Chanticleer Writing Contests Annual Awards Gala, at the Chanticleer Authors Conference that will be held in Bellingham, Wash. 

    We are now accepting submissions into the 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards for Literary, Contemporary, and Mainstream Fiction. Please click here for more information.