Only 2 weeks left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!
The Cover Design Awards are still open!
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Award for Fiction!
Ann Phillipp –Grand Theft Death
C.L. Olsen –Old Crabby Turtle
Deborah Swenson –Till My Last Breath
Laura C. Rader –Hatfield 1677
Gail Noble-Sanderson–The Book of Rules
Margaret Porter –A Change of Location
Mark A. Gibson –A Song That Never Ends
Travis Davis- One of Four
R.W. Meek- The Dream Collector Book 1; Sabine and Sigmund Freud
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Cover Design Fiction Grand Prize Winner:
Luna, Rhone and Stone Book 2 by Strider S.R. Klusman
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Awards for Non-Fiction!
Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf and Skin Cancer
Kasey J. Claytor–Finding The Light: Navigating Dementia with My Son
Kathryn Caraway –Unfollow Me
Linda M. Lockwood –Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Marianna Marlowe –Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Cover Design Awards Non-Fiction Grand Prize Winner:
Teaching in the Dark by Genet Simone
The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.
We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.
In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.
The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Genét Simone’s book, Teaching in The Dark will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
Australians love the sun – our outdoor lifestyle is part our trademark appeal. It’s also the reason that every thirty minutes someone is diagnosed with melanoma. Why skin cancer is called Australia’s National Cancer, and two out of three Australians are likely to be diagnosed with it before turning 70.
After living an average Aussie life playing sport, spending languid days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma.
Yet Anne is one of the lucky ones. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the clear and present prospect of death, head-on. In Sunburnt, her revealing memoir, Anne recounts the emotions and challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long to come through the other side.
Not only has Anne survived, she is issuing a clarion call for a change to the bronzed Aussie culture. In SunburntAnne combines a nostalgic view of a charmed Aussie childhood, a jolting review of Australia’s sun-worshipping norms, and enough scientific research to encourage us all to redefine our relationship with the sun.
Through braided memories that flash against the present day, Portrait of a Feminist depicts the evolution of Marianna Marlowe’s identity as a biracial and multicultural woman—from her childhood in California, Peru, and Ecuador to her adulthood as an academic, a wife, and a mother.
How does the inner life of a feminist develop? How does a writer observe the world around her and kindle, from her earliest memories, a flame attuned to the unjust?
With writing that is simultaneously wise and shimmering, nuanced and direct, Marlowe confronts her own experiences with the hallmarks of patriarchy. Interweaving stories of life as the child of a Catholic Peruvian mother and an atheist American father in a family that lived many years abroad, she examines realities familiar to so many of us—unequal marriages, class structures, misogynist literature, and patriarchal religion. Portrait of a Feminist explores the essential questions of feminism in our time: What does it look like to live in defense of feminism? How should feminism be evolving today?
From Chanticleer:
Marianne Marlowe’s memoir, Portrait of a Feminist, reveals the evolution of her feminism through a collection of thought-provoking essays.
“I would say, if it were possible, I was born a feminist” is at the heart of Marlowe’s story. She relates to this defining identity throughout years spent in Peru, California, and Ecuador, where she navigates childhood, marriage, motherhood, and a professional career.
The section titles reflect periods in Marlowe’s life that correspond to nature’s rhythms— “Seeds Planted”, “The Growing Years”, “Maturation”, and “Harvesting”—and maintain strong connections between her thematically-linked experiences.
As a Peruvian American woman, Marlowe navigates the concepts of gender, race, and culture from a personal and critical point of view.
At the age of eight, Linda Lockwood moves with her family to an isolated ranch in eastern Washington State. Within two years, she’s patrolling the ranch on horseback alongside her border collie—herding sheep, killing rattlesnakes, and defending the ranch’s livestock from coyotes, bears, and even trespassing hunters—and working tirelessly to realize her dream of training horses. But her most daunting challenge is one hard work can’t overcome: her mother is descending into madness. And Linda’s deepest fear is that she might inherit the schizophrenia that threatens to dismantle her family.
At age twenty-five, Linda marries, but the joy of her first pregnancy is darkened by her mother’s suicide. Then she endures a painful miscarriage and the death of her beloved grandmother, traumatic events that send her back in time to the births and deaths of animals—domesticated and wild—that she loved in childhood. Eventually, her own family grows, but her happiness is haunted by questions people have tiptoed around all her life. How did her mother become schizophrenic? What did she endure as a patient in 1960s mental hospitals? Might Linda and even her children be next to battle that catastrophic mental disorder? Driven by the courage and will she sharpened as a rancher, Linda vows to find out.
Also the 2024 Journey Grand Prize and a Clue First Place Winner!
This book about the author’s harrowing experience with a stalker is not yet released, but we are excited to see it come out and see her story get told. To find more information see the authors website kathryncaraway.com or her advocacy project at unfollowme.com
What happens when a younger person gets dementia and becomes filled with peace?
Finding the Light is a poignant memoir about a mother’s journey caring for her son with a terminal form of early-onset dementia, Frontotemporal Degeneration, or FTD. From the overwhelming tasks that must be done to ultimately sharing the meaningful insights that can be gained in this experience, you can’t come away without being deeply moved.
Claytor shares ways to lessen the toll of caregiving with stress-reducing methods and options for self-care, financial tips, and suggestions for good estate planning.
But most importantly, her message is about developing a way to instill a sense of well-being in dementia sufferers and their caregivers. When Kasey Claytor found out that her 49-year-old son had Frontotemporal Degeneration, her world came crashing down…
Finally grappling with this situation head-on, she set out to learn everything she could about this devastating condition and create an environment around her son that would hopefully give him a sense of well-being despite the odds.
From Chanticleer:
Some stories are impossible to look away from, and from its very first sentence, Finding the Light, Navigating Dementia with My Son by Kasey J. Claytor proves itself one of them. “…when my 49-year-old son, Justin, was first diagnosed with a form of early-onset dementia, I was stunned.” Without hesitation, the book draws readers into a saga of family, illness, and resilience.
Although a memoir, Finding the Light is in many ways an instructional text, too. Readers don’t need similar medical situations to draw from Claytor’s lessons of improvement. The conversational, approachable writing style serves this purpose well.
Although it’s in chronological order, this is an unconventional, modern text.
Traditional scene-based paragraphs are offset by poetry, informative sidebars, and even the full text of letters sent throughout Justin’s illness. Claytor deftly shifts between these sections, building a cohesive narrative from which readers can easily learn.
A young teacher buys a one-way ticket to Shishmaref, Alaska. Within minutes of landing, she finds herself dealing with unexpected, rustic accommodations, and the culture shock of living in a remote Iñuit community. She relies on her courage, resilience, and wit while enduring freezing temperatures, power outages, loneliness, and first-year teacher anxieties and missteps, but eventually realizes that those challenges pale in comparison to the life lessons she learns about the heart of teaching—lessons from her students, their culture, and their community, on the vast, windy landscape at the edge of the Chukchi Sea.
From Chanticleer:
How does place shape who we are—and who we’ll become? In this memoir, Teaching in the Dark, Genét Simone puts that question to the test by recounting her first year as a teacher.
The initial year of teaching is never an easy feat, but for Simone it was especially challenging, and transformative. She spent it with Native students in the remote island village of Shishmaref, on the Arctic edge of Alaska—no small wonder the school year became an unforgettable one.
Today, Simone has decades of teaching experience to draw upon. Yet, in this memoir she rarely employs her present voice to reflect on the past. Instead, the narrator remains in the moment: a young and inexperienced Simone, who only knows that she feels destined to be a teacher. When she signs up for the Shishmaref teaching job, she doesn’t even realize that it’s on an island.
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.
1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Linda Brugger on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at the Bellingham Yacht Club in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
This is the OFFICIAL 2024 LIST of the HEARTEN BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the HEARTEN Grand Prize Winner.
Join us in celebrating the following authors and their award-winning works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – Diamond: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 HEARTEN Awards is:
Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.
Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting inMay. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.
We will post at least two 2024 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 14, 2025. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2024 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.
Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.
Thank you for participating in the 2024 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.
The Military & Front Lines Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir exploring the lives of those who serve their country and others. The Military & Front Lines Service Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring experience in the Military and Armed Forces Service, Medical Services, Stories of Community Service Workers and First Responders, Service Organizations, Work in Agencies that service communities, and Service Life. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.
1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the 2024 CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Janet Oakley on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at the Bellingham Yacht Club in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
This is the OFFICIAL 2024 LIST of the MILITARY & FRONT LINE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the MILITARY & FRONT LINE Grand Prize Winner.
Please join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Roderick S. Haynes – Unauthorized Disclosures a Navy Memoir of the 1980s
David Huntley – The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: a WWII Final Honor
Patrick Hogan – Coincidence, You Say?
Shari Biery – It’s Your Turn How To Rediscover Yourself Prioritize Your Well-Being Thrive with Purpose
Max Lauker & Antonio Garcia – Number 788: My Experiences in Swedish Special Operations – Preparing for NATO and the War on Terror
Bibi LeBlanc – Wings of Freedom – The Story of the Berlin Airlift | Flugel der Freiheit – Die Geschichte der Berliner Luftbrucke
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2024 MILITARY & FRONT LINE Awards is:
Memoirs from the Frontlines: Four states, Two years, One pandemic
Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting inMay. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.
We will post at least two 2024 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 14, 2025. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2024 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.
Grand Prize Division Winners will receive a customized digital badge. When we receive it from our graphic artist, we will also post here and in the Grand Prize Division Winners Official Posting.
Thank you for participating in the 2024 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.
The Hearten Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Inspiring and Uplifting Non-Fiction and Memoirs. 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 from the 2024 Hearten Non-Fiction SEMI-FINALISTS to the 2024 Hearten Book Awards FINALISTS LIST. All FINALISTS will be recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE & GRAND PRIZE WINNERS of the 2024 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!
Join us in celebrating the Finalists List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Elizabeth Fulgaro – Learning to Love (Not Loathe) Me
Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
Jenell M. Jones M.Ed. – Shattered
David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
Douglas Green – The Teachings of Shirelle: Life Lessons from a Divine Knucklehead
Dr George Ackerman – A Son’s Journey from Parkinson’s Disease Caregiver to Advocate
Kasey Claytor – Finding the Light
Olivia Goodreau – But She Looks Fine
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – DIAMOND: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
L.A. Witt – I Changed My Mind: My Journey from Infertile to Childfree
Mimi Zieman – Tap Dancing on Everest
Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
Susan Bloch – Travels with my Grief
Mark Steven Porro – A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale
Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
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 Inspiring and Uplifting Non-Fiction and Memoirs. 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 from the 2024 Hearten Non-Fiction SHORT LIST to the 2024 Hearten Book Awards SEMI-FINALISTS LIST. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2024 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!
Join us in celebrating the Semi-Finalists List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Elizabeth Fulgaro – Learning to Love (Not Loathe) Me
Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
Jenell M. Jones M.Ed. – Shattered
David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
Douglas Green – The Teachings of Shirelle: Life Lessons from a Divine Knucklehead
Dr George Ackerman – A Son’s Journey from Parkinson’s Disease Caregiver to Advocate
Ingrid McCarthy – I Stood Among the Ruins and Cried
Kasey Claytor – Finding the Light
Jia Apple – The Tell
Olivia Goodreau – But She Looks Fine
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – DIAMOND: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
L.A. Witt – I Changed My Mind: My Journey from Infertile to Childfree
Mimi Zieman – Tap Dancing on Everest
Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Christina Ford – In Search of Mr Darcy: Lessons Learnt In The Pursuit of Happily Ever After
Glenda Goodrich – Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions
Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
Susan Bloch – Travels with my Grief
Mark Steven Porro – A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale
Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
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 Inspiring and Uplifting Non-Fiction and Memoirs. 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 from the 2024 Hearten Non-Fiction LONG LIST to the 2024 Hearten Book Awards SHORT LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 Hearten Semi-Finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC25).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2024 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!
Join us in celebrating the Short List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Elizabeth Fulgaro – Learning to Love (Not Loathe) Me
Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
Wendy B. Correa – My Pretty Baby: A Memoir of Seeking Truth and Finding Healing
Jenell M. Jones M.Ed. – Shattered
David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
Douglas Green – The Teachings of Shirelle: Life Lessons from a Divine Knucklehead
Dr George Ackerman – A Son’s Journey from Parkinson’s Disease Caregiver to Advocate
Ingrid McCarthy – I Stood Among the Ruins and Cried
Kasey Claytor – Finding the Light
Jia Apple – The Tell
Olivia Goodreau – But She Looks Fine
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – DIAMOND: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
L.A. Witt – I Changed My Mind: My Journey from Infertile to Childfree
Mimi Zieman – Tap Dancing on Everest
Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Christina Ford – In Search of Mr Darcy: Lessons Learnt In The Pursuit of Happily Ever After
Glenda Goodrich – Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions
Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
Susan Bloch – Travels with my Grief
Mark Steven Porro – A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale
Laura Hall – Affliction: Growing Up With A Closeted Gay Dad
Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
Louise Privette and Tristan Peigné – Dancing Through Life: A Memoir
Ben LeBoutillier – Practical Advice for a Better World
Kathleen Watt – REARRANGED: An Opera Singer’s Facial Cancer and Life Transposed
Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
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 Inspiring and Uplifting Non-Fiction and Memoirs. 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 2024 Hearten Non-Fiction entries to the 2024 Hearten Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2024 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 (CAC25).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Hearten Book Awards novel competition for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction!
Join us in celebrating the Long List authors and their works in the 2024 CIBAs.
Elizabeth Fulgaro – Learning to Love (Not Loathe) Me
Dr. Maheshika Halbeisen – The Job Well Done – The Queen’s Way To Successful Leadership
Linda M. Lockwood – Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Genét Simone – Teaching in the Dark
Wendy B. Correa – My Pretty Baby: A Memoir of Seeking Truth and Finding Healing
Jenell M. Jones M.Ed. – Shattered
David Hutton – Drums of a Distant Tribe
Alicia M. Rodriguez – The Shaman’s Wife: A Mystical Journey of Surrender and Self-Discovery
Hilary Giovale – Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers Toward Truth, Healing, and Repair
Douglas Green – The Teachings of Shirelle: Life Lessons from a Divine Knucklehead
Dr George Ackerman – A Son’s Journey from Parkinson’s Disease Caregiver to Advocate
Kimberly Harms – Are You Ready?: How to Build a Legacy to Die For
Ingrid McCarthy – I Stood Among the Ruins and Cried
Kasey Claytor – Finding the Light
Jia Apple – The Tell
Anna Brooke and Vindy Teja – WRITE! Your Guide to Revealing the Writer Within
Olivia Goodreau – But She Looks Fine
Etsuko Diamond Miyagi – DIAMOND: The Memoir of a Lost Daughter of Japan
Lynne Spriggs O’Connor – Elk Love: A Montana Memoir
Jane Kim Yu – Journey of Awakening and Higher Consciousness
L.A. Witt – I Changed My Mind: My Journey from Infertile to Childfree
Mimi Zieman – Tap Dancing on Everest
Liz Alterman – Sad Sacked
Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden – An Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
Christina Ford – In Search of Mr Darcy: Lessons Learnt In The Pursuit of Happily Ever After
Glenda Goodrich – Solo Passage: 13 Quests, 13 Questions
Ginelle Testa – Make a Home Out of You
Jennifer Cramer-Miller – Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope
Susan Bloch – Travels with my Grief
Mark Steven Porro – A Cup of Tea on the Commode: My Multi-Tasking Adventures of Caring for Mom. And How I Survived to Tell the Tale
Laura Hall – Affliction: Growing Up With A Closeted Gay Dad
Susan Cole – Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss
Louise Privette and Tristan Peigné – Dancing Through Life: A Memoir
Ben LeBoutillier – Practical Advice for a Better World
Kathleen Watt – REARRANGED: An Opera Singer’s Facial Cancer and Life Transposed
Josh McConkey – Be the Weight Behind the Spear
Tony Jeton Selimi – The Unfakeable Code®
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
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 and Inspiring Non-Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Nove Meyers’ book, Running Away From The Circus will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Clue contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
Newlywed Niver was on the adventure of a lifetime. She had quit her job, rented out her condo, and was traveling around Asia. To the outside world, Niver was a woman living out her dreams of exploring ancient ruins in Cambodia and seeing orangutans in Borneo. In private, she was keeping a dark secret. But, when she found herself lying on a sidewalk in Thailand, looking up at the sky in severe pain, she knew things had to change. At age forty-seven, Niver found the courage to set course on a new life.
Feeling like a failure, pushing fifty, and moving home to her parents’ house to start again from scratch, Niver started taking one tiny “brave-ish” step at a time to take her life far away from the old one and into the adventurous world of travel writing. These small hurdles led to the challenge of trying fifty new things before turning fifty. From diving into shipwrecks, swimming with sharks, bobsledding at 3 Gs, to indulging in wild escapades, Niver found herself traversing the world on a journey of reinvention, personal growth, and discovering what it actually means to be “brave.”
While Brave-ish chronicles Niver’s inspiring expeditions to distant corners of the world including Myanmar, Cuba, Morocco, Kenya and Mongolia this is more than a travelogue. Niver’s story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of perseverance. Brave-ish inspires readers to dream big, take risks, and embrace the unknown to create a life filled with wonder and excitement, even when courage seems elusive.
When a military coup in Ghana leads to the abrupt closure of Lally Pia’s medical school, she is left stranded there, thousands of miles away from her family in California, with no educational prospects or money. Adding to her turmoil is her discovery that her American Green Card has been botched, which means she has no country to call home. But a Sri Lankan priest told Lally that she would one day become a “Doctor of Doctors” —and she is intent on proving him right.
This sizzling multicultural roller coaster illustrates the power of self-determination as Lally, a young immigrant with a drive to succeed, takes on obstacle after obstacle—an abusive relationship, the welfare state, and a gruesome job where she has to dismember human bodies—in order to fulfill her dreams. A story that will resonate with anyone who has faced cultural and immigration hardships, The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy is a nail-biting journey across continents, through hardships, and into ultimate triumph.
Become the master of your destiny with this proven blueprint for achieving your true potential.
Are you tired of settling for mediocrity? Do you want to become the high-achieving person you know you can be? Are you ready to let go of your limiting beliefs and step into the prosperous, successful, and fulfilled life you know you are meant to have?
If so, A Path to Excellence™ is for you.
Thoroughly researched with authentic advice and ground breaking strategies, this illuminating blueprint for self-mastery invites you on a journey to realize your full potential, clarify your vision, and dare to achieve your dreams.
Inside, you’ll join #1 bestselling, award-winning author, Tony Jeton Selimi as he reveals a proven path to achieving the highest levels of personal and professional excellence. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Tony went from living homeless and penniless as a victim of civil war, to becoming a self-made millionaire and internationally recognised authority on emotional intelligence and maximising human potential.
Built on his critically acclaimed The Octagon of Excellence Method, this book breaks down Tony’s 30 years of experience into an easy-to-digest blueprint, challenging you to step beyond your limits and become the master of your destiny.
From Chanticleer:
On the belief that life isn’t just the random cards one is dealt, A Path to Excellence by Tony Jeton Selimi offers a blueprint—the octagon of excellence—to succeed personally, professionally, and spiritually.
Transcending the pitfalls and spontaneous stumbling blocks along the path of life can open the door to self-actualization and progression. As someone who experienced bullying, sexual abuse, early disability, and homelessness, Selimi sets on to become a beacon of light to the hopeless and marginalized.
Within each soul lies a bud of genius waiting to blossom. This book focuses on purpose, vision, and persistence to clear the way to that fullest potential. Affirming challenges as immutable truths of life, Selimi employs Buddhist teaching and personal anecdotes to encourage a head-on confrontation with one’s struggles and promotes a feeling of gratitude. As a blend of philosophical wisdom and practical experience, the initial chapters help readers acknowledge their current life situation, perceiving challenges as epochs of potential.
A teenager’s dream, the immigrant — Coming to America. . .
A belief something extraordinary is possible. Starry-eyed she arrives in New York on a massive ocean liner from England, the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the distance, her extended arm — like a welcome — what a goose-bump-moment. Alone, with 2 small suitcases, she steps onto American soil, speaking little English. A life unknown, fear a constant companion. She is 23.
Her trust in faith and fate guides her life, believing in the power of possibilities as far back as growing up in a tiny Swiss village, where even dreaming had its limits. Living above her parents’ hair salon, a stranger’s phone call, an American, with a German accent . . . visits her humble home, a one-hour taxi ride from Zürich, to offer her a job in Atlanta or Houston. As the handsome out of the ordinary mystery man leaves, Mom, and her Swiss stare embarrassing Trudy, holding her hands he says, “See you in America”. In the dark cold hallway, rooted to the floor with a broken leg, a cast to her knee, she utters words: “This . . . has something to do with later.”
Society has become a place where combat veterans would rather commit suicide than live. Many who “have it all” are discovering that they still feel miserable but can’t figure out why. They feel powerless under the boredom of what society deems necessary.
Aurita Maldonado is a Puerto Rican woman warrior and Afro Latin dance instructor who chose a different path before and after her two combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
She received a Purple Heart for wounds received in Afghanistan before leaving the Army to align her thoughts, words, and actions. She adopted a new mission: cultivate peace, happiness, and learn to become her own best friend. All while learning to live as one with Mother Earth.
Aurita rejected lucrative government jobs, sold her possessions, and moved to Haines, Alaska, in 2010 to begin her journey with PTSD and self-acceptance. An extreme athlete, she used movement to help her navigate the storms with a grin until she was suddenly paralyzed from the waist down in a fight against a deadly rat lungworm infection.
The perspective shifts she adopted to continue to enjoy life while learning to use her body again will make you reassess your choices to settle for the status quo.
This is an inspirational memoir of a remarkable woman’s journey to stumble in style as she navigates seemingly insurmountable tragedies early in life. It is a story of triumph and discipline. Joy and sorrow. A portrait of a Lady Hurricane dancing, both literally and figuratively as one with the storms of life.
Uplifting and heartwarming work is a vanishingly rare thing these days, and we love having an Awards Division that can inspire readers and writers alike. The Hearten Awards seeks true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more.
Join us in celebrating the Hall of Fame for Grand Prize Winners of the Hearten Awards
Running Away From the Circus By Nove Meyers
Debut author Nove Meyers breathes life into the big tent of human aspirations and desperations, from his birth into a raucous circus atmosphere to his diligent study for Catholic priesthood.
Running Away from the Circus is a vibrant chronicle that opens with a vignette of his grandmother, clad in sequins and flying on a trapeze. She spun like a top to enthusiastic applause under the circus tent, until the fateful day when she included her young child in the act, dropping her thirty feet to the sawdust-covered floor below. But this did not prevent Nove Meyers from being born and having a story to tell.
The boyhood described was as wild as the circus acts. He was encouraged to smoke cigarettes like his father and watched in astonishment as his mother burned up paper money, possibly to protect his uncle, a counterfeiter. Yet despite his unusual upbringing as one of the family’s third generation of circus owners, Meyers was taken regularly to Catholic church services. There, he discovered God, an entity as mysterious as the traveling circus and carnie crowds he was raised among.
INNER TREK – a reluctant pilgrim to the Himalayas By Mohan Ranga Rao
A disinclined traveler journeys into the heartland of the revered Mount Kalash Parikarma in Tibet. Inner Trek by Mohan Ranga Rao follows a voyage that culminates in self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment.
Mohan Ranga Rao, a retired Indian businessman, finds himself between a rock and a hard place when a ruthless Bangalore mob boss threatens him to sell his land at a throwaway price. The situation escalates when he discovers that his trusted lawyer has joined forces with the enemy. He can only turn to his wife for solace.
With nothing for him to do about his land, Rao vows to trek around Mount Kailash, a holy Tibetan Mountain. This travel memoir traces his and his wife’s journey to the deified Himalayas, the land of Lord Shiva. Rao shares intimate details of his experience, including the spiritual transformation that he went through during his challenging high-altitude trek.
DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them by Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo
We love our dogs. We love our cats. But what do we do when people no longer want them, use them for cruel purposes, or release them into the streets with no thought for what will happen to them? Diane Trull’s memoir with Meredith Wargo, DAWGS, shines a light on these questions.
Trull begins the story as a fourth-grade teacher in Dalhart, Texas. One of her young students asks about an article in a local paper showing photos of adorable dogs at a shelter who were up for adoption, wondering what happened to those who weren’t adopted.
Instead of dodging the question, and with great trepidation, she answered it with the truth: those who weren’t adopted would be put to sleep. Her tiny students were understandably shocked. Then one of them said, “I don’t want any of those dogs to die. Isn’t there something we can do to save them?”
Award-winning author, motivational speaker, and podcast host Judy Gaman befriends a fun-loving and feisty centenarian in her CIBA Grand Prize-winning novel, Love, Life, and Lucille.
The list of titles and accolades Judy Gaman has accrued begin to pale when she encounters Lucille Fleming for the very first time. The whole reason for the meet-up with the centenarian was specifically to get her opinions on “aging gracefully,” the featured topic of a new book Judy planned to write. What was scheduled as an hour-long interview turned into an absolutely delightful, near three-hour visit. Lucille turned the tables and began asking questions about Judy’s life with compelling earnestness—something Judy rarely experienced. She was unprepared yet exhilarated.
Judy couldn’t stop thinking about this “dressed to the nines” woman with an ear-to-ear smile and a sturdy, affectionate hug. Her contact with this larger-than-life woman was so infectious, Judy made up an excuse—so that she could see her again. During that second meeting, the two became fast friends as they set Fridays aside as their day to get together. Before their next planned meeting, Judy learned that Lucille had gone into cardiac arrest. She was dead for three minutes before she came back full of vim and vigor as if nothing had happened. Five months later, Lucille was more than ready for TV interviews. With that, Judy made plans to write a second book about Lucille and their relationship.
Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Hearten Winners is to enter today!
Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!
You know you want it…
Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Award for Fiction!
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).
The Military & Front Lines Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir exploring the lives of those who serve their country and others. The Military & Front Lines Service Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).
