Nine submission categories were announced for the Christian publishing industry’s premiere Christian fiction award. The Christy Award committee and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) will be accepting nominations March 1-31 in these categories:
- GENERAL (includes women’s fiction and non-genre)
- CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
- HISTORICAL ROMANCE
- HISTORICAL
- MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER
- VISIONARY (includes fantasy and apocalyptic)
- FIRST NOVEL
- YOUNG ADULT
- SHORT FORMAT (novellas, series)
Submissions are open to works of fiction written from a Christian worldview, published traditionally or independently from January 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.
“The need for quality fiction books written from a faith perspective has never been greater,” says Stan Jantz, ECPA executive director. “We appreciate the support and involvement of the publishing community, as well as the authors who write these wonderful books.”
“Writers of faith and those who support them should take heart that we live in a time of unprecedented opportunity for authentic connectedness with readers,” states Christy Award advisory board member Daisy Hutton, VP and Publisher of Fiction at HarperCollins Christian Publishing. “We must continue to labor to create and support the kind of storytelling that our readers want and need; stories that explore what binds us together as human beings and that explore our relationship to our Creator.”
The Christy Award has honored Christian Fiction since 1999 and is named for Catherine Marshall’s novel, Christy, which has sold over 10 million copies since its publication in 1967. ECPA recently assumed ownership and administration of the award and subsequently discontinued its fiction category in the Christian Book Award® program to focus and grow the unique opportunity of fiction in Christian publishing through The Christy Award.
ECPA acquired The Christy Award in 2016. Finalists will be named in September, with winners announced in November.