Written by Esther Aardsma
What is the Editors’ Choice Award?
Christian Editors Association founder Kathy Ide conceived the idea for the Editors’ Choice Award when she attended a major Christian writers’ conference a decade ago. “They announced that they would start accepting self-published books…as long as the book had sold at least 25,000 copies,” Ide says. “I thought, That just means the author is a good marketer. Doesn’t necessarily mean the book is good. I have read numerous books that won writing awards but were so poorly edited I couldn’t read past the first few chapters.”
She had her own growing organization to support Christian editors, proofreaders, and writers—called Christian Editor Network at the time. What if, through this organization, she started an award to honor well-edited books?
The Excellence in Editing Award was born in 2016 to, according to Ide, “celebrate books that are not only beautifully written but also meticulously edited.” Christian Editor Connection, a division of Christian Editor Network, administered the Excellence in Editing Award until 2022, when the honor was renamed to Editors’ Choice Award, and Christian Editor Network was renamed to Christian Editors Association.
How does the Editors’ Choice Award work?
Book submissions are accepted between June 1st and December 31st of the year they are published. Each entry undergoes an initial round of judging that checks for typos, inconsistencies, and errors in punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling. If a book contains too many errors, judging stops there.
For books that pass the first round, the second-round judges evaluate content. Does the book communicate clearly? Is the writing engaging and consistent throughout? If the book is nonfiction, it is judged for elements such as organizational flow, factual accuracy, proper citation of sources, and appropriateness for the target audience. Fiction judging considers factors such as depth of character development, skill in dialogue and narrative, plot sequencing, and attention to worldbuilding.
If a book passes the second round, it is reviewed by the Christian Editors Association’s management team to determine whether it meets the Editors’ Choice Award’s stringent standards for excellence.
The winning books are announced at the PENCON virtual editors’ conference, which takes place the first week of May. Acknowledging that it takes a team to publish an outstanding book, the authors, editors, and publishers are all honored.
Why should I enter the Editors’ Choice Award?
Beyond a sense of personal accomplishment, there are many benefits for winners of this award. Authors, editors, and publishers of winning books receive certificates that can be printed and framed. Authors win a digital emblem to add to their websites or book listings and emblem stickers to place on print copies. Winning authors and editors may choose discounts on Christian Editors Association’s products, events, or memberships.
The Editors’ Choice Award also promotes winning books through our social media pages, our website, and blog posts published by the Christian Editors Association.
Every entrant in the Editors’ Choice Award (regardless of whether they won) can, upon request, receive their judging sheets with judges’ feedback. This is a valuable opportunity for entrants to learn how to improve their craft from established, knowledgeable professionals.
What makes the Editors’ Choice Award unique?
Editors’ Choice Award judges are experienced professional editors actively working in the Christian publishing industry. (Editors are not allowed to judge any books they have worked on or books written by authors they have worked with.)
This award is not a contest of elimination but an award of merit. There isn’t one winner per category. Every book that passes all three rounds of judging wins.
Although the Editors’ Choice Award is open to books published by large traditional houses, we encourage entries of books that are self-published, published by small presses, and published through subsidy or hybrid publishers. We want to promote excellent books regardless of how they were published.
How can I enter the Editors’ Choice Award?
The author, editor, or publisher of a book released during the current calendar year may enter the book. (Ghostwritten books and books written with generative AI are not eligible.) Books must be written by a Christian author or published by a Christian publisher. An outright Christian message is not required, but the content must not contradict Christian beliefs and values. The entrant must agree with the Statement of Faith on the Christian Editors Association website.
To enter, simply fill out the form at ceaeditorschoiceaward.com, attach a pdf of the book, and pay the entry fee. (Currently, the contest only accepts pdf copies of print books. However, recognizing the popularity of e-book only publications, we are working on methods to add them to our contest soon.)
Submissions are received between June 1st and December 31st. Entries received prior to September 15th get an early-bird discount! Members of The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network also receive a discount.
Stay informed by following us on Facebook, Instagram, or X/Twitter. Questions? Contact the Editors’ Choice Award Director, Jill Guzas, at director@ceaeditorschoiceaward.com.
Esther Aardsma is a Midwestern gal, located in the heart of corn and soybean prairie near Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Through her freelance business Write with Esther, she offers editing, writing coach, and speaker services. In her rare spare moments, Esther likes to code with HTML/CSS, sketch project ideas of all kinds, read aloud to her kids, or curl up under the covers with a good story.