Excellence in Editing

Having been a professional freelance editor since 1998, I believe in the power of a well-written and well-edited book. With all the self-publishing and small-press publishing going on these days, it seems there’s a plethora of books out there that aren’t as well edited as what the big traditional publishers have put out in years past. However, there are still some authors who care enough about the craft and their work (and their readers) to invest the time, effort, and sometimes money to make sure their books are as polished as they can be, so that they are as powerful at touching hearts and changing lives as they can be.

I want to honor those authors. And I’ve come up with a way to do that.

As the founder and director of the Christian Editor Connection, I have instituted the Excellence in Editing Award. This award celebrates books that are superbly written, well edited, and published by a CBA publisher or self-published by a Christian author.

For this inaugural year, the CEC Excellence in Editing Award is open to all books published in hardcover or paperback during 2016. We will consider entries in the following categories:

• Contemporary Fiction
• Historical Fiction
• Inspirational/Romance
• Young Adult Fiction
• Mystery/Suspense
• Science Fiction/Fantasy
• Nonfiction (all genres)
• Narrative Nonfiction (memoir/biography)

Entries will be judged by CEC members in good standing—established, professional freelance editors currently working in the Christian publishing industry.

Winners of the 2016 EIE Award will be announced at the Orange County Christian Writers’ Conference in Southern California in April 2017.

If you have a book coming out in 2016, or if you’ve edited a book that’s coming out in 2016, I hope you will consider entering this contest. If you know of a well-written and well-edited book that comes out in 2016, please encourage the author, agent, or publisher to enter that book into the contest.

If you’d like to see more well-written, well-edited books out there, please get the word out about this contest. We have social media posts you can copy and paste. We also have promotional material that you can take to writers’ conferences, writing groups, and other events where authors, agents, or publishers gather. Just go to ChristianEditor.com and use the Contact page to request them.

For submission guidelines and other details, visit ChristianEditor.com/EIE.