Editors Choice Award

It takes a team to produce a well-written and well-edited book! And because the Christian Editor Network wants to honor the teams behind such books, we are proud to sponsor the annual Editors Choice Award.

This award (which ran for seven years as the Excellence in Editing Award, sponsored by CEN’s Christian Editor Connection) celebrates newly released books that are superbly written, well edited, and published by a Christian publisher or self-published by a Christian author.

The CEN Editors Choice Award is open to books published in hardcover or paperback in the previous calendar year. Books must be written in English, have been released in North America, and contain a Christian worldview.

The publication teams (authors, editors, and publishers) behind the ECA-winning books will be honored for their dedication and hard work, and they may mention this award in their marketing, promotion, and publicity. The most valuable aspect of the award is its use as a book sales stimulator.

In addition, finalists and winners will be announced and promoted on the ECA website and through the social media accounts of Christian Editor Network’s other divisions: The Christian PEN, Christian Editor Connection, and PENCON.

Judging is based on the following criteria: 

  • organization of content
  • flow
  • clarity
  • tight writing
  • accuracy
  • consistency
  • lack of typos
  • proper use of industry-standard guidelines for punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling 

Our judging panel includes established, professional freelance editors currently working in the Christian publishing industry. (Editors will not be allowed to judge any books they have worked on or books written by authors they have worked with.) Ghostwritten books are not eligible.

Professional editors are picky about the books they read in their free time. When they find one that is beautifully written, well edited, and has few or no typos or “PUGS” errors, they rejoice at discovering such a precious treasure. The Editors Choice Award honors books that even a professional editor will enjoy!

FINALISTS and WINNERS

ECA finalists are announced in April on the Editors Choice Award website and the Christian Editor Connection’s Facebook page. In addition, each team member (author, editor, and publisher) will receive a digital ECA Finalist emblem to use in their promotions.

ECA winners will be announced live during the PENCON editors conference in May, then on the Editors Choice Award website and the Facebook pages of The Christian PEN, Christian Editor Connection, and PENCON and The Christian PEN’s Twitter page. 

Winning authors and editors will also be interviewed for articles that will appear in an upcoming PEN Tips blog and The Christian PEN’s e-newsletter, which is distributed to hundreds of members.

In addition, each winning team member will receive a printed certificate and digital ECA Winner emblem. Authors will receive emblem stickers to place on their books. 

Plus, each winning author and editor may select one of the following prizes from Christian Editor Network:

Winning authors and editors will be provided with judges’ notes on their submissions to help them further improve their writing and editing skills and to make corrections to the e-book or a future edition of the print book.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

  • Authors, editors, and publishers may submit any number of books they have contributed to. A separate entry fee is charged for each book entered. A PDF of the book must be submitted along with a PDF or JPG of its front and back covers. 
  • Do not send e-books, marketing kits, reviews, or other supporting material.
  • By entering this contest, the author, editor, or publisher asserts that he or she agrees with the Statement of Faith on the Christian Editor Network website.
  • Unless specifically requested otherwise, entrants will be automatically added to the ECA mailing list for contest updates. They may opt out of this list at any time.
  • Entries must be received between June 1 and midnight on December 31 for the following year’s award. 

Ready to enter the contest? Click here to complete the entry form!

Want to be a judge? If you are a Christian and an established, professional freelance editor, and are interested in possibly being a judge for the Editors Choice Award, please contact us. You may specify what genre(s) you’re interested in judging and how many entries you would like to receive. (Note: If you find too many errors in the first few pages, you will not need to continue reading that entry.)