Welcome to the Takeover Blitz for The Christy Award Finalists 2024, organized by ECPA and hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! We extend our sincere and enthusiastic congratulations to the 2024 Finalists and Winners (announced November 14)!

About the Gala

The Christy Award Gala will be held on Thursday, November 14 at 7 pm central in Downers Grove, Illinois, at the DoubleTree Conference Center, just outside Chicago. Winners from each category, plus the Christy Book of the Year and Amplify Award, will be announced during the celebration.

Hosted by award-winning novelist and radio host Chris Fabry, the Gala will feature the induction of award-winning speculative author Sharon Hinck into the Christy Hall of Fame with remarks from inaugural Hall of Fame novelist Lynn Austin. The evening will also include a keynote from Amanda Barratt, author of 2023 Christy Book of the Year Within These Walls of Sorrow and the presentation of this year’s awards by last year’s winning authors: Sharon Hinck, Amanda Barratt, Sara Brunsvold, Laura Frantz, Elizabeth Goddard, Kristi Ann Hunter, Anna Rose Johnson, Linda MacKillop, Katie Powner, and Sara Watterson.

In addition, the literary imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien will be honored throughout the evening by poet, scholar, and Anglican priest Malcolm Guite; accomplished agent of many of the industry’s award-winning speculative titles Steve Laube; and WaterBrook editor, who is the founder of the International Inklings Day Substack, Jamie Lapeyrolerie.

Learn more about The Christy Award Gala 2024

The Christy Award Finalists & Winners 2024

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE – tie

Her Only Wish, Shelley Shepard Gray (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group)
Winner Indigo Isle, T.I. Lowe (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Rhythm of Fractured Grace, Amanda Wen (Kregel Publications)
The Thing About Home, Rhonda McKnight (Thomas Nelson)

FIRST NOVEL

A Fifth of the Story, Dr. Katherine Hutchinson Hayes (End Game Press)
Winner An American Immigrant, Johanna Rojas Vann (WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House)
On Moonberry Lake, Holly Varni (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group)

GENERAL FICTION – tie

He Should Have Told the Bees, Amanda Cox (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group)
The Last Exchange, Charles Martin (Thomas Nelson)
Winner The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass, Katie Powner (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)
The Year of Jubilee, Cindy Morgan (Tyndale House Publishers)

HISTORICAL

Appalachian Song, Michelle Shocklee (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Foxhole Victory Tour, Amy Lynn Green (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)
Winner The Warsaw Sisters, Amanda Barratt (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group)

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

A Winter by the Sea, Julie Klassen (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)
Winner Of Love and Treason, Jamie Ogle (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Seamstress of Acadie, Laura Frantz (Revell/ Baker Publishing Group)

MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER

8 Down, Kimberley Woodhouse (Kregel Publications)
The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)
Winner The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)

SHORT FORM – tie

Beauty Bright (within We Three Kings), Cara Putman (Kregel Publications)
The Poppy (within Dancing in the Rain), Sara Davison (Sara Davison)
The Shifting Current, Dani Pettrey (Dani Pettrey)
Winner Star of Wonder (within We Three Kings), Crystal Caudill (Kregel Publications)
You Make It Feel Like Christmas, Toni Shiloh (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)

SPECULATIVE – tie

Estuary, Lisa T. Bergren (Enclave, a division of Oasis Family Media)
Winner In This Moment, Gabrielle Meyer (Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group)
Lumen, J.J. Fischer (Enclave, a division of Oasis Family Media)
Shadowcast, Crystal D. Grant (Quill & Flame Publishing House)

YOUNG ADULT – tie

The Looking-Glass Illusion, Sara Ella (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)
Winner Offsides, Lori Z. Scott (End Game Press)
Once a Queen, Sarah Arthur (WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House)
Winner Sky of Seven Colors, Rachelle Nelson (Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media)

THE CHRISTY BOOK OF THE YEAR

Indigo Isle, T.I. Lowe (Tyndale House Publishers)

THE AMPLIFY AWARD FOR CHRISTIAN FICTION

The American Queen, Vanessa Miller (Thomas Nelson)

Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive their choice of The Art of Writing registration OR print copies of The Christy Award finalist titles for one category!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight September 20, 2024 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on September 27, 2024. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

Register for The Christy Award 2024 Events

Leading up to the Gala, an afternoon of seminars will be presented as the Art of Writing conference, which will bring together writers, creatives, and publishing curators for training and connection around Christian fiction writing.  Sessions will be led by publishers Karen Watson and Andrea Martin (Tyndale House); agents Danielle Egan-Miller and Cynthia Ruchti; and authors Amanda Cox, Kelly Flanagan, Chris Fabry, Robin W. Pearson, Dani Pettrey, and others.

REGISTER

The Christy Award® is a program of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) and is the foremost award honoring and promoting excellence in Christian fiction since 1999. For more information about ECPA, visit ECPA.org. For more information about the Christy Awards and Art of Writing conferences, visit ChristyAwards.com or email TheChristyAward@ecpa.org

Author and Reader Event

Join fellow readers and forty authors (and counting!) at the JustRead Rendezvous to celebrate Christian fiction and sweet reads. This event will be held on the day after The Christy Award events at the same location. Rendezvous, modeled after the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat, aims to sweeten reading and storytelling experiences with fellowship and encouragement. Activities will include corporate worship, speaker sessions, author panels, small group discussions, games, giveaways, a pop-up book shop, and author signings.

Learn more about the 2024 JustRead Rendezvous

Tour Schedule

Launch Post @JustReadTours

September 20
By The Book
Britt Reads Fiction
Reading Is My Remedy
Only By Grace Reviews
Christy’s Cozy Corners
Cindy’s Book Corner
Pens pages & pulses
Batya’s Bits
ReviewsByErin
Labor Not in Vain
Hallie Reads
Heidi Reads
Library Lady’s Kid Lit
Beauty in the Binding
Happily Managing a Household of Boys
Inspired by Fiction
FINCHNWREN
Woven by Words
A Modern Day Fairy Tale
All-of-a-kind Mom
Faithfully Bookish
Reading Is My SuperPower
@cozycraftyreads
@aliciasbooksanctuary
@charitys.book.escapes
@Lotsofbookstoread
@jenn.behindthebooks
@raisingtinybookworms
@paperbacks_and_ponytails
@reading.among.the.daisies
@meezcarrie
@faithfulbookish
@Reading_Is_My_Remedy
@heidireadsblog
@_ruth_reads_
@beautyinthebinding
@busymomsreadtoo
@onlybygracereviews
@books.n.blossoms
@happiestwhilereading
Faithfully Bookish
Reading Is My Remedy – Book Reviews
Heidi Reads
Ruth Reads
Beauty in the Binding
Busy moms read too
@cherrypie0420
@mimibakermn
@HappyReading24
@hszott