Click on the “+” signs below to read descriptions, examples, and special stipulations for each category available in the Realm Awards.
Realm Makers reserves the right to combine or split categories based on the number of submissions received
Comics categories open now! Deadline extended to January 31, 2025
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Coming in March! Interactive Storytelling: details emerging soon
Novel-length Fiction by Genre (works that exceed 50,000 words)
Fantasy
Stories set in this world or an invented world that may contain magic or magical beings.
Subgenre Examples:
- Epic/high fantasy
- fairytales
- sword and sorcery
- urban fantasy
- contemporary/modern fantasy
- superhero fiction
- non-magic fantasy
Science Fiction
Stories set in the future, past, or other dimensions that feature scientific ideas and advanced technological concepts
Subgenre Examples:
- alternate history
- apocalyptic fiction
- dystopian
- post-apocalyptic
- parallel/alternate universe,
- cyberpunk
- hard science fiction
- military science fiction
- space opera
- science fantasy
- steampunk
Supernatural
The supernatural genre incorporates elements that cannot be understood by science and operate outside the rules of the physical world. Supernatural fiction normally concerns itself with matters of God, Satan, the soul, angels, and/or resurrection
Subgenre Examples:
- angels
- demons
- the afterlife
- spiritual warfare
Paranormal
Stories set in the real world that include any phenomena that lie outside the range of scientific explanation. This fiction genre generally includes creatures that have been popularized by folklore and popular culture.
Subgenre Examples:
- shapeshifters
- ghosts
- psychics
- telekinesis
- aliens
- cryptids
- romance involving any of the above
Horror
Definition: Stories that include scary or macabre elements generally involving pursuit and escape
Subgenre Examples:
- dark fantasy
- gothic fantasy
- alien
- cryptid/creature
Please note: due to our content guidelines, slasher horror or other horror subgenres focusing on excessive gore will not qualify for the Realm Awards.
Novel-length Fiction by Audience
Young Adult
Written, published, and marketed to adolescents and young adults (ages 12 to 18)
Young Adult entries can be any of the above genres and must exceed 50,000 words
Middle Grade
Definition: written, published, and marketed to young readers/tweens (ages 8 to 12)
Middle Grade entries can be any of the above genres and must exceed 20,000 words
Early Reader/Chapter Book
Written, published, and marketed to young readers approximately 8 and under.
Chapter book entries must be under 20,000 words. Early reader books should be under 1500 words.
Please remember the Realm Awards are for Speculative Fiction, meaning the entries should clearly fit one of the above genres. Imaginative fiction (talking animals in a real-world setting, imaginary friends that are never portrayed as “real” in the story, or other stories where the reader would conclude the events were all in the character’s imagination, a dream, etc. do not qualify as speculative fiction.
For example: a story where animal characters talk to one another would not qualify, but a story where a magical fairy gives Joey’s dog the power to talk would qualify.
When in doubt, email awards@realmmakers.com to ask.
Specialty Categories
Debut Novel
An author's first published novel-length book
Debut Novel entries must be of the appropriate length for their intended audience, as indicated above. (Middle Grade and older only. Chapter books/Early readers are not eligible for the debut category, as they cannot be effectively judged against full-length novels for older audiences.)
Authors who have published short stories prior to releasing their debut novel still qualify for the debut category. Authors who have published non-fiction, poetry, essays, and articles are also still eligible. Only if they have previously released a novel are they disqualified.
Cover Design
Cover art for any speculative novel, short story, audio, or book for young readers that was released in the contest year.
Cover art must be submitted as a high resolution image file (.jpg or .png or a PDF.) If the cover art appears on a new edition of a book, and the artwork has been created new for that edition, it qualifies, as does the cover art for new works. The cover art can be for print, ebook, or audio formats.
Cover art may be submitted by the author, publisher, or illustrator, and must be for a speculative title. Either the author or the cover artist must affirm the contest’s statement of faith. The entity that enters the artwork is entitled to the award in the event the artwork wins, unless otherwise arranged.
Book of the Year
The best novel-length work entered in the Realm Awards
Book of the Year contenders are selected by the awards committee from the pool of books submitted for the Realm Awards. This is not a category a contestant has the option to enter. Five books that have scored the highest across all the rounds of judging combined will advance to the Book of the Year round, which means winner in genres, audiences, or specialty categories are not guaranteed to advance to the Book of the Year round.
Chapter Books and Early Readers are not eligible for Book of the Year.
Readers Choice
The speculative novel nominated by fans that garners the most votes in public rounds
Fans weigh in on their favorite speculative novels of the contest year by nominating them for the Readers Choice award. Books with the most nominations will move on to two rounds of public voting to determine the winner.
Short Format Fiction
For short fiction that appeared in an anthology, please send the story by itself, not the entire anthology. If you are able to include a copyright or title page that confirms the publication date and publisher, that will help the judging process immensely.
Novelette/Novella
Speculative stories between 10,000 and 49,999 words
Authors will select a category of short fiction when they enter their stories, based on word count.
Novelette: 10,0001-19,999 words
Novella: 20,000-49,999 words
Short Story/Flash Fiction
Speculative stories under 10,000 words
Authors will select a category of short story when they enter, based on word count.
Short Story:1,001-10,000 words
Flash fiction: 1000 words or less
Audiobooks/Audio Drama
Short, Mid-length, or Full-length Audio
Speculative stories offered in audio format, whether digital/CD or online
Authors will select a category of audio when they enter, based on length. Novels, shorter fiction, and audio drama are all eligible. The entry form will have an area for you to specify the type of work for us to sort similar entries in the judging process.
Full-length audio: 5 hours +
Mid-length audio: 1 hour to 4 hrs, 59 minutes
Short Audio: Under 1 hour
Audio submitters will need to submit a URL where the project can be listened to in its entirety or provide 3 coupon codes for free downloads of the work for each round.
The author of the audio will need to affirm Realm Makers statement of faith.
Authors, publishers, or narrators can submit work, but the submitter needs to be able to affirm the statement of faith either for themselves or with confidence on the author’s behalf.
The award will go to the submitter unless otherwise requested.
Comics, Graphic Novels, and Comic Strips
Speculative stories told by offering a sequence of images to convey a narrative
Authors will select a category of project
Comics (floppies): 1 issue is entered for consideration
Graphic novels: Full work is submitted for consideration
Comic strip: A single strip or the collected works of the creator(s) from the contest year are submitted for consideration
The writer for the above projects will need to affirm Realm Makers statement of faith.
Writers, publishers, or artists can submit work, but the submitter needs to be able to affirm the statement of faith either for themselves or with confidence on the writer’s behalf.
The award will go to the submitter unless otherwise requested.
Please note: works published from January 1.2021 to Dec 31, 2024 are eligible for submission in this category.
Interactive Media
Narrative video games
Games with story-driven content
Submission details and parameters coming soon. Please note that this contest will open later than the other categories.