The First Batch of Results are In!
We at Realm Makers are excited how the Aurora Contest for unpublished authors has grown this year. Our judges had a huge crop of promising manuscripts to score in this first round, and narrowing things down to the second round pool wasn’t easy.
To every author who submitted, bravo to you for your brave step of showing your work to complete strangers. Our amazing team is working on compiling the comments judges gave to the books that didn’t move forward in the contest. We hope the feedback you receive will be helpful as you continue to refine your story to its best possible form. Don’t be discouraged! Every writer begins knowing less than those who are more experienced, and by braving this contest, you’ve gained insight while you still have the freedom to change anything that needs a little more polish. And if you haven’t published a book by August of next year, you can always submit again!
And now, the news you’re all waiting for: the list of books that DID advance to round 2. We have alphabetized titles beneath headings for each category.
Middle Grade
Abigail Skelton | Hastings Academy |
Danielle Vogt | Lizzie Love: Shadow and Song |
K.T. Leigh | Pond of Principium |
Allison Cook | Project Blightbound |
Chris Warszawski | Sebastian Funny & the Brave Mountain |
Narelle Henson | The Kingdom of Ruack |
Kassy Lodge | The Memory Thieves |
Amy E. Bryant | The Secret War of Inglenook Manor (Or: Polite Children Don’t Fight Goblins) |
Vanessa Tate | The Wishing Star |
Young Adult
Samantha Mendell | A Lode to Light |
Emma Heinz | Curse-eaters |
M. K. Minnick | Eden |
Annika Crum | Fabrication |
Chelsea Post | Hero |
Dixie Woodrum | Imperfect |
Jaela Nance | Keystone: The Thief, The Magician, and The Assassin |
Marybeth Davis | Lifeblood |
Lucy Peterson | PACKLESS |
Brent Clark | Rampage |
Hannah Prewett | Selkie Song |
Kristen Bazen | Set Among Kings |
Sara C. Anderson | Sook – Book 1 of the Purge War |
Lillyanna Bangert | The Alliance Games |
Amanda Helvey | The Butterfly Gate |
Emmy Karoline | The Embers of Freedom |
Autumn Acosta | The Emperor’s Elite: The Pendant and the Prophecy |
Rachel North | The Genesis Clock |
M. K. Minnick | The Gift of Seeing |
Heather Pine | The Mapmaker |
Jared Thomason | The Realm of Shades |
Meg Hardin | The Secret of the Pearls |
Anneliese Fellows | The Stars Hide Their Faces |
Amanda Walker | To Hope |
Annah Raine | Unsinkable |
J E Krantz | Uplander – Legends of Darva, Book 1 |
Evalyn Hitzfield | Vanguard |
H.M. Hershberger | Vanum Bellum |
Adult
JW Hagala | Ascending Through Darkness |
Colleen Ochab | Becoming Chaos |
David Lawson | Bhrigz Chronicles: The First Breath |
JM Allison | Brand of the King |
Annika Crum | Breath Blood and Bone |
Justin Poythress | Chrysalis |
Ginger Takamiya | Dăwm Tower |
S. M. Lundy | Eve |
Ethan Cattani | Fire Under the Mountain |
Madison Brown | Fogg |
Chester Bolton | I’m Moral |
Jason Miller | Legacy of Cain |
Shelby Hercules | Leitha |
J. R. Ogburn | Oculus Sinister, Book One – The First Nexus |
Elizabeth Shelton | Ruthie’s Magical Pest Control |
Lance Andrews | Summoning |
Laura Melnick | The Dragon Stone |
Jonathan Lovelace | The Invasion |
Troy Thompson | The Legend of Crumble’s End: Call to Journey |
Kelly Jasmer | The Mountain’s Veil |
L.T. Ellis | Vows of Iniquity |
Arabella Takamiya | Worth of the Phoenix – A.Takamiya |
Heather Griffin | Your Move, Mr. D’Arcy – Griffin |
Cross Genre
Samantha Mendell | A Lode to Light |
David Lawson | Bhrigz Chronicles: The First Breath |
Sydney Leeson | Dirigible |
Madison Brown | Fogg |
Shelby Hercules | Leitha |
Broose Johnson | Race Rexter in the Dinosaur Dimension |
Jesse M. Logan | Run to the Stars |
Emily Martin | The Corridor Game |
Emmy Karoline | The Embers of Freedom |
Troy Thompson | The Legend of Crumble’s End: Call to Journey |
Anonymous | The Memory Finder |
Heather Griffin | Your Move, Mr. D’Arcy |
Horror-Paranormal-Supernatural
Cindi Myers | Job |
Annette Marie Griffin | Khatan’s Rose |
Brent Clark | Rampage |
Natasha Benevides | REBELLION – Redemption’s Way: Book One |
Chloe Wilcox | Should Dragons Fail |
Ronnell Kay Gibson | Subtle Deception |
Mary Lynn Cloghesy | The Chain Link Murder |
Kevin Wilcox | THE ELEMENTS OF ZION: The Vine, The Branch, and The Thorn |
Brian Loper | The Rings of Petros |
Elise Haroldson | Treeple |
Science Fiction
Noah Filipiak | Age of Ashes |
JW Hagala | Ascending Through Darkness |
Andrea Krist | Beyond Visible Stars |
Sidney Showers | Brother’s Keeper |
Ty Briggs | Calypso |
Justin Poythress | Chrysalis |
Emma Heinz | Curse-eaters |
M.K. Minnick | Eden |
Patricia Tiffany Morris | Einstein’s Folly |
Alex Rogers | Falling From the In Between |
Dixie Woodrum | Imperfect |
Eric Clutter | Infinities |
Gianna Baez | Mission Agnes: Fivespot Shattered |
Leah Carlson | Shining Revelation |
Shannon Skaer | SUBLUNAR |
Noah Waldecker | The Helix Code Project |
H.M. Hershberger | Vanum Bellum |
Fantasy
Carley Rains | A Cursed Lineage |
Jenna Papponetti | After a King Falls |
Anna Rogalski | All I Fail to Do |
Colleen Ochab | Becoming Chaos |
Nicholas Schindler | Bond of the Chosen |
Annika Crum | Breath Blood and Bone |
Micah C. Hebert | Brothers in Spirit |
Anna LaHaug | By My Wing |
Angela Merkle | Counterparts: The High Mage’s Task |
Evelyn Newt | Darkness Blooms |
Rebecca van den Ham | Day of the Light |
Jacob B. Sillman | Defiant |
Skylar Fountain | Ember Among the Stars |
Annika Crum | Fabrication |
Joel Crumbley | Fiera and the Flame |
Ethan Cattani | Fire Under the Mountain |
Linnae Klutchko | Flight |
Abigail Skelton | Hasting’s Academy |
Elizabeth Enns | Heir of Starlight |
Chelsea Post | Hero |
Alicia Peterson | Icebound |
Fernie Rea | Iron and Glass |
Marybeth Davis | Lifeblood |
Nikki Diekemper | NIRO |
Tracy Oguni | One Soul Graft |
C.G. Hill | Our Dark Pasts |
Meg Wilson | Out of the Ashes |
Lucy Peterson | PACKLESS |
SaraTwinkle | Plagued |
K.T. Leigh | Pond of Principium |
Allison Cook | Project Blightbound |
Hadley Cole | Reclamation |
Elizabeth Shelton | Ruthie’s Magical Pest Control |
Chris Warszawski | Sebastian Funny & the Brave Mountain |
Kristen Bazen | Set Among Kings |
Debby Zigenis-Lowery | Set in Stone |
JC | Song of Fox Fire |
Sara C. Anderson | Sook – Book 1 of the Purge War |
Trinity Riley | Stars Only Shine In the Shadows |
Elise Haroldson | Stewards |
Lance Andrews | Summoning |
Lydia Bohl | Tempest |
Kinsey Holt | The Boy from Cordovan |
Amanda Helvey | The Butterfly Gate |
Megan Amor | The Curse of Clementine Allswell |
Alyssa Christine | The Dewfall |
Madeline Merriman | The Dragon and the Jewel |
Genevieve St. Martin | The Ferrous Sea |
Abigail Skelton | The Fury of Rosh |
Rachel North | The Genesis Clock |
Rachel Dib | The Hand and the Phoenix |
Sandy Blackburn | The Journey Gardener and the Compass Thief |
Narelle Henson | The Kingdom of Ruack |
KL Wagoner | The Last Bonekeeper |
Alisha Promis | The Living Stones |
Kendra Bell | The Lost Song of VaLore |
Rose Collins | The Man and Beast |
Heather Pine | The Mapmaker |
Kelly Jasmer | The Mountain’s Veil |
Jared Thomason | The Realm of Shades |
John Lord | The Snow Forge |
Nicole Monroe | The Thief’s Throne |
Julia N. White | The White Raven |
Melissa Myers | Thorn Cursed |
Kevin D. Olson | Threads of Cinder |
Amanda Walker | To Hope |
Katrina Austin | Transcendent |
Stephen A. Davis | Underland and the Forehidden Kingdom |
J E Krantz | Uplander – Legends of Darva, Book 1 |
L. T. Ellis | Vows of Iniquity |
Kathryn Turley | Water on Fire |
