Published
Traditionally published or self-published, any year.
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The BeaconBook Award
2026A national book prize for finished books and manuscripts still in progress. Send us your best excerpt. Our judging panel does the rest.
Grand Prize up to $5,000 and the Beacon Award. Runner-Up Prize of $500. Both chosen by our panel, on the writing alone.
Open worldwide
All genres
Published, self-published and unpublished writers welcome
The Beacon Award · awarded November 2026
The Big Idea
You don't need a published book to win.
Most book awards close the door on you until your book is on a shelf. The Beacon Book Award doesn't. We judge on the writing itself: a single excerpt, read by our panel. Whether your book has an ISBN and a print run or is still sitting in a Word document with your editor's comments in the margin, you're eligible.
In Editing
Working with an editor, mid-revision, not yet out.
Unpublished
A complete or in-progress manuscript nobody's seen yet.
The Prizes
Two writers win. Both chosen on merit.
Win Grand Prize
Up To
$5,000
The Beacon Book Award
Our top honour, awarded to the strongest excerpt of the year.
- The Beacon Award trophy
- The official Beacon Winner seal for your cover and marketing
- A feature on the States Book Publishing website and social channels
Win Runner-Up Prize
Of
$500
The Beacon Runner-Up Prize
Awarded by the same panel to the second-placed entry.
- The Beacon Runner-Up seal
- A feature alongside the winner
No lotteries, no random draws, no follower counts. Two prizes, decided by people who read for a living.
Every entrant also receives
Nomination CertificatePersonalised with your name and title, ready to print.
Beacon Nominee BadgeA digital seal you can put on your cover, your site and your socials.
2026 Nominee ArchiveYour name and title recorded in this year's published archive.
How It Works
Four steps. Fifteen minutes.
1
Register
Fill in the entry form and pay your entry fee. $100 through July 31, $250 after.
2
Send your excerpt
Upload up to 5,000 words from anywhere in your book: the opening, a chapter you love, or whatever shows your writing at its strongest. Plus a one-paragraph summary of the full book.
3
Our panel reads
Our panel of editors, published authors and industry readers reads every excerpt. No fame, no follower count, no publication status. Just the pages.
4
Winners announced
The Beacon Book Award winner and the Runner-Up are both announced in November 2026.
Key Dates
The 2026 calendar.
Early Bird deadline
$100 entry, with the same panel and the same prizes
July 31, 2026Closing Soon
Standard entry opens
$250 entry
August 1, 2026
Final submission deadline
Last date to send your excerpt
September 30, 2026
Winners announced
Award winner and Runner-Up announced together
November 2026
Entry Fee
One excerpt. One fee.
Every entry is read for both prizes. Nothing else to buy.
Early Bird
$100
Until July 31, 2026
- One excerpt entry
- Judged for the Beacon Book Award
- Judged for the $500 Runner-Up Prize
- Certificate of entry
Standard
$250
From August 1, 2026
- Everything in Early Bird, without the discount
- Same panel, same prizes, same November announcement
Save $150 by entering before July 31.
Who Can Enter
If you're writing a book, you qualify.
- Writers aged 18 and over, anywhere in the world
- Fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, children's and YA. Every genre is welcome
- Published books, traditional or self-published, any publication year
- Manuscripts in editing, revision or draft
- Multiple entries allowed. Each entry needs its own fee and is judged separately
Winner Spotlight
Meet Our Last Year's Winner.
Beacon
Winner
Winner
Beacon Book Award Winner
Paula Kyle
Ghost of a Phantom
A Three-Generation Journey from Trauma to Triumph
Paula took the Beacon Book Award for the strongest excerpt of the submissions round, chosen by our panel on the writing alone.
Written for the more than 150,000 children in the US still waiting for a safe, loving foster home, her memoir carries one family's story across three generations, from a soldier's return in 1968 to the breaking of the cycle that return set in motion.
"For years I believed this story was too heavy to share. The panel read it on the writing alone, and that changed what I believed was possible for it." Paula Kyle
Why it won
- It carries a single moment, a soldier coming through the family door in July 1968, across three generations, and never loses hold of either end.
- It was written for the more than 150,000 children in the US waiting on a safe foster placement, and it is rooted in the author’s own years inside that system.
- It is built from more than one voice. Her foster father, her daughter and friends of thirty years widen the generational lens as the book goes on.
- It is the cornerstone of an eight-part series, and it reads like a foundation rather than a fragment.
Beacon Book Award Winner
Ghost of a Phantom
A Three-Generation Journey from Trauma to Triumph
Paula Kyle
150,000+children in the US waiting for a safe, loving foster home
Threegenerations followed through one family's story
Eightpart memoir series, with this book as its cornerstone
Written in honor of the more than 150,000 children in the US waiting for safe, loving foster homes, Ghost of a Phantom gives voice to those who often feel unseen, unheard, and forgotten. This story was written not only as a personal journey of survival and healing, but as a beacon of hope for those who, like the author, drifted through the foster care system carrying wounds that few could see. Through truth, courage, and resilience, it offers the possibility of healing for anyone whose childhood was shaped by trauma, loss, displacement, or uncertainty.
Serving as the cornerstone, the “mothership”, of an eight-part memoir series, Ghost of a Phantom begins with a defining moment: a war hero, Master Sgt., Green Beret, and Vietnam War interrogator returning from his second tour of duty in July 1968, detonating through the family door bringing the war home with him. That moment becomes the catalyst for a legacy of trauma that echoes across generations.
Spanning three generations, this powerful narrative uncovers inherited wounds, unspoken pain, and the silent struggles that shape identity, relationships, and life’s direction. More than a personal memoir, this series shines a light on the lasting impact of childhood trauma and the vital role of the foster care system in providing safety, stability, and hope for vulnerable children. Through one family’s story, readers gain a deeper understanding of how adversity can reverberate across generations, and how compassion, intervention, and resilience can alter the course of a life.
What makes this story uniquely compelling is the inclusion of multiple voices that bring depth and authenticity to the journey. Personal accounts from her foster father, Larry Ulrey; her daughter, Christina Kennedy; and close friends who have known her for more than 30 years offer intimate perspectives that bridge past and present, expanding the generational lens and illuminating the far-reaching impact of trauma, survival, and healing.
Through honesty, reflection, and resilience, the story follows a transformation rooted in confronting the past and breaking cycles once thought unchangeable. As buried pain is acknowledged and processed, a new path emerges, one defined by self-awareness, courage, strength, and choice.
From chaos to clarity, Ghost of a Phantom is a testament to the enduring power of the human spirit, the life-changing impact of foster care, and the possibility of rewriting a family legacy into one of healing, growth, and triumph.
For every child still waiting, every adult survivor searching for answers, and every family determined to break generational cycles, this story stands as proof that our past may shape us, but it does not have to define us.
This memoir concludes with a comprehensive group study.
The Judging Panel
Read by people who read for a living.
Every excerpt is read by our panel of editors, published authors and publishing professionals. Both the Award and the Runner-Up Prize are decided by the panel, on the writing alone.
Four seats. Every excerpt read by all four.
FAQ
Questions writers actually ask.
Yes. That's the whole point. We judge the excerpt, not the publication status.
Whichever 5,000 words are your strongest. It doesn't have to be the beginning.
No. Excerpt and a one-paragraph summary only.
No. You keep full rights and full ownership. We only ask permission to name you and quote a short passage if you win.
Yes. Each entry is a separate fee and is judged on its own merits.
By the same panel, in the same reading process. It goes to the second-strongest entry, and there's no draw and no element of chance.
No. Once your excerpt has gone to the panel, the reading fee has been used, so entry fees are not refundable.
November 2026. Both winners are announced together.
Last Call
Early Bird closes July 31. After that, the same entry costs $250.
Same panel, same prizes, same November announcement, for $150 more.
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Enter the Beacon Book Award for $100
Presented by States Book Publishing