Headlong Into Harm Press

The Colorado Authors’ League has announced its shortlist for its 2019 CAL Awards. The honors, which are granted to any book published by a member in 2018, frequently focus on the works of Colorado independent writers.

Colorado Authors’ League Awards

The 2019 CAL Awards are, like always a pretty diverse group. While it features a slew of categories for fiction titles – Colorado literary fiction, romance, mystery/crime/suspense, sci-fi/fantasy, horror and western – it takes a long view on publishing. Poets, screenwriters, children’s picture book writers, nonfiction writers, short story authors and playwrights are honored. The group also makes nods toward cover design, and, inexplicably, to electronic books as well. (Maybe they’re big fans on Marshall McLuhan’s classic “The Media is the Message” theory?)

Whatever it the case may be, more than three dozen home-grown Colorado authors are up for the award.

About the Colorado Authors’ League

Haven’t heard about the Colorado Authors’ League? You’re not alone. While the organization has been central to many writers from the Centennial State’s growth, it’s rarely known outside industry circles. Founded in 1931, the League has been a hub for professional writers’ growth and networking. While recently evolving to reflect the concerns of writers in a digital age, it offers programming, resources and networking events to its members each year.

Membership is open to professional, published writers, as CAL focuses its efforts on career-building programming, rather than tips for plucky young authors-to-be. In recent years, this has included helping developed writers find new inroads to retail locations and cooperative marketing opportunities.