Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Finalist, Young Adult Fiction and Second Novel categories, 2025
Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest international awards program for independent authors and publishers. Awards are bestowed annually across 80 categories, with one winner and up to five finalists in each category. The Carver and the Queen (Owl’s Nest Publishers, 2023), received a Finalist award in two categories: Young Adult Fiction AND Second Novel!
SCBWI Southern Breeze
The Arrow and the Crown
First Place, Young Adult Novels, 2018 Writing Contest
The Carver and the Queen
First Place, Young Adult Novels, 2021 Writing Contest
The Southern Breeze Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Alabama, Georgia and Florida Panhandle) hosts an annual writing contest for authors of illustrated texts, middle grade novels, and young adult novels. The Arrow and the Crown (under its working title The Beast of Weissburg) received 1st place in the young adult division for 2018, and The Carver and the Queen (under its working title Stone Flower) received 1st place in young adult fiction for 2021!
Alabama Writers’ Cooperative
First Place, Warren S. Katz Award for Juvenile Fiction
Founded in 1923, the Alabama Writers’ Cooperative is one of the oldest writers’ organizations in continuous existence in the United States. Each year, entrants from across the Southeast compete in their annual contest across six different categories (Novel, Non-Fiction, Flash Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Poetry and Screenplay). Although many of the applicants are published authors, this competition is for manuscripts that are not yet out in print. My manuscript of The Arrow and the Crown (under its working title The Beast of Weissburg) placed first in the Juvenile Fiction category for 2017! Click here to read my winner’s interview with the AWC.
Writer’s Digest
Honorable Mention for Children’s/Young Adult Fiction, 2017, 2018, 2020
For more than 80 years, Writer’s Digest has been shining a spotlight on up-and-coming writers in all genres. Over 5,000 international contestants enter the competition each year across 10 genre categories. The Arrow and the Crown received Honorable Mention in Children’s/Young Adult Fiction in both 2017 and 2018, and The Carver and the Queen received Honorable Mention in 2020.
Readers’ Favorite
Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review Award for Young Adult Fantasy
Readers’ Favorite is an annual book review and award contest for both published and manuscript novels. Lay reviewers read and rate manuscripts based on appearance, plot, development, formatting, marketability, and overall opinion. The Arrow and the Crown (under its manuscript title The Beast of Weissburg) received 5 stars in every category!
Review by Hannah Richburg for Readers’ Favorite
The Arrow and the Crown, by Emma Fox, is a fairytale-like fantasy story. It follows the life of a determined, yet out-of-place girl named Anna. Anna lives on and tends to a farm with her uncle. They reside in peaceful Dinkelbaum, but the Beast has returned to Weissburg, and there is trouble in the kingdom. Anna meets a young man, Warren, in the mysterious Grünwald forest. He is even more mysterious than the forest, but she is fascinated with him and undaunted by his secrets. Then Anna uncovers the truth about the Beast…
The Arrow and the Crown is a fresh story that is a contender with classic fairytales like Snow White and Cinderella. Emma Fox gives Anna, the heroine of the story, an inner beauty that drives her to defeat the evil that plagues her home. Dinkelbaum and the Grünwald forest come alive with rushing rivers, dark trees, cozy homes, and extravagant clearings. The setting is staggeringly beautiful and perfectly depicted by Emma Fox as she gives it that life. She explores the wild elegance of the forest and the tranquility of home. The Arrow and the Crown captured my heart with both its intricate details and charming characters.
I enjoyed every part of Emma Fox’s magnificent novel. This is definitely a must-read among fantasy novels. I encourage anyone and everyone to read it and be blown away by how artistically it is written. An awesome story! I hope that more people can appreciate it like I did.