At The Author Conservatory, it’s our commitment to empower young writers with writing craft and career skills they need to turn their dreams into reality.
We recently celebrated with Kyla Carter, an Author Conservatory alumni, who just received a Realm Award for her short story, “The Graveyard of Lost Dreams,” at the 2025 Realm Makers Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
What Are the Realm Awards?
The Realm Makers conference hosts The Realm Awards each year, an awards ceremony “honoring Christian creators of fantastical stories.”
Categories of the Realm Awards range from audio drama to debut novel to cover design. Each project submitted for a Realm Award undergoes multiple rounds of review from a selected panel of judges. When winners are selected, the awards ceremony is held one night during the Realm Makers conference.
Realm Award winners receive sales opportunities at an independent bookstore in Pennsylvania, conference network invitations, press release coverage, and podcast promotion. Not to mention recognition at the live awards gala, where attendees dress up like their favorite fantasy characters!
Kyla Carter Wins 2025 Novelette/Novella Realm Award
Kyla Carter, a member of our first graduating class, won the 2025 Realm Award for Novelette/Novella with her short story “The Graveyard of Lost Dreams.” This short story was published by The Author Conservatory in our second anthology, Voices of the Future: Stories of Courage and Compassion.
Kyla expressed gratitude for her award to God, her family, her fiance, and Brett Harris and Kara Swanson, founders of The Author Conservatory.
She also thanked The Author Conservatory for “the mentorship, support, and guidance [that] have been instrumental in shaping me as a writer. Your commitment to both craft and career is something I carry with me in every word I write.”
Kyla is an example of how excellent writing craft and career skills come together to lay an incredible foundation for a writing career.
At The Author Conservatory, we teach our students to craft excellent fiction just like Kyla’s short story. We also teach them how to navigate networking through the publishing market with success and grace, as seen through each of our students who attended Realm Makers 2025.
If you’re a young writer looking to turn your passion into a career, The Author Conservatory can help you take that first step.
