The 2023 global book awards
Featuring our medal winners and finalists in each of their categories, the Global Book Awards aim to recognize talented authors that have not received the recognition they deserve in self-publishing.
In this modern age of publishing, books need to be appraised not only by their content and writing style, but also by the way they present and market themselves to the prospective buyer, whether that is in the good ratings it has on important stores like Amazon, its book cover and description, or the number of reviews it has collected. They must also appeal to new readers so part of the evaluation included a survey asking avid readers to select the top 5 books they enjoyed the most.
The awards are grouped by category and divided into Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Award Finalists. We congratulate the winners once again and encourage readers to try out their books.
Hello Kurt. Congratulations! We are pleased to confirm your book Boy in the Barn won a medal in this year’s Global Book Awards.
Announced on Sept. 6, 2023, Boy in the Barn: Journey of Triumph Over Horrific Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse, and PTSD was AWARD FINALIST in the 2023 GLOBAL BOOK AWARDS’ category of Politics & Social Sciences.
My story is a profound, raw, balls-out depiction of deplorable violence, sexual abuse, and suffering. It speaks to the truth about rapes, what they really are and how they affect one’s psyche. Unfortunately, there were no politically correct white washings of the violent depictions within this story to make it a bit comfier and more palatable for the reader.
There are many graphic details of obscene language, brutality, violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, trauma, homophobia, and racism of the time that may be offensive or triggering for readers. As a result, this book may be overwhelmingly dark, depressing, and off-putting.
Therefore, this book should only be read by adults and just as critically by readers with a solid mental constitution. My book is not for the faint of heart.
My story may be distressing for some readers to understand and difficult for others to believe.
My story may also be triggering for individuals who have previously endured and suffered some forms of abuse.
John grew up in an incredibly narcissistic, dysfunctional family on a farm in southeastern North Carolina during the repressive 1960s. This was the model family to the broader community; his parents were considered pillars of society.
Yet, this family held many deep, dark secrets governed by family honor, vanity, and pride. The parents’ standing in the community was paramount to everything else. No one, no family member, circumstance, event, or situation, was to shame and embarrass them and get in the way of how they ranked and viewed themselves.
This way of life was ripe for something more insidious. In a calculated and controlled manner, John was sexually abused and groomed to become a sex worker for a satanic cult by his sadistic brother.
The sexual abuse began when John was six and lasted for eleven years. The ever-escalating forms of child and sexual abuse seemed to know no limits. During his abuse and afterward, John was controlled, silenced, coerced, and threatened with further violence and death by his abusers.
Often leaning on words of wisdom from his grandfather, John held it together and vowed as a teenager to move away and better himself.
This book is about his journey. A lifelong journey to escape from boyhood sexual abuse, his struggles to overcome severe PTSD, his determination to survive, and his steel will to succeed and make something out of himself.
This inspiring LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age story is about hope, courage, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Audible Retail Sample
What People are Saying ...
Tis Best Not To Talk About Such Disparaging Things! The author has stated, "We, children, grew up in a most turbulent time - when the United States, especially the South, was changing from the old to the new ways of life. We grew up in the 1960s and 1970s during the Civil Rights Movement, Desegregation, the Vietnam War, and the Hippie Movement. We grew up in a time when drug use became prevalent. We grew up in a time of great political and societal unrest and change in America. In contrast, we grew up in a repressive southern society of deep, dark secrets. Yet on the surface, it appeared that we grew up in a sleepy, conservative, unassuming, and uninspiring farming community. But under that cloak of disguise, we came from a society that clung to a past governed by strict adherence to culture, religious intolerance, and extreme racism." And this statement sets the tone for this story. This novel is incredibly difficult to read, as it conveys the sad reality of life for many children in this era. The author's instruction that you keep a box of tissues nearby indicates the immense pain and abuse inflicted on children during this time. Parents believed themselves to be entitled to do whatever they wished with their children, which included psychological manipulation, physical and sexual violence, neglect, and a lack of basic necessities. This heartbreaking story gives a glimpse into the tragic life of its author. It shines an uncomfortable spotlight on his struggles and suffering at the hands of those closest to him, leaving me with a heavy heart and longing for justice for what he endured.
Get Your Tissues Ready! The author provides an informative part before reading, pertaining to the trigger warnings. This book is not for the faint of heart. It was definitely hard to read some portions, as the author doesn't sugar coat anything. Like it was hard for my brain to process the things that happened in this book. I cried many times and was overcome with so many overwhelming feelings while reading. I will be thinking of this book for a while.
Not For Everyone! This book is not for everyone, I say that not meaning it was an awful book. The introduction preps and warns you about what's to come, but I still wasn't expecting what I read. I had to stop reading after chapter 1 and pick it up again. Put it down, pick it up, over and over. Like the other reviews, yes it'll make you cry. It made me cry and wonder how is this amazing person still alive? In my opinion, I would recommend this book but I'd warn those who read it. I thought I read or watched the most awful things, but this book proved me wrong. I read it for free on KU and buyed a copy to have in my home library. Please take the author's introduction to heart. This book proves we don't know what someone is going through.
Thank you again so much to the lovely, Kurt B. Ellis for considering me to provide an ARC to review his survival story. I was originally supposed to submit my review on 3/01/2023 on the release date of his book. It is now, 3/13/2023. Prior to applying to be considered as a possible ARC reviewer of his book. I was already slowly dealing with my own mental health issues & traumas that led me to a longer reading slump than I could ever have anticipated. I still chose to push through with reading, because I owed it Mr. Ellis to provide a review, regardless of the multiple times there were trigger warnings and I looked past them all because a difficult event from my life was yet again approaching and I needed some type of distraction, even if I felt that my timing to read this was bad. I am a mother, as many of you should already know and this incredible story was incredibly triggering, uncomfortable, and caused more than I can remember breaks from reading, disgust, heartbreak, tears, anger. Basically, all of the emotions that reading gives us. I hated this book, NOT because it was poorly written, but let me be specific, the people who were 100% included, except a few that were victims. It constantly made me question and reflect on humanity itself. Religion, those adult figures who we rely on with our children, the definition of vanity, denial, and how manipulative people can be when it comes to their getting what they want in life. This book is 1000% a 5 star read and though it was an incredibly difficult book, it had a few moments where I smiled and got all misty eyed because there was indeed a happy ending. One that I hope to have in the future when dealing with my own traumas. This story is a powerful one. Where you see a young boy deal with constant levels of abuse where it left permanent mental, physical and emotional scars and his story should give us all hope to try and preserve and for our own mental wellness push forward to obtain a more positive and fulfilling life because we all deserve it and shouldn't let our trauma win.
Please! This book is not fit for children as it comes with very mature content. After going half way through the book, I am sorry to say this but there is no room for forgiveness in my heart since i can not get over the fact that it was the closer people who did these kinds of things. It is too much for me to accept therefore I will keep every lesson from this book in my mind for life. The world of blood is thicker than water is strange indeed. This book is one million times a deep slice of life.
Very considerate of the author to put in trigger warnings upfront of this work. I’ve read "A Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer many years ago, and even though the child abuse depicted in that novel was horrific, in this novel - "Boy in the Barn, "it was much worse – I didn’t think anything could be worse. The sexual abuse inflicted by an older brother onto a younger brother was absolutely horrifying, disgusting, and shocking. Even more so were the adults – the mother, a doctor and a nurse, knowing about it and yet not doing anything in their power, or required by law, to protect the child from it. Aside from the scenes of this abuse and other abuses (physical abuse), the writing was well done, and moved the story along. I couldn’t put this book down and I read it in two days. I enjoyed reading about the family’s historic roots, rural farming life and about the author’s very difficult journey after having survived this abuse, how he did not fall or become a victim to it, but rather ended up successful in his own right through the virtues of continuous hard work and never giving up. I would definitely recommend reading it, but not for those readers who may be triggered by the very descriptive scenes of the sexual abuse in this work.
This Is Fiction, Folks! And pretty poor fiction at that. If it were an actual autobiography (the disclaimer at the end of the book makes clear it isn’t), then it might be forgiven for its one-dimensional characters and its melodrama. But it’s just a very bad work of fiction, typical of much of the stuff that amateur writers crank out to go on Kindle. I unfortunately wasted money on a paperback copy. What a waste of money and timber. {{Author's Comment: This reviewer had issues with my book being 'fiction.' I purposely made it a fiction book to protect the innocent victims and their families that are still alive today. I changed the venue, character names and descriptions. The word 'fiction' is used in three places that are available to potential readers to view BEFORE making a purchase: Amazon's book description, in the 'Look Inside,' and on the back panel of the paperback.}}
AUDIBLE REVIEW: A Story of Survival! This is a horrific story of severe child abuse and it still shocks me that people got away with this behavior without consequences years ago. This author is very brave for sharing this tragic story and I applaud him for sharing it in hopes of helping others know they are not alone. The trigger warnings are serious, so don't take them lightly. I didn't love the narrator but he did a good job.
AUDIBLE REVIEW: Tragedy at Its Worst! First, please let me say that I didn't get far into this book. I just couldn't. My heart was breaking in the first chapter. If you have any heart, this will rip it apart. I was hoping to get though because I know despite the odds, he makes it. I'm so sorry I couldn't do it. But I do plan to try again in a few months.
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