Bethany House Publishers stole the show at the 7th Annual Christy Awards, winning in four out of the six categories for which its authors were nominated. The Christys, which look to uphold excellence in Christian fiction, were held at the Denver Marriott City Center on Saturday evening preceding the International Christian Retail Show.

Bret Lott, author of 11 books including Jewel, an Oprah Book Club selection, was the keynote speaker. Lott, who recently edited The Best Christian Short Stories for WestBow Press, urged Christian writers toward a “reverence and awe for the written word,” while also carefully acknowledging that some books by Christian authors could “benefit from a good strong editor.”

Among the Bethany House winners was W. Dale Cramer, who took home an award for Levi's Will, a book whose story is loosely based on the life of his father, who was banned after leaving the Old Order Amish community in which he was raised. As a result of the book, the ban was lifted, and three generations of the family came together just shy of Cramer's father's 80th birthday.

For the fourth consecutive year, Karen Hancock took home the Visionary award, this time for Shadow Over Kiriath from Bethany House. Athol Dickson and Deeanne Gist came out victors with River Rising in the Suspense category and A Bride Most Begrudging in Romance, respectively, for the publishing house, which is celebrating its 50th year.

Liz Curtis Higgs won her first Christy for the third of her Scottish historicals, Whence Came a Prince, from WaterBrook Press. Higgs was a finalist once before with Bookends.

Nominated in the categories of First Novel and Contemporary (Series, Sequels and Novellas), Vanessa Del Fabbro came out on top in the Contemporary category. The Road to Home, set in the author's homeland of South Africa, was published by Steeple Hill.