American Christian Fiction Writers

What American Christian Fiction Writers does

American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) is a U.S.-headquartered, Florida-domiciled nonprofit professional membership organization serving Christian fiction writers. Founded in 2000 and operating from Palm Bay, FL, ACFW provides an integrated platform-plus-services offering built around four pillars: annual membership, a national in-person conference (the 2026 edition scheduled for August 27-30 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN) paired with a virtual conference, three annual writing contests (Genesis for unpublished writers, Carol Awards for published Christian fiction, and the First 5 Pages Contest), and a network of 30+ local chapters across U.S. regions plus a "Beyond the Borders" international chapter for non-U.S. members. Supporting offerings include the Fiction Finder author discovery platform, Storyfest, conference recordings sold individually and as bundles, a multi-tier "Friends of ACFW" support membership (Gold, Silver, Bronze), and merchandise sold via CafePress.

The underlying technology is a WordPress-based website with a separate member portal at member.acfw.com supporting self-serve registration, renewal, contest entry, and resource access, alongside the standalone Fiction Finder directory. Online contest entry and judging (including blind judging) is managed in-house, with payment processing routed through PayPal. There is no disclosed proprietary AI, API, or SDK infrastructure. The organization is staffed by a small named team (Executive Director, Financial Officer, Web Manager, Membership Director, plus contest, conference, and zone coordinators) supported by volunteer chapter leadership.

ACFW's revenue is generated through a mix of recurring annual membership dues, unit-priced contest entry fees (with a non-member surcharge of approximately 2x-3x member pricing), national and virtual conference registration and recording sales, multi-tier publishing-house sponsorships (with Baker Publishing Group, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Hachette Nashville, and NovelAcademy confirmed as Gold sponsors and Love Inspired/Harlequin as Silver sponsor for the 2026 conference), and merchandise. The two primary customer segments are unpublished and published Christian fiction authors, with Christian publishers and literary agents functioning as a secondary B2B constituency that sources talent through the contests and conference appointment system.

Name

American Christian Fiction Writers

Legal name

American Christian Fiction Writers

Website

https://acfw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

American Christian Fiction Writers is a nonprofit professional membership organization serving Christian fiction authors through annual membership, a national conference, three writing contests, a virtual conference, and 30+ local chapters across the U.S. and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Writing Association / Author Community Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Publishing & Submission Prep Workshops (Query Letters, Agents, Journals) (EDAMAMAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Religious Fiction & Inspirational Literature Publishing (MPAJAHAF)

Keywords

• Christian fiction writers
• Writing community membership
• Christian publishing contests
• Author networking organization
• Fiction writing conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

Palm Bay

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees provide core revenue. Members receive access to critique groups, webinars, online courses, networking with industry professionals, and reduced contest entry fees.
2. Writing Contests: Entry fees from three contests: Genesis Contest ($40 members/$125 non-members), Carol Awards ($50 members/$135 non-members), and First 5 Pages Contest ($25 members/$40 non-members).
3. Conference Revenue: National and virtual conference registrations, workshop recordings sales, and sponsorship revenue from publishing houses.
4. Merchandise Sales: ACFW merchandise sold through CafePress.
5. Conference Sponsorship: Publishing house sponsors (Baker Publishing Group, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Hachette Nashville, NovelAcademy, Love Inspired) provide sponsorship revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) is a professional membership organization serving Christian fiction writers. It sells annual memberships that provide access to critique groups, webinars, online courses, networking with industry professionals, and multi-published authors. The organization also sells contest entries (Genesis, Carol Awards, First 5 Pages), conference registrations for its annual national and virtual conferences, and conference recordings, while coordinating a network of 30+ local chapters across the US and internationally.

Product overview

American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) is a professional membership organization serving the Christian fiction writing community, not a software technology company. The organization operates a platform-plus-services model comprising membership programs, annual conferences (in-person and virtual), writing contests (Genesis, Carol Awards, First 5 Pages), local chapters, and supplementary services including conference recordings and Fiction Finder author directory. These offerings are delivered through a web-based member portal at member.acfw.com and public website at acfw.com, supported by third-party platforms like PayPal for contest fee payments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Genesis Contest: Contest for unpublished Christian fiction writers offering feedback and opportunity for finalists to have work read by publishers and agents
• Carol Awards
• First 5 Pages Contest
• ACFW National Conference
• ACFW Virtual Conference
• ACFW Chapters
• Beyond the Borders
• Fiction Finder
• Storyfest

Products and services

• ACFW Membership

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered gold sponsor, silver sponsor and vendor sponsor.

• Baker Publishing Groupgold sponsorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 August 2026Baker Publishing Group (including Revell and Harvest House imprints) is a gold sponsor for ACFW's 2026 National Conference, providing promotional support and publisher spotlight opportunities.
• HarperCollins Christian Publishinggold sponsorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 August 2026HarperCollins Christian Publishing is a gold sponsor for ACFW's 2026 National Conference, providing visibility and access to their editorial team.
• Hachette Nashvillegold sponsorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 August 2026Hachette Nashville (part of Hachette Book Group) is a gold sponsor for ACFW's 2026 National Conference, offering editorial visibility and publishing opportunities.
• NovelAcademygold sponsorTechnology or Integration · 27 August 2026NovelAcademy is a gold sponsor for ACFW's 2026 National Conference, providing education and training resources for writers.
• Love Inspired (Harlequin)silver sponsorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 August 2026Love Inspired, part of Harlequin, is a silver sponsor for ACFW's 2026 National Conference, focusing on romance and inspirational fiction publishing.
• Christian Editor Applause (CEA)vendor sponsorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 August 2026Christian Editor Applause is a vendor sponsor for ACFW's 2026 National Conference, supporting the editing and publishing community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA): Trade association for the Christian publishing industry with member publisher representation and the annual Christian Book Award. Operates in the same ecosystem as ACFW — same sponsors (Baker, HarperCollins Christian), same audience — but on the publisher rather than writer side, making it the industry's most direct supply-chain counterpart.
• Sisters in Crime: Membership organization for crime fiction writers offering chapters, conferences (including Bloody Mug), and the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award and other contests. Operates the same genre-niche community + chapter + contest structure as ACFW, with crime fiction substituting for Christian fiction.
• Christian Indie Publishing Association (CIPA) / Christian Author Network: Smaller Christian-author-focused community for self-published and independent Christian writers, offering educational resources and member networking. Overlaps ACFW in target audience (Christian authors) but emphasizes the indie-publish track versus ACFW's traditional/contest pipeline.
• Mystery Writers of America: Genre-specific professional writers' organization running the Edgar Awards, annual Edgars conference, and local chapter programming. Closely mirrors ACFW's contest/awards/conference/chapter model, with mystery replacing Christian fiction as the genre niche. Strong peer for benchmarking sponsorship, contest pricing, and membership economics.
• Historical Novel Society: International membership organization for historical fiction writers and readers, offering the Historical Novel Society Conference, regional chapters, and the HNS Indie Award. Same community/chapter/conference model as ACFW, oriented toward historical fiction rather than Christian fiction.
• International Thriller Writers (ITW): Membership organization for thriller/crime writers running ThrillerFest conference, Thriller Awards, and online education. Shares ACFW's annual conference + industry awards + membership subscription model, with thriller replacing Christian fiction as the genre niche.
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA): Genre-specific professional writers' organization with Nebula Awards, annual conference (formerly known as Nebula Conference), and member services for science fiction and fantasy writers. Same community + contest/awards + conference model as ACFW, serving a different genre niche.
• Cat Writers' Association: Niche-genre professional writers' organization running the annual Cat Writers' Association Conference, Muse Medallion Awards contest, and member benefits. Functions as a comparable smaller-scale analog of ACFW: vertical niche community + contest/awards + conference + members-only critiques.
• Romance Writers of America (now defunct; succeeded by Romance Writers of America successor orgs and RWA Chapter network): The most direct structural peer — a US membership organization serving romance writers with annual conference, genre contests (RITA Awards), local chapters, and publisher sponsorship. Operated the same community-plus-conference-plus-contest model at larger scale. Comparable to ACFW in business model, mission, and member engagement mechanics, with romance replacing Christian fiction as the niche.
• NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month / Office of Letters and Light successor orgs): Mass-participation community organization for novel writers running annual writing events, online forums, and member resources. Comparable as a community-led writers' organization, though broader and less genre-specialized than ACFW. Useful peer for benchmarking community engagement and digital platform scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ACFWTweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/ACFWOfficialPage
• Instagraminstagram.com/acfwcommunity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Christian Fiction Writers