Faust Awards

The Scribe Awards are given every year at San Diego Comic-Con to celebrate exceptional works in the field of media tie-in writing. As part of the Scribe Awards, the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers also presents a special award – the Faust Award—to honor many years of outstanding writing and often across a broad array of different licenses. The award is named after Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944), an American writer who wrote under a variety of pen-names but was best known for as Max Brand –author of many westerns as well as the creator of the beloved Dr. James Kildare.

 

 

Grandmaster Marv Wolfman

The 2026 Faust Award Grandmaster is the legendary Marv Wolfman. Marv is a prolific and brilliant comic writer and novelization author. His work on Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula comic (1972-79) included the creation of the vampire-slayer Blade; and his tenure with DC Comics included The New Teen Titans and the pivotal Crisis on Infinite Earths. Marv also created or co-created beloved characters like Cyborg, Raven, Deathstroke, Starfire, Tim Drake, Rose Wildon, Phobia, Bullseye, Vigilante (Adrian Chase), the Omega Men, and the Nightwing identify of Dick Grayson.

 

Grandmaster Dayton Ward

Dayton Ward is a New York Times bestselling author or co-author of more than forty novels and novellas, often working with his best friend, Kevin Dilmore. His short fiction has appeared in more than thirty anthologies, and he’s also written for multiple roleplaying games along with magazines as diverse as NCO Journal, Kansas City Voices, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Star Trek and Star Trek Communicator. He also currently consults with Paramount Global, assisting with the development of various Star Trek publishing and promotional efforts including books, comics, games, and interactive experiences.

With Kevin and fellow author (and 2022 IAMTW Faust Award recipient!) David Mack, he helped develop Star Trek: Seekers, the “literary spin-off” to the critically acclaimed Star Trek Vanguard novel series. He and David, working with fellow author James Swallow, took on the daunting task of developing 2021’s Star Trek: Coda, a trilogy which drew the curtain on Simon & Schuster’s sprawling Star Trek “Litverse,” an ongoing series of unified storylines spread across nearly 300 novels, novellas, and short stories written by dozens of writers over the course of two decades. Please don’t ask him to do anything like that ever again.

 

Grandmaster James Reasoner

A veteran writer with over four decades in the publishing industry, James Reasoner has written more than 350 novels and more than 100 short stories. Although perhaps best known for westerns, he has written across many genres from mystery to fantasy to science fiction. In addition, he’s penned essays, articles and reviews. He has contributed tie-in novels to the following series: Abilene, Longarm, Lone Star, Trailsman, Cody’s Law, Wagons West, Wind River, Stagecoach Station, and Tales from Deadwood. His nonwestern tie-ins include The Dead Man series, Kolchak, and Walker Texas Ranger.

 

Grandmaster Michael A. Stackpole

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is thrilled to present the Faust Award to the 2023 Grandmaster. Congratulations to Michael A. Stackpole.  A prolific novelist, his credits also include writing for RPGs, video games, and magazines.  In addition to his original works, he has contributed to the Star Wars, Battletech, Dark Conspiracy, and Warcraft universes.

 

Grandmaster David Mack

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is thrilled to present the Faust Award to the 2022 Grandmaster. Congratulations to David Mack!

New York Time Bestselling author David Mack’s tie-in writing spans several franchises and media. He’s written dozens of novels, short stories and comics for Marvel’s Wolverine, 24, Farscape, The 4400, and many iterations of Star Trek. He’s published his own original novels including the dark fantasy Dark Arts trilogy.

In addition to his literary credits, he’s written for television and games, and served as a consultant for Star Trek Lower Decks, and Star Trek Prodigy.

 

Grandmaster Max Allan Collins

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is thrilled to present the 2021 Faust Award for lifetime achievement to the wonderfully talented and incredibly prolific Max Allan Collins.

Mr. Collins’ has developed a dozen Mike Hammer novels from Mickey Spillane’s files. For the popular CSI TV series (and its spinoffs), he wrote ten best-selling novels, four graphic novels, and four award-winning video games—and several puzzles! He has written tie-in novels for NYPD Blue, Dark Angel and Criminal Minds. Other tie-in work includes such diverse franchises as G. I. Joe, Maverick, Saving Private Ryan, and The Mummy (to name only a few). His tie-in books that have appeared on the USA Today and the New York Times bestseller list include Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, and American Gangster. Among his other movie novels are Dick Tracy, Maverick, The Pink Panther, Windtalkers, Waterworld, U-571, The X Files: I Want to Believe, and Road to Perdition from the graphic novel that he wrote. 

In addition, Mr. Collins’ produced screenplays include Mommy and The Last Lullaby, based on his Quarry novels, also the basis of a recent Cinemax series. He has scripted the Dick Tracy comic strip, Batman, and co-created Ms. Tree and Wild Dog. On top of all those accomplishments—and other plentiful awards—Mr. Collins co-founded the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

 

Grandmaster Jean Rabe

The IAMTW is thrilled to present the 2020 Faust Award to USA Today bestselling author Jean Rabe.  A novelist and short story writer extraordinaire, the long-time editor also previously produced IAMTW’s newsletter.

She’s written novels for Dragonlance, Dungeons and Dragons, and Forgotten Realms, and contributed short stories to the Star Wars universe.  The list goes on to include Shadowrun, Battletech, Blue Kingdoms, Dragonband.  She’s also written or edited a number of gaming modules. Her original fiction includes The Piper Blackwell Mysteries with the newly released book four in the series.

 

Grandmaster Nancy Holder

Not many women get to play in over ten different universes, let alone create several of their own. Yet that is exactly what Nancy Holder makes look so very—and deceptively—easy to her myriad and devoted fans.

Every year, the International Association of Media Tie-In writers selects a grandmaster of tie-in writing to receive the Faust, IAMTW’s lifetime achievement Award. For 2019, it is the IAMTW’s great pleasure to present the Faust to Nancy Holder. Her tie-in work runs the gamut from Firefly to Saving Grace. She’s written Angel in the Buffyverse, and Zorro in the seventeenth century. She novelized the Wonder Woman, Crimson Peak, and Ghostbusters movies, and wrote about a Feline Felon, and a pup in Wishbone. Above and beyond her media work, she’s co-created the YA series Wicked and Crusade.

Of the Bram Stoker Award Nominee-winning and NYT bestselling author, IAMTW president Jonathan Maberry says, “Nancy is not only a superb writer and a smart businesswoman, but also a kind and compassionate member of the writing community.”

The IAMTW congratulates Grandmaster Nancy Holder on receiving the 2019 Faust Award Nominee.

 

Grandmaster Greg Cox

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is thrilled to name Greg Cox our 2018 Grandmaster with the presentation of the Faust Award in recognition of his lifetime of excellence and achievement in writing and editing tie-in fiction.

Mr. Cox is a New York Times bestselling author and a consulting editor at TOR Books who has contributed to numerous franchises including The Librarians, Leverage, Star Trek, and Zorro. He has written original works set in those universes, and wrote the official novelizations of the first three Underworld movies, War for the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, Man of Steel, and The Dark Knight Rises, to name only some.

He has also written short stories based on such popular series as Alias, The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, C.S.I., Farscape, Fantastic Four, The Green Hornet, Terminator, Warhouse 13, Xena, The X-Files, and X-Men, to give only a partial list. He has received three Scribe Awards from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. In addition, he wrote the official movie novelizations of novelizations of four popular DC Comics miniseries: Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown and Final Crisis.

 

Grandmaster Christie Golden

Warcraft. Starcraft. Star Wars. Star Trek. Christie Golden has written for all of them. She has also contributed novels to the gaming and movie universes of HALO, Invasion America, Fable, Hex, Dungeons and Dragons, Ravenloft, and Assassin’s Creed.

That is why the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is overjoyed to present Ms. Golden with the 2017 Faust Award. The talent she has brought to so many diverse franchises has thrilled numerous fanbases over the past quarter century. She has written several short stories and fifty novels, eight of which have landed on the NY Times bestseller list. In addition, she found the time to write original fiction as well.

Congratulations to Ms. Golden, the 2017 Grandmaster.

 

Grandmaster Timothy Zahn

Timothy Zahn has extensive work in tie-ins, and many original works as well.

A prolific author in the Star Wars universe, Mr. Zahn has worked on twelve novels (most notably the Admiral Thrawn stories), more than a dozen short stories, and two graphic novels centered on Mara Jade. He also wrote two Terminator Salvation novels.

Recent collaborations including writing both short stories and novels in the Honorverse created by David Weber.

His original fiction includes several series: Cobra, The Conquerors, Dragonback, and Quadrail. He’s written numerous other novels and dozens of short stories as well.

 

Grandmaster Terrance Dicks

A driving force behind Target Books’ Doctor Who novels, Terrance Dicks wrote over sixty titles, edited and recruited other authors as well. He wrote for the soap opera Crossroads, and co-created and wrote for the series Moonbase 3. He also worked as a producer on Sunday Classics. He authored several children’s series, including about a cat called Magnificent Max and, his longest running, another about a golden retriever The Adventures of Goliath.

The above is just a tiny sample of Mr. Dicks’ vast body of work. The award will be presented at a ceremony in July at Comic-Con in San Diego, where the IAMTW will also be presenting the Scribe Awards, honoring the best tie-ins of the year.

 

Grandmaster Diane Duane

Author Diane Duane has been selected as the 2014 Grandmaster, the highest honor awarded by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writing, recognizing her achievements writing novels based on movie and television shows. The annual award, also known as the Faust, recognizes Ms. Duane’s huge body of work and amazing versatility. A true master of multiple media, Ms. Duane has written for television and comics, and authored short stories and novels. She has written Star Trek and X-Men, Spiderman and Seaquest DSV. Her original series include Young Wizards, Feline Wizards, The Middle Kingdom. Her tv credits include both animated (Disney’s Duck Tales) and live action (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King.

 

Grandmaster A. C. Crispin

Alien, Zorro, Star Wars, Star Trek, V, and Pirates of the Caribbean—what connection do these diverse and wildly successful franchises share?

Acclaimed bestselling author Ann C. Crispin.

The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers is thrilled to name Ms. Crispin the 2013 Grandmaster, the highest honor awarded by the organization. The annual award, also known as the Faust, recognizes her achievements writing novels and short stories based on movies and television shows. A supremely talented writer and generous mentor, Ms. Crispin has authored twenty-four novels and several short stories. She teaches writing workshops and seminars and co-founded Writer Beware, an invaluable blog and online resource which has exposed countless scams that prey on writers.

In addition to her tie-in work, Ms. Crispin created the wonderful StarBridge series aimed at young adult readers. She also collaborated with the legendary Andre Norton on two novels in the Witch World series.

 

Grandmaster Kevin J. Anderson

Kevin J. Anderson is the author of more than one hundred novels, adding up to over 20 million books in print in thirty languages. His work includes the Star Wars Jedi Academy books, three internationally bestselling X-Files hardcovers, the Superman novels The Last Days of Krypton and Enemies & Allies, many novelizations (Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc.) and, of course, the many globally bestselling Dune novels he has co-authored with Brian Herbert. He has won or been nominated for numerous prestigious honors, including the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and a New York Times Notable Book prize…and now he can add IAMTW Grandmaster to the list of his extraordinary achievements.

 

Grandmaster Peter David

The highest honor the IAMTW can bestow is the Grandmaster Award, which recognizes a writer for his or her extensive and exceptional work in the tie-in field. For 2011, the honoree is Peter David.

 

Grandmaster William Johnston

One of the preeminent authors of tie-in writing, with more published tie-in titles to his credit (well more than 100) than any writer in the game—the legendary and until now somewhat elusive William Johnston—will be honored by the IAMTW with a Faust Award, the honor bestowed upon Grandmasters. He turned 86 when he received this honor—a fitting number, as it is his series of novels based on the spy sitcom Get Smart, about Secret Agent 86 for CONTROL, which turned his by-line into a virtual tie-in “brand” and thereafter defined the nature of his tie-in (and the largest proportion of his literary) career as the industry’s comedy specialist.

Mr. Johnston’s style is paradoxically recognizable, despite seeming matter-of-fact and transparent, his narration employing little reliance on metaphor, idiosyncratic locution or other literary manipulation. But the ostensible simplicity is utterly deceptive: for in the “serious” books, depth of characterization sneaks up on the reader, dialogue and internalization unusually nuanced, layered and when appropriate even subtle, with a psychological perception very ahead of its time.

 

Grandmaster Keith R.A. DeCandido

The highest honor the IAMTW can bestow is the Grandmaster Award, which recognizes a writer for his or her extensive and exceptional work in the tie-in field. For 2009, the honoree is Keith R.A. DeCandido. He has written over thirty novels, most of them original tie-ins or novelizations. His work includes many Star Trek novels, as well as original books in the CSI: NY and Supernatural tie-in series, to name just a few.

 

Grandmaster Alan Dean Foster

The Grandmaster Award honors a writer for his extensive and exceptional work in the tie-in field. This year’s honoree is Alan Dean Foster.

Foster’s books include his groundbreaking novelizations in 1975 of the Star Trek animated series and his subsequent novelizations of the first three Alien films, Blackhole, Starman, Outland, Pale Rider, Alien Nation, and, of course, Star Wars (writing as “George Lucas”). He is also the author of scores of original novels as well as the story for the first Star Trek feature film.

 

Grandmaster Donald Bain

Our first annual Grandmaster award, honoring career achievement in the field, went to Donald Bain, author of the Murder, She Wrote novels and the ghostwriter behind Coffee, Tea, or Me and other international bestsellers.