03/08/2025
MY MAGAZINE SWAN SONG. Last night, on Friday, August 1, 2025, the Florida Magazine Association revealed the winners in the FMA 2025 Charlie Awards, held at Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte Harbor, of which Embrace Magazine has earned 8 total!
This is significant to me for the following 3 reasons:
1) Having published only 3 issues per year cycle, every issue I have ever created has been entered and won in the FMA Charlie Awards. Every issue!
2) In my career, I have amassed 105 FMA Charlie Awards (1st, 2nd, and 3rd places) as a writer, editor, and publisher.
3) In my career, I have amassed 302 awards in multiple organizations as a writer, editor, and publisher.
The 2025 FMA Charlie Awards end my competition years, which began in 2007. I won my first FMA Awards in 2007; my first Florida Press Club Awards in 2009, and my first Society of Professional Journalists Florida Chapter (SPJ Florida Pro) award in 2013. I end them in reverse order, with my final SPJ Florida awards in summer 2024; my final FPC awards on February 1, 2025; and my final FMA awards were on August 1, 2025, at the end of the Florida Media Conference. It has come full circle, ending where it began — with the FMA Charlie Awards.
I also completed my three-year term as an FMA board member on Thursday, July 31st. Throughout that run, I served as Secretary, then Vice-President, a role I kept until the end of my term. I also chaired various committees, including: membership & marketing; contest; and board nominations. I have made solid connections within the industry and friends.
It also ends my career in media and journalism. I am working in the hotel industry to sustain myself, while I also plan to write books as my passion projects. I will begin with my memoir. Details to come when available.
And now, the winners for Embrace Magazine are:
WRITING
1) CHARLIE / FIRST Place: BEST FEATURE: “Follow Me” by Nile Fortner
2) SILVER / SECOND Place: FEATURE HEADLINES: “Platformers”; “Follow Me;” “Stroll Down Memory Lane” by John Sotomayor
3) BRONZE / THIRD Place: EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY/OPINION: “Publisher’s Letters: An Honor to be Nominated” by John Sotomayor
4) BRONZE / THIRD Place: BEST PUBLIC SERVICE COVERAGE: Entertainment Issue — LGBTQ+ coverage in film, social media, documentaries, and conventions by John Sotomayor and staff
DESIGN
5) CHARLIE / FIRST Place: BEST PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: “Gays in Hollywood” by Em Agency
GENERAL
6) CHARLIE / FIRST Place: AD CREATED FOR A CLIENT: The Pride Chamber by Em Agency
7) CHARLIE / FIRST Place: BEST THEME OR SHOW ISSUE: Embrace Magazine, Entertainment Issue by John Sotomayor and staff
BEST OVERALL
8.) CHARLIE / FIRST Place: BEST OVERALL DIGITAL INNOVATOR: Embrace Media: Embrace Magazine, Embrace On-Air, Embrace TV “digital edition, podcast, video” by John Sotomayor and Alexander Sotomayor
Congratulations to all Embrace Magazine winners! As the publisher, I am extremely proud of our talented team.
Congratulations to all our colleagues who are also winners, too many to list here.
To read our award-winning work in our Entertainment issue, published April 2024, visit our website here:
https://www.embracemedia.us/