Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off
The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) is an annual literary contest intended to bring greater visibility to self-published English-language fantasy authors.
The SPFBO has been operated since 2015 by the author Mark Lawrence. He distributes about 300 novels submitted by the authors to ten fantasy bloggers to review. Each blogger selects a finalist, which is then reviewed by all ten bloggers. The winner is the finalist with the highest average review score.[1][2]
The contest has been credited with making high-quality self-published novels discoverable, and with boosting the careers of the winners.[3][4] Though not the primary purpose, it has helped several authors find publishing contracts.[1] These include Jonathan French, the 2016 winner, and Josiah Bancroft, whose book Senlin Ascends, despite losing out before the final stage of the same competition, was reviewed so positively that it gained widespread attention in the fantasy community.[5]
In 2023, the winner of the annual "cover contest" associated with the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off withdrew the winning cover after accusations that the entry was generated by AI. The entry was later also disqualified by Lawrence, who said there was "compelling evidence that the cover was at least partly AI generated, breaking the rules of the contest". Lawrence also expressed an intention to discontinue the cover contest.[6]
Winners
| Year | Winner | Title | Score out of 10 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Mike McClung[7] | The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids | 8.00 | |
| 2016 | Jonathan French[8] | The Grey Bastards | 8.65 | Commercially published by Crown in 2018, ISBN 9780525572442 |
| 2017 | Rob J. Hayes[9] | Where Loyalties Lie | 8.10 | |
| 2018 | J. Zachary Pike [10] | Orconomics | 8.65 | |
| 2019 | M.L. Wang [11] | The Sword of Kaigen | 8.65 | |
| 2020 | Justin Lee Anderson [12] | The Lost War | 8.35 | Commercially published by Orbit in 2023, ISBN 9780356519531 |
| 2021 | J. D. Evans [13] | Reign & Ruin | 7.70 | |
| 2022 | Olivia Atwater [14] | Small Miracles | 8.65 |
Finalists
SPFBO 1 (2015)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids | Michael McClung | 8.00 |
| 2 | Bloodrush | Ben Galley | 7.75 |
| 3 | The Weight of a Crown | Tavish Kaeden | 7.30 |
| 4 | City of Burning Shadows | Barbara J. Webb | 7.15 |
| Sins of a Sovereignty | Plague Jack (Simon Watts) | ||
| 6 | What Remains of Heroes | David Benem | 7.00 |
| 7 | Shattered Sands | W.G. Saraband | 6.70 |
| 8 | Under a Colder Sun | Greg James | 6.60 |
| 9 | Priest | Matthew Colville | 6.30 |
| 10 | A Soul for Trouble | Crista McHugh | 6.25 |
SPFBO 2 (2016)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Grey Bastards | Jonathan French | 8.65 |
| 2 | Path of Flames | Phil Tucker | 7.70 |
| 3 | Paternus | Dyrk Ashton | 7.30 |
| 4 | Fionn: Defence of Rath Bladhma | Brian O'Sullivan | 7.20 |
| 5 | Larcout | K.A. Krantz | 6.70 |
| 6 | Assassin's Charge | Claire Frank | 6.35 |
| 7 | The Music Box Girl | K.A. Stewart | 6.30 |
| 8 | The Moonlight War | S.K.S. Perry | 5.95 |
| Outpost | F.T. McKinstry | ||
| 10 | The Shadow Soul | Kaitlyn Davis | 5.10 |
SPFBO 3 (2017)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where Loyalties Lie | Rob J. Hayes | 8.10 |
| 2 | Sufficiently Advanced Magic | Andrew Rowe | 7.60 |
| The Crimson Queen | Alec Hutson | ||
| 4 | Devil's Night Dawning | Damien Black | 6.70 |
| 5 | Jack Bloodfist: Fixer | James Jakins | 6.55 |
| 6 | The Way Into Chaos | Harry Connolly | 6.45 |
| 7 | The War of Undoing | Alex Perry | 6.30 |
| 8 | Chaos Trims My Beard | Brett Herman | 6.00 |
| 9 | Tiger Lily | K. Bird Lincoln | 5.45 |
| 10 | Pilgrimage to Skara | Jonathan S. Pembroke | 4.35 |
SPFBO 4 (2018)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orconomics | J. Zachary Pike | 8.65 |
| 2 | Gods of Men | Barbara Kloss | 8.05 |
| We Ride the Storm | Devin Madson | ||
| 4 | Sworn to the Night | Craig Shaefer | 8.00 |
| 5 | Symphony of the Wind | Steven McKinnon | 7.40 |
| 6 | Aching God | Mike Shel | 6.90 |
| 7 | Ruthless Magic | Megan Crewe | 6.35 |
| 8 | Out of Nowhere | Patrick LeClerc | 5.50 |
| 9 | The Anointed | Keith Ward | 5.10 |
| 10 | Sowing | Angie Grigaliunas | 4.55 |
SPFBO 5 (2019)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Sword of Kaigen | M. L. Wang | 8.65 |
| 2 | Fortune's Fool | Angela Boord | 8.35 |
| 3 | Blood of Heirs | Alicia Wanstall-Burke | 8.20 |
| 4 | A Tale of Stars and Shadow | Lisa Cassidy | 7.75 |
| 5 | Kalanon's Rising | Darian Smith | 7.70 |
| Never Die | Rob J. Hayes | ||
| 7 | Beggar's Rebellion | Levi Jacobs | 7.25 |
| 8 | Blade's Edge | Virginia McClain | 6.90 |
| 9 | A Sea of Broken Glass | Sonya M. Black | 5.85 |
| 10 | Spark City | Robert J Power | 4.80 |
SPFBO 6 (2020)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Lost War | Justin Lee Anderson | 8.35 |
| 2 | Black Stone Heart | Michael R. Fletcher | 8.05 |
| 3 | Shadow of a Dead God | Patrick Samphire | 7.80 |
| 4 | Voice of War | Zack Argyle | 7.15 |
| 5 | Last Memoria | Rachel Emma Shaw | 7.10 |
| 6 | Wind From The Wilderness | Suzannah Rowntree | 6.95 |
| 7 | Darkness Forged | Matt Larkin | 6.60 |
| 8 | The Combat Codes | Alexander Darwin | 6.35 |
| 9 | The Fall of Erlon | Robert H Fleming | 6.10 |
| 10 | Nether Light | Shaun Paul Stevens | 6.05 |
SPFBO 7 (2021)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reign & Ruin | J. D. Evans | 7.70 |
| 2 | Legacy of the Brightwash | Krystle Matar | 7.60 |
| 3 | Shadows of Ivory | Bryce O'Connor and TL Greylock | 7.30 |
| 4 | Norylska Groans | Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton W. Snyder | 7.10 |
| 5 | Burn Red Skies | Kerstin Espinosa Rosero | 7.05 |
| 6 | The Mortal Blade | Christopher Mitchell | 6.90 |
| 7 | The Forever King | Ben Galley | 6.85 |
| The Iron Crown | L.L. MacRae | ||
| 9 | We Men of Ash and Shadows | HL Tinsley | 6.75 |
| 10 | Hall of Bones | Tim Hardie | 6.45 |
SPFBO 8 (2022)
| # | Title | Author | Score out of 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Small Miracles | Olivia Atwater | 8.65 |
| 2 | The Thirteenth Hour | Trudie Skies | 8.35 |
| A Song For The Void | Andrew C. Piazza | ||
| 4 | Miss Percy's Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons) | Quenby Olson | 8.20 |
| 5 | The Umbral Storm | Alec Hutson | 8.05 |
| 6 | Scales and Sensibility | Stephanie Burgis | 7.40 |
| 7 | A Touch of Light | Thiago Abdalla | 6.95 |
| 8 | Tethered Spirits | T. A. Hernandez | 6.60 |
| 9 | Mysterious Ways | Abbie Evans | 6.25 |
| 10 | Fire of the Forebears | L.A. Buck | 6.00 |
External links
References
- Liptak, Andrew (28 January 2020). "Orbit Has Acquired Devin Madson's Epic Fantasy Novel We Ride The Storm". Tor.com. Macmillan.
- Jones, Devin (4 August 2019). "Fantastic feat: Greenland author J. Zachary Pike wins global fantasy book competition". Foster's Daily Democrat.
- Cropley, Matthew (23 November 2017). "The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off and the Evolution of Publishing". Grimdark Magazine. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- Hughes, Laura M. (13 May 2017). "Self-Published Fantasy: How the SPFBO is Revitalising SFF". Fantasy Faction. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- Holman, Curt (6 June 2018). "Metro Atlanta fantasy author rides giant boars to mainstream book deal". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- Sato, Mia (9 June 2023). "How AI art killed an indie book cover contest". The Verge. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- Lawrence, Mark (27 February 2016). "The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off results!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- Lawrence, Mark (27 April 2017). "The SPFBO final results". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- Lawrence, Mark (13 June 2018). "SPFBO 3, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2019). "SPFBO 4, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2020). "SPFBO 5, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2021). "SPFBO 6, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2022). "SPFBO 7, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- Lawrence, Mark (28 April 2023). "Hooray! Small Miracles is the #SPFBO champion". Twitter. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
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