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". The cover contest has been discontinued.[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
2023 Morgan Stang Murder at Spindle Manor 7.85
2024 J. L. Odom By Blood, By Salt 7.70

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

SPFBO 9 (2023)

# Title Author Score out of 10
1 Murder at Spindle Manor Morgan Stang 7.85
2 Hills of Heather and Bone K.E. Andrews 7.80
3 The Fall is All There Is C.M. Caplan 7.55
The Last Ranger J.D.L. Rosell
5 Cold West Clayton Snyder 7.35
6 A Rival Most Vial R.K. Ashwick 7.20
The Wickwire Watch Jacquelyn Hagen
8 Daughter of the Beast E C Greaves 6.80
9 The Last Fang of God Ryan Kirk 6.70
10 Master of the Void Wend Raven 6.50

SPFBO X (2024)

# Title Author Score out of 10
1 By Blood, By Salt J. L. Odom 7.70*
2 Mushroom Blues Adrian M. Gibson 7.70
3 Runelight JA Andrews 7.45
4 The Forest at the Heart of Her Mage Hiyodori 7.30
5 The Oathsworn Legacy K. R. Gangi 7.25
6 By A Silver Thread Rachel Aaron 7.20
7 The Humane Society for Creatures and Cryptids Stephanie Gillis 7.10
8 Gates of Hope J E Hanford 6.95
9 The Tenacious Tale of Tanna the Tendersword Dewey Conway & Bill Adams 6.60
10 Wolf of Withervale Joaquín Baldwin 6.10

*Tiebreaker: The most blogs with the book as their top finalist score

References

  1. ^ a b Liptak, Andrew (28 January 2020). "Orbit Has Acquired Devin Madson's Epic Fantasy Novel We Ride The Storm". Tor.com. Macmillan.
  2. ^ Jones, Devin (4 August 2019). "Fantastic feat: Greenland author J. Zachary Pike wins global fantasy book competition". Foster's Daily Democrat.
  3. ^ Cropley, Matthew (23 November 2017). "The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off and the Evolution of Publishing". Grimdark Magazine. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  4. ^ Hughes, Laura M. (13 May 2017). "Self-Published Fantasy: How the SPFBO is Revitalising SFF". Fantasy Faction. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  5. ^ Holman, Curt (6 June 2018). "Metro Atlanta fantasy author rides giant boars to mainstream book deal". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  6. ^ Sato, Mia (9 June 2023). "How AI art killed an indie book cover contest". The Verge. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ^ Lawrence, Mark (27 February 2016). "The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off results!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  8. ^ Lawrence, Mark (27 April 2017). "The SPFBO final results". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  9. ^ Lawrence, Mark (13 June 2018). "SPFBO 3, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  10. ^ Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2019). "SPFBO 4, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  11. ^ Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2020). "SPFBO 5, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  12. ^ Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2021). "SPFBO 6, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  13. ^ Lawrence, Mark (25 May 2022). "SPFBO 7, we have a winner!". Mark Lawrence. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  14. ^ Lawrence, Mark (28 April 2023). "Hooray! Small Miracles is the #SPFBO champion". Twitter. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

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