And the next SPFBO begins…

Today marks the official start to this year’s self-published fantasy blog-off (SPFBO) competition. I’m not participating this year, but I plan to follow the contest as it progresses.

So, what is SPFBO?

It’s a contest hosted by the very generous Mark Lawrence for self/indie-published books, specifically in the fantasy genre.

300 books are accepted into the contest and divided between 10 teams of book bloggers/booktubers. During phase 1, the teams will read and often review the 30 books in their allocation. At the end of phase 1, each team will name a single finalist.

Those 10 finalists move on to phase 2, where the other 9 teams will read and review. You can read the full details and contest rules here: The Official SPFBO Home Page

Each year, there seems to be more and more hype around the contest, and it’s so cool to see.

Even though I’m not entering as an author this time around, I plan to follow the contest. I found so many great books by watching the contest the last 2 years, and I hope to find even more this year. Even some of the books that didn’t make into the finals are really fantastic. If you’re a reader who enjoys fantasy, I encourage you to check out the books entered. You’re bound to find some amazing books and new authors to follow.

Why am I not entering this year?

It’s pretty simple. I didn’t have an eligible book on the May 17th submission deadline.

But I will have one to enter in 2024 for SPFBO10 (Exile), and probably another in 2025 (Serpentus).

I’m not done with entering the contest. It’s a great way to showcase my books, and honestly, the community surrounding the contest is incredible. I can’t recommend it enough.