Literary contest
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 semi-final stage of the same competition, was reviewed so positively that it gained widespread attention in the fantasy community.[5]
Winners [ ]
Year
Winner
Title
Score out of 10
Notes
2015
Mike McClung[6]
The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids
8.00
2016
Jonathan French[7]
The Grey Bastards
8.65
Commercially published by Crown in 2018, ISBN 9780525572442
2017
Rob J. Hayes[8]
Where Loyalties Lie
8.10
2018
J. Zachary Pike [9]
Orconomics
8.65
2019
M.L Wang [10]
The Sword of Kaigen
8.65
2020
Justin Lee Anderson [11]
The Lost War
8.35
Finalists [ ]
2015 [ ]
#
Title
Author
Score out of 10
1
The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids
Michael McClung
8.00
2
Blood Rush
Ben Galley
7.75
3
The Weight of a Crown
Tavish Kaeden
7.30
4 (tie)
City of Burning Shadows
Barbara J. Webb
7.15
4 (tie)
Sins of a Sovereignty
Plague Jack (Simon Watts)
7.15
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
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 (tie)
The Moonlight War
S.K.S. Perry
5.95
8 (tie)
Outpost
F.T. McKinstry
5.95
10
The Shadow Soul
Kaitlyn Davis
5.10
2017 [ ]
#
Title
Author
Score out of 10
1
Where Loyalties Lie
Rob J. Hayes
8.10
2 (tie)
Sufficiently Advanced Magic
Andrew Rowe
7.60
2 (tie)
The Crimson Queen
Alec Hutson
7.60
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
2018 [ ]
#
Title
Author
Score out of 10
1
Orconomics
J. Zachary Pike
8.65
2 (tie)
Gods of Men
Barbara Kloss
8.05
2 (tie)
We Ride the Storm
Devin Madson
8.05
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
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 (tie)
Kalanon's Rising
Darian Smith
7.70
5 (tie)
Never Die
Rob J. Hayes
7.70
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
2020 [ ]
#
Title
Author
Score out of 10
1
The Lost War
Justin Lee Anderson
8.35
2
Black Stone Heart
M.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
References [ ]
^ a b 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 .
^ 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 .