The finalists have been announced for Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 9. The competition sponsored by Mark Lawrence began with the submission of self-published fantasy works on June 1, 2023. The first 300 author-submitted works were accepted into the competition. The major qualifiers were that the book must be self-published, must be currently available for purchase, must be a work of fantasy, and must be either a stand-alone novel or the first book in a series.

The works were then divided into ten groups of 30 with each group being assigned to one of ten volunteer sites/organizations that provide reviews of works of fantasy. Each site read their 30 assigned works and promoted one book into the finalist round.

The 10 finalists are:

• Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang
• The Fall Is All There Is by C.M. Caplan
• Cold West by Clayton Snyder
• The Wickwire Watch by Jacquelyn Hagen
• Hills of Heather and Bone by K.E. Andrews
• A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick
• Master of the Void by Wend Raven
• The Last Fang of God by Ryan Kirk
• The Last Ranger by J.D.L. Rosell
• Daughter of the Beast by E.C. Greaves

Now that the finalists are identified, each review site will read, review, and rate the nine finalists selected by their colleagues. The winner will be the book with the highest average rating from the ten review sites.

The blogs for SPFBO 9 are:

• Fantasy-Faction
• Fantasy Book Critic
• Lynn’s Books + The Critiquing Chemist
• The Weatherwax Report
• Becky M
• Before We Go Blog
• Queen’s Book Asylum
• Bookborn
• Philip Chase
• Covers With Cassidy