Mark Lawrence is getting ready for SPFBO 6. His fifth Self-Published Fantasy Blog-off just named its 2020 winner in April — M.L. Wang‘s The Sword of Kaigen. Now it’s time to start the next cycle.
He tweeted: “The SPFBO 6 will open for business at 1pm GMT on the 23rd of May 2020. Entry will be via an online form, be warned: YOU WILL NEED A GMAIL ACCOUNT or to get someone with a gmail account to it for you.”
They need 300 entries. On May 23 the link to enter will be here. SPFBO 5 filled in just over 24 hours!
Those interested in entering should bear in mind that Lawrence’s rules are —
i) No book that was entered in a previous SPFBO can be reentered.
ii) The book must be #1 in a series or a stand-alone.
iii) The book must actually be self-published by the start date, not something you’re considering self-publishing in future.
iv) It must be a fantasy book. (If you say it’s fantasy then it is. But if it isn’t really it won’t get far.)
v) One book per author.
vi) No anthologies.
vii) No short stories – books must be 40,000 words or longer.
viii) Your manuscript must accompany the email you send to enter the contest. You will not be allowed to update or change it.
ix) Don’t contact the blog to which you’ve been assigned. You can contact me about important issues.
.
Not a rule, an observation: It doesn’t matter how long your book has been published, Ten years? Fine.
The contest will begin on June 1.
The SPFBO Mission is –
Mission statement:
The SPFBO exists to shine a light on self-published fantasy. It exists to find excellent books that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. It exists to help readers select, from the enormous range of options, books that have a better chance of entertaining them than a random choice, thereby increasing reader faith in finding a quality self-published read.
And Lawrence explains —
…The true prize is the publicity of being the winner, plus the bonus of being reviewed on the blogs of 10 highly respected fantasy bloggers.
Frankly you can’t buy better publicity than that. The winning book will have been selected as the best from a field of 250+ self-published works.
[Thanks to Dann Todd for the story.]
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I became aware of the SPFBO a couple of years ago, as several of the participants attend the ConFusion science fiction convention. I love it! I have read several of the works which have placed and/or won, and they are great! One day I might try it myself, if I, you know, finish writing a novel.