300 books, 10 judges, 1 champion
The SPFBO contest is in its 11th year.
Over 3000 novels have entered.
I'm bringing together the somewhat scattered SPFBO information onto this homepage.
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.
ix) If the cover contains AI art it won't be included in the cover contest.
x) Your manuscript must be uploaded via the online form as a .epub file when you apply to enter the contest. You will not be allowed to update or change it.
xi) Don't contact the blog to which you've been assigned. You can contact me about important issues. (empire_of_thorns@yahoo.co.uk)
Not rules, just observations:
The champions so far:
A variety of award stickers are available here, covering years 2015-2030, many thanks to author Palmer Pickering. Here are two examples:
You can also see past and present finalists on Zack Argyle's site.
Finalists from eight years of SPFBO
(red = 2015, black = 2016, yellow = 2017, green = 2018, blue = 2019, fuchsia = 2020, bright green = 2021, bright red = 2022, sandy = 2023, bright blue = 2024):
SPFBOXI (SPFBO 11) is closed to entries.
You can follow progress in phase 1 of the contest.
You can follow the finalists in phase 2 of the contest.
The champion will be declared on or before December 30th 2026.
The 300 books to enter this year's contest will be randomly chosen from those entered during this period. If your book is not chosen, you can try again next year.
The contest will formally commence on February 1st.
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.
Here's the disjointed Youtube ramble about the SPFBO that you never knew you needed.
Note - there is a similar contest for self-published sci-fi books.
The SPFBO is not:
i) Perfect. Great books will slip through this net just like they do every other net.
ii) Aimed at getting traditional publications deals. Some authors opt for them but it would be an insult to suggest that the holy grail for self published authors is a deal with a big publisher.
iii) Charged for. This is totally free. The enormous effort given by the reviewers/blogs is a gift. Don't abuse it. #NoDrama
The rules are:
i) No book that made it into a previous SPFBO can be reentered - books that didn't make it past the lottery stage (which started in 2024) can try again.
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 (Feb 1st 2026), not something you're considering self-publishing in future.
The SPFBO is not:
i) Perfect. Great books will slip through this net just like they do every other net.
ii) Aimed at getting traditional publications deals. Some authors opt for them but it would be an insult to suggest that the holy grail for self published authors is a deal with a big publisher.
iii) Charged for. This is totally free. The enormous effort given by the reviewers/blogs is a gift. Don't abuse it. #NoDrama
The rules are:
i) No book that made it into a previous SPFBO can be reentered - books that didn't make it past the lottery stage (which started in 2024) can try again.
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 (Feb 1st 2026), not something you're considering self-publishing in future.
(*) - for the purposes of this contest "self-published" means that when a paper or e-copy of the book sells, the fraction of the money that is not taken by the vendor (Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble etc) goes directly to the author. If it goes to a 2nd party that then pays out royalties, it's not self-published.
- if the book is published by a publisher that the author owns entirely, then it is self-published. In the case of multiple authors, the authors need to equally own the publisher to count as self-published. You can have different arrangements with the audiobook & still count as self-published if the paper/e-book meet the criteria.
A book only on Wattpad or some similar site does not count as self-published for the purposes of this contest. It must be on sale or free on a site where books are sold.
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. (There is a different contest for sci-fi.))
v) One book per author.
vi) No anthologies/collections.
vii) No short stories - books must be 40,000 words or longer.
vi) No anthologies/collections.
vii) No short stories - books must be 40,000 words or longer.
viii) The book must be entirely human-written. No AI writing is allowed.
x) Your manuscript must be uploaded via the online form as a .epub file when you apply to enter the contest. You will not be allowed to update or change it.
xi) Don't contact the blog to which you've been assigned. You can contact me about important issues. (empire_of_thorns@yahoo.co.uk)
xii) The champion of each SPFBO contest may be automatically entered into a "champions league" contest at some future point.
xiii) The book you're entering must be written by you.
xiv) I (Mark Lawrence) reserve the right to disqualify any entry for any reason at any point at my sole discretion.
Not rules, just observations:
- It doesn't matter how long your book has been published, Ten years? Fine.
- Reviews will be honest and in the general tone/style of the blogs involved. Glowing reviews carry most weight when the public understand that if a blogger doesn't like a book, they will say so.
The winner will receive the prestigious Selfie Stick Award but 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 300 self-published works.
My blog pages associated with this year's SPFBO got over 110,000 views during the contest and well over a hundred reviews have been posted on the ten blogs!
We have an SPFBO (Spifbo) group on Facebook. And on Twitter the #SPFBO and #SPFBOreviews hashtags are good ways to keep updated.
The contest progresses as follows:
In phase 1 which takes 5 months:
1. The blogs put on their agent's hat and go through the slush pile of novels allocated to them (between 25 and 30 books) to find the one title they will put through to the final.
This does not mean they have to read all the books. My own agent would go through that number in a day. But hopefully they will read part of all of them and all of some.
2. Review that chosen title.
3. Select their 3 favourite covers for the cover art contest in which they will later vote.
It is hoped that they will also review some of their favorite books from the selection they were given.
In phase 2 which takes 6 months:
1. The blogs read and score all 9 finalists from the other blogs.
2. Review their favorite.
3. Review the winner.
If their own finalist turns out to remain their favourite and to win, then they have no reviews to write in phase 2!
It is hoped they will feel moved to review some of the other finalists too,
Judges for SPFBO XI:
The winner will receive the prestigious Selfie Stick Award but 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 300 self-published works.
My blog pages associated with this year's SPFBO got over 110,000 views during the contest and well over a hundred reviews have been posted on the ten blogs!
We have an SPFBO (Spifbo) group on Facebook. And on Twitter the #SPFBO and #SPFBOreviews hashtags are good ways to keep updated.
The contest progresses as follows:
In phase 1 which takes 5 months:
1. The blogs put on their agent's hat and go through the slush pile of novels allocated to them (between 25 and 30 books) to find the one title they will put through to the final.
This does not mean they have to read all the books. My own agent would go through that number in a day. But hopefully they will read part of all of them and all of some.
2. Review that chosen title.
It is hoped that they will also review some of their favorite books from the selection they were given.
In phase 2 which takes 6 months:
1. The blogs read and score all 9 finalists from the other blogs.
2. Review their favorite.
3. Review the winner.
If their own finalist turns out to remain their favourite and to win, then they have no reviews to write in phase 2!
It is hoped they will feel moved to review some of the other finalists too,
Judges for SPFBO XI:
The champions so far:
2024
In the Champions' League, 10 judges established the following over-all ranking for the first decade of champions:
A variety of award stickers are available here, covering years 2015-2030, many thanks to author Palmer Pickering. Here are two examples:
You can also see past and present finalists on Zack Argyle's site.
Finalists from eight years of SPFBO
Small Miracles 8.65 (*)
The Lost War 8.35 (*)
Fortune's Fool 8.35
The Thirteenth Hour 8.35
A Song For The Void 8.35
Blood of Heirs 8.30
Where Loyalties Lie 8.10 (*)
Black Stone Heart 8.05
Gods of Men 8.05
The Umbral Storm 8.05
We Ride The Storm 8.05
The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids 8.00 (*)
Sworn to the Night 8.00
We Ride The Storm 8.05
The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids 8.00 (*)
Sworn to the Night 8.00
Murder at Spindle Manor 7.85 (*)
Bloodrush 7.75
A Tale of Stars and Shadow 7.75Reign & Ruin 7.70 (*)
By Blood, By Salt 7.70 (*)
Mushroom Blues 7.70
Never Die 7.70
The Last Ranger 7.55
Runelight 7.45
Scales and Sensibility 7.40
Symphony of the Wind 7.40
Symphony of the Wind 7.40
Cold West 7.35
Shadows of Ivory 7.30
Paternus 7.30
A Rival Most Vial 7.20
The Wickwire Watch 7.20
Fionn 7.20
By a Silver Thread 7.20
Last Memoria 7.10
Norylska Groans 7.10
Burn Red Skies 7.05
Gates of Hope 6.95
Aching God 6.90
Blade's Edge 6.90The Mortal Blade 6.90
The Forever King 6.85
The Iron Crown 6.85
The Last Fang Of God 6.70
Larcout 6.70
Darkness Forged 6.60
Under a Colder Sun 6.60
Jake Bloodfist 6.55
Master Of The Void 6.50
Hall of Bones 6.45
The Way Into Chaos 6.45
~3,000 books considered so far!
& for the interested:
The Way Into Chaos 6.45
The Combat Codes 6.35
Priest 6.30
A Soul For Trouble 6.25
Mysterious Ways 6.25Wolf of Withervale 6.10
Nether Light 6.05
Chaos Trims My Beard 6.00
The Moonlight War 5.95
(* = champion)
~3,000 books considered so far!
& for the interested:
the takeaway here is that given the distribution of entries, the distribution of finalists is within the expected range that an unbiased selection of finalists would produce.
