Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off – Part 3
The ten finalists for SPFBO 7
Back in October I featured a piece on my blog reflecting on Hall of Bones becoming a finalist for the seventh annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO). SPFBO is a competition created by the fantasy author Mark Lawrence, highlighting the work of self-published authors writing in that genre. It’s become an annual event and SPFBO 8 is about to open its doors on 14th May 2022 to another group of 300 hopefuls!
Huge congratulations first of all to JD Evans whose novel Reign & Ruin won the overall contest. I think her victory with a fantasy romance marks the widening appeal of the contest, especially with Krystle Matar only 0.1 point behind her as runner up with Legacy of the Brightwash – another novel with a strong element of romance.
The finalists page on Mark’s blog provide all the book links and shows the full results for the 10 finalists, who were whittled down from the 300 original entries. SPFBO 7 was an incredibly close-fought contest, with the margin between first and third place just 0.4 points and between first and tenth place 1.25 points. The last time the range across the finalists was almost as close as this was in the inaugural contest in 2015, when the scores (out of 10) ranged from 8.00 to 6.25.
Hall of Bones finished in tenth place, which begs the obvious question as to how I feel about that. Whilst I’d be lying if I pretended I didn’t want to do better, I honestly don’t have any regrets. Making the finals is a massive achievement and the quality of the competition seems to get tougher every year. I’m well aware that lots of great books came close as semi-finalists or were cut because they didn’t quite connect with a particular reviewer on the day. As I mentioned on my previous SPFBO blog post, there’s no escaping the fact luck is a huge factor. From that perspective making the finals is a gift and should be treated as such.
Whilst it’s an amazing opportunity, SPFBO can be tense and bruising at times and it’s a long contest, running over the course of a year. If you’re fully engaging in the whole event it does require a level of stamina and resilience. I didn’t fully appreciate that the periods where nothing seemed to happen would be every bit as tense as the frantic final weeks of the competition, when two or three reviews were landing every single day. I’ll freely admit that as I write this now, almost a week after the contest finished, I’m exhausted. Some of that is down to stuff happening in the real world but I suspect it can also be attributed to a release of tension now the competition is closed and I no longer feel under constant public scrutiny.
Ending up with Hall of Bones waiting for the final book review of the whole contest was also surreal and brought its own brand of melodrama, with various people wishing me well and hoping for a good review to send me off. I’m pleased to say Before We Go Blog didn’t disappoint, with a score of 8/10 allowing me to go out on a high.
Overall, though, Hall of Bones didn’t quite connect with the reviewers in the finals stage in the way I’d hoped. The overall position and tight scoring reflect the very high standards of all the finalists in the tightest competition to date. However, my scores ranged from a giddy 8.5 through to 3.5, so there were certainly review blogs that didn’t click with Hall of Bones at all.
However, that’s the business you’re in as a writer. When you put your books in the hands of readers they’ll all have their own opinions and you need to be able to handle that fact. In an event like SPFBO you’re inviting some very public critique and commentary on your work and as the author you can’t tell people what they should think and feel. I have, frankly, developed a thicker skin as a result of this competition, so from that point of view it’s been an important learning experience which I’ll apply during the rest of my career. To provide a bit of perspective and illustrate just how subjective all of this is, you only have to look at the ninth placed book, We Men of Ash and Shadow. That novel was still picked as their favourite finalist by two of the ten judging blogs.
Reviews are always welcome but what I’d been struggling with prior to SPFBO was finding an audience for The Brotherhood of the Eagle series. I’d seriously underestimated the challenge of standing out from the crowd and by early 2021 I’d begun to have some serious doubts about whether I could do this at all. Once the initial buzz of friends and family had died down, no one was buying Hall of Bones and it wasn’t even a drop in the ocean of pages read on Kindle Unlimited.
This experience isn’t unusual for independent authors, especially those just starting out. That doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. Writing for pleasure is where I began more than twenty years ago and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, most authors I know who take the step of independent publication want to find an audience for their work. If that’s your goal you have to accept this is a hard business. There’s a huge amount of work required to put out a quality book and the resulting profit margins on your endeavours are tiny. Most writers, myself included, don’t do this because they want to make money (this is just as well) but because they love what they do and they can’t imagine doing anything else.
That’s where SPFBO made such a huge difference to my career. The spikes in interest and activity were very noticeable when the finalists were announced as well as during the final three months of the contest. SPFBO played a key role in making people aware my book existed and it led on to all sorts of other things, such as the novel experience of being invited to take part in interviews (rather than me asking for one!), venturing into audio and video podcasts and taking part in conference panels.
However, the other part of the contest, and this is the thing that will stay with me long after everything else has faded in my memory, were the connections and friendships made with other authors, bloggers and readers. I mentioned earlier that this is a hard business to be in. If you try (as I did for several years) to do this on your own you’ll find it very tough going. You really do need people around you who get what you’re going through and support you.
In my experience, the online writing community is an incredibly friendly, welcoming and supportive place. That was mirrored in the contestants for SPFBO 7 as well as the finalists when we got to that second stage. You forge memories and bonds when you go through something like this, making those links with an incredible network of people around the world who share that same, common interest. Honestly, this side of things has been incredible and for me that was the absolute highlight of the SPFBO experience.
At this point, it’s only right that I say a massive thank you to the bloggers who judge the contest as well as Mark Lawrence for organising the whole event. Mark has given independent authors a great platform to raise their profile but the task the blogs have of doing that sift through 300 books to find their favourites, plus the additional work of judging all 10 finalists shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s all done on a voluntary basis and that hard work and dedication really is appreciated. Thank you.
SPFBO isn’t the only marketing strategy out there and new authors definitely shouldn’t pin all their hopes on it. The reality is every year 300 hopefuls enter the competition but there’s only one official winner. However, that doesn’t mean there’s only one successful book. SPFBO is an amazing platform, which helps authors find readers and, perhaps just as importantly, helps authors connect with the wider writing community. Even if you’re an early cut the chances are the blogger will write a review that will still help you find your audience so, at the very least, your book will get some extra free publicity. This is all about getting the word out and helping people find you.
I had a moment of self-doubt before taking the plunge with SPFBO 7. Yes, this is a public contest and yes, you could get a bad review. However, that’s a hazard any author who publishes a book faces every day and I’d say the risks are far outweighed by the rewards. If this is something you’re thinking of doing I’d unreservedly say go for it when SPFBO 8 opens for new submissions on 14th May 2022.
For all the finalists SPFBO was a memorable, if sometimes bruising, experience!
The photos I’ve featured on this post were all taken by fellow SPFBO finalist Kerstin Espinosa Rosero, used with her kind permission.
