SPFBOX

SPFBOX? Am I speaking in gibberish? Nope! It stands for Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off 10.

It's been 7 years since I last entered the competition (I submitted Mind Behind the Mind the third year, in 2017). This year, I've offered up Dead As Dreams to be judged by the bloggers/vloggers!

So 300 enter, and only 1 survives. If you want to see the list of 300 entries and the current status of them all (links to reviews, which titles are cut, which titles are semi-finalists, etc), head on over to the official SPFBOX Phase 1 page. I can't thank Mark Lawrence (and all the bloggers who volunteer to read and review) enough for running this contest for so many years. It's a great way for people to see what's out there in indie fantasy book world!

If you're looking for a new fantasy to read, go through the list and take a look at the reviews. I've already added 12 books to my wish list!

This year, I've been assigned to Queen's Book Asylum. I'm pretty happy with where Dead As Dreams landed. The Queen (Timy) is highly organized, so I know exactly when to expect the possibility of my doom. XD There's also a resident demon, of course. My kind of place.

On Queen's Book Asylum, the 30 books they were assigned were divided between 6 reviewers. Dead As Dreams' initial fate is in the hands of Arina. She just cut 2 of her titles yesterday. Thankfully I was spared this time! Each reviewer typically picks one semi-finalist from their batch, and then all 6 try to read all the semi-finalists to pick a finalist.

Fingers crossed that Dead As Dreams makes it far! At the very least, the book will have a new review. =D

And good luck to my fellow competitors! I've been enjoying participating in the Facebook group with everyone this year.

Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off $0.99 Sale

So, Mind Behind the Mind (Trinity Torn, 1) didn't arise victorious in the the 2017 Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO), but it led me to a great community of fantasy authors. SPFBO 2018 has just kicked off, and one of this year's entrants has organized a great promotion. Past and present SPFBO entrants were welcomed to participate. And I figured it would be an excellent opportunity to join in with Mind Behind the Mind.

The SBFBO Fantasy Book Sale is from August 1 through August 5, 2018, and there are over 120 books priced at $0.99!

This is the first time ever I've dropped Mind Behind the Mind down to $0.99. If you've been thinking of grabbing a copy, now is the time! You can find it at various retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, and Google Play. Just hop on over to the Books2Read page for Mind Behind the Mind and you can purchase via your preferred retailer from the list provided after clicking Buy Now.

Of course, if you want to take full advantage of this promo, you'll have to wander over to the SPFBO Fantasy Book Sale page, where you'll find over 120 books discounted to $0.99. Lots of different sub-genres as well. Perhaps you'll find something being offered that you've been hoping to give a whirl.

What are you waiting for? Go buy some awesome fantasy books!

Finalists of SPFBO 2017

So, Mind Behind the Mind may not have made it to the finals for the 2017 Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO), but I figured I'd whip up a quick post to list the 10 finalists!

Now, I haven't read any of the titles yet myself, though I have my eye on a few (and already have at least one waiting on my Kindle -- those darn kids of mine are making it hard to find time to read). But the reviewers who have given these a thumbs up know their stuff, so you may want to consider giving some of these titles a try.

You can find links to all of the reviews of the finalists so far on Mark Lawrence's Blog Post. Also, if you've read any of these titles, please let me know what you thought about them!

Chaos Trims My Beard by Brett Herman

The Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson

Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black

Jack Bloodfist by James Jakins

Pilgrimage To Skara by Jonathan S. Pembroke

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Tiger Lily by K. Bird Lincoln

The War Of Undoing by Alex Perry

The Way Into Chaos by Harry Connolly

Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes

Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off 2017

So, author Mark Lawrence does this awesome thing. An awesome thing that benefits indie fantasy writers.

What is this awesome thing? He organizes the Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off! (Also called SPFBO.)

This is the third year he's running it. Back in May, he posted a call to authors. He took 300 submissions of fantasy novels (first in series or stand alone). And the contest was filled in less than a week (which goes to show just how well the first two years went).

Luckily, I managed to submit Mind Behind the Mind (Trinity Torn, 1) to the contest. Now, there are a lot of great contenders out there, and the chances of Mind winning are beyond slim, but I figured I'd take a chance and at the very least come out the other end with a review. I considered posting about this sooner, but the official start date was July 1.

What's the contest all about? Well, 10 bloggers have graciously volunteered their time to judge the entries. Each blogger receives 30 titles. Out of those 30 titles, they narrow it down to their single, top title. And then all 10 bloggers read the top 10 books chosen to pick the winner!

Take a look at the Phase 1 post on Mark Lawrence's blog to see all of the titles and which blogs they were assigned to. You'll find Mind under the Fantasy Book Review list.

You can also find a compiled list of all of this year's entries on Goodreads! I've already added several titles to my To Be Read pile (I seriously need more time in a day).

And if you'd like to keep track of the reviews all in one handy place, you can do so HERE.

I wish all of the entrants good luck, and I also send out a great big thank you to Mark Lawrence and all of the bloggers who take the time to make the SPFBO as awesome as it is!