And The Winner Is…
Announcing the runaway winner of the SPFBO2!
One of the most exciting advents in the last two years in the world of self published fantasy is the #SPFBO.
In 2015, author and blogger, Mark Lawrence,started a discussion about writers and self promotion.
The result was the The Self Published Fantasy Blog Off.
Mark stated,
“…as a new author, particularly a self-published one, it is desperately hard to be heard. It’s a signal-to-noise problem. Who knows how many Name of the Winds or [fill in your favourite] are lost to us because they just couldn’t be seen? None? A hundred?”
Thus the SPFBO was born. Last year 273 entries competed with more than 25 books assigned to ten review/bloggers participating, and the ratings, reviews and scores are compiled and culled to reach the top 10 entries. The winner of the first competition, SPFBO1, is Mike McClung’s novel The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble’s Braids.
This year the competition had 300 entries with 10 sites reviewing 30 books each. The top 10 where announced in August 2016 amid much excitement. The tenacity and dedication of these amazing bloggers and reviewers concluded on March 1, 2017 and while the final scores were still coming in, the winner was already clear.
Today SPFBO2 has announced the official winner for 2016. A runaway! Congratulations to Jonathan French for The Grey Bastards!
Now everyone is amping up for the next round #SPFBO3!
We can’t thank Mark Lawrence enough for his passion and dedication to Self Published works of fantasy as well as the wonderful world of the fantasy genre as a whole. He has meticulously kept individual and well as cumulative scores and review links on his blog for the entries. Even revisiting the entrants to see what effect the exposure has had on book sales. Some sold only 10’s, and gave away dozens, while others, with just the right push have now sold in the thousands! Lawrence has a galvanizing effect on the fantasy communities he is part of, and is a delightful blogger who encourages the many ways writers and readers can help spread the word for this plethora of gems he has unearthed for us. I’m looking forward to a definitive reference base being created for Indie authors, and the widespread exposure for these self published books.
Mark Lawrence is the author of Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns, Emperor of Thorns, & Prince of Fools.
To see more of the entrants and scores with links to reviews visit Mark’s blog pages:
http://mark—lawrence.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/the-final-round-of-self-published.html
There is also a great thread running on Reddit’s r/Fantasy site:
Grimmedian 