Is SPFBO worth entering?

I’ve entered the self-publishing fantasy blog off twice. The first time was in number 3 and then again in number 4 with Heir to the Sundered Crown and The First Fear respectively. With the latest competition now underway I thought I’d share my experiences with it.

The issues

The SPFBO has rightly developed a reputation for supporting the authors that win it and publicity is always a good thing for indie authors, except when it isn’t. Let me clarify, entering the SPFBO can be a huge gamble for indie authors, especially ones just starting out and who haven’t established their audience or mingled in the right circles.

What do I mean by circles? As I’ve discussed before the indie author community for fantasy is filled with cliques. You’ll see the same people supporting one another on social media repeatedly. If you’re not in one of those cliques, then I’m afraid to say your chances of doing well are immediately reduced. Those running the competition will always argue this isn’t the case but after closely watching it the last few years they must do a lot more to convince me otherwise.

If your book gets a poor review from one of the judges, then naturally the audience of the competition will likely avoid purchasing your title. It can harm your book in the short term and even cause a negative impact in the long term. In short, it’s a big gamble and it all depends on the judges too.

If your book is an urban fantasy and you end up with a judge who is more into epic fantasy and doesn’t like urban, your book is stuffed. Fantasy is a hugely broad genre so the chances of getting a judge that may not like your sub-genre are likely. The community of judges running the competition are a close-knit bunch, so keep that in mind.

Thankfully this year they seem to have tightened the entry requirements as in previous years there have been books making it through that were either a later part of a series or very loosely fit into the fantasy genre.

The Good. The Bad and the Ugly

Without a doubt, the most beneficial thing I got from the competition was interacting with and meeting the other entrants. Most were in the same boat as me and the sharing of knowledge and the new networking contacts you make is great. You’ll also encounter those who annoyingly act as gatekeepers, and you’ll quickly determine who the biggest schmoozers are.

However, as the competition is so socially involved via social media etc there are the inevitable falling outs and tiresome drama that often comes with it. Some of the judges in previous competitions did themselves no favours and quite frankly seeing the forming of online witch hunts and mobs caused me to rethink the entire fantasy community at times. Don’t get me wrong, there are some awesome individuals in it but there are also a lot of toxic ones too.

In one year, a man’s reputation was almost destroyed by unprovable accusations of sexual assault by one of the judges. While his reputation was almost brought into ruin the judge who made those claims has bafflingly been welcomed back into the community with seemingly open arms and is likely still a judge in the competition.

Then, of course, there are those authors that attack the judges for receiving a poor review (it’s part of being a writer, if you can’t handle criticism then you’re not in the right field). Accusations of bias and unfair treatment also rear their heads over the course of the competition. Some of these claims might be justified but when much of the indie scene has now devolved into a box-ticking exercise of inclusivity this is inevitable.

Is it worth it?

From my personal view and only because of the cool folks and contacts I made I’d have to say yes. My books got a few more eyes on them than they otherwise would, but in terms of improving sales etc then SPFBO was a big disappointment.

It was an interesting experience, but I personally doubt I will ever enter again. I’ve probably rubbed too many of the gatekeepers up the wrong way over the years to make it worth it.

EPIC, however, will keep an eye on the competition and we will do what we can to support the entrants and help promote their works.

SPFBO 8 is now closed for submissions but if you want more information visit - https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-official-self-published-fantasy.html