SPFBO: Book Reveals, Top Cover Nominations, and Our Judging Process

Welcome my fellow book lovers! Following The Critiquing Chemist and her Bookish Boffins judge introductions last week, in this post you’ll find a list of our Phase One books and our top three book covers. You’ll also get a break down of the steps leading up to selecting a finalist, starting with how we will approach the first 30 books. As a team, we can’t wait to dive into these novels and be a part of this contest, especially after reading The Sword of Kaigen, last year’s winner! Good luck to everyone involved!

Our books for SPFBO6:

*To find see the other titles in SBFBO6 and related stats please check out Mark Lawrence’s website.

Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn

The First Rule of Adventuring by Vichet Ou

Wyrd Gods by Susana Imaginário

Fires that Forge (Book I of the Lords of Order & Chaos Series) by RJ Hanson

The Steel Road by Edie James

Crown of the Sundered Empire by JC Kang

Limbo by Thiago d’Evecque

The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler

Squire Derel by Rachel Ford

First Steps by Luke Daher

Priestess of Ishana by Judith Starkston

Necropolis by Xina Marie Uhl

Tosho is Dead by Opal Edgar

Child of Destiny by M.K.Adams

Shadowmancy by Jason Franks

The Bloodless Assassin by Celine Jeanjean

Susurrus by B. Morris Allen

Wynter’s Edge by Lucas Pederson

The Origin of Birds in The Footprints of Writing by Raymond St. Elmo

The Dimensional Wars, Dravincia by Blake Severson

Bloodlust by Nicole Zoltack

The Fall of Erlon by Robert H. Fleming

The Fae & The Fallen by Brittni Chenelle

Godless Lands by Sean Crow

Magister’s Bane by Yvette Bostic

This Cursed Flame by Selina J. Eckert

Magical Friends by Barbara G.Tarn

The Calvanni by Chris McMahon

Princess of Shadows by A.G. Marshall

The Owl at The End of The World by Staś Rolla

SPFBO Rules:

For clarification of the SPFBO rules and past winners please check out the Official Self Publishing Fantasy Blog Off page on Mark Lawrence’s website.

Our Judging Process:

The thirty titles listed above will be divided among the five of us. Of the sub-batches of six, each judge will appoint one semifinalist. We will review as many of the Phase One books read in their entirety as possible, but at a minimum each semifinalist will have a posted review. For the six semifinalists, the judges in our group will read through all the remaining selections, before, narrowing the field down to one title to put forth as a finalist. As this is our first year judging SPFBO, this proposed process has the potential to evolve as we progress further into the contest and, as such, might be modified accordingly.

Critiquing Chemist Top Three Cover Nominations: