Announcing: SPFBO 10 and The Highwayman Kennedy Thornwick!
My novel is in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off! It's a contest!
It’s actually pretty incredible. For once I remembered to submit to a contest on time. And look! My book is now amongst 300 others getting judged in this year’s SPFBO beginning June 1st!!!
So what exactly is this spiffbo thing? (Or, spiffbox for this year, if you’re anything like me.)
The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off is a volunteer-run contest hosted by Mark Lawrence to highlight self-published fantasy. 300 books are entered (author submitted and then chosen by lottery), divided amongst 10 judges (30 books each.) They read their 30 and pick a semifinalist… then the judges all read each other’s picks, and after almost a year 1 book gets chosen as the winner.
Notable books that have been discovered through SPFBO:
Josiah Bancroft, Senlin Ascends
Jonathan French, The Grey Bastards
Justin Lee Anderson, The Lost War
M.L. Wang, The Sword of Kaigen
Devin Madson, We Ride the Storm
Zack Argyle, Voice of War
…and so many others!
And here’s a great article from Grimdark Magazine about it.
So, for those who aren't familiar with my novel The Highwayman Kennedy Thornwick, please check these links to decide if it’s your cup of tea:
And a video review by ML Clark!
Framed for murder and horse theft, Tommy Fellham is stuck in Magelock Penitentiary, rotting like a bad pickle in too small of a crock. Capital punishment was banned, how convenient—instead of getting hanged he spends his time learning how to fight, steal, gamble, and drink. There isn't much else to do with himself until his best friend and teacher, the notorious highwayman Kennedy Thornwick, confides in Tommy his plans to escape.
When Tommy receives a visitor that promises fortune at the expense of a newly built bank, that settles it. He has to help Kennedy. But what Tommy doesn't account for is how much the prison has shaped him, and not only will he have to get used to magic outside the walls, but come to terms with who he has become . . . All while trying to avoid the mage hunters after the price on his head. Kennedy might have been too good of a teacher.
Lastly, I hope you follow along with the contest and increase your TBR this year! Read/watch the reviews of all the different books, other than the official judges there’s plenty of folks with book blogs or on booktube (or booktok or bookstagram or bookwhatever) who will be sharing their spfbo reads. The whole point is to boost self-pub authors, so let’s do our best! If you pick up a book you discover in the contest, be sure to talk about it! We all appreciate it!
LET'S GOOOOO!!!
PS: If you're a reviewer and want to get in touch, you can message me on Instagram (mechanical.pulp) or shoot me an email: lisakuznakbooks at proton dot me
Yess!!! Congrats and good luck, fellow SPFBOXer!
Good luck!