Introducing the SFF Insiders SPFBO XI Team
We are proud to announce that we will be one of ten judging teams participating in the eleventh annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. This marks our first year as a judging team, and we are excited for the opportunity to contribute to such a well-regarded competition. We also want to take a moment to thank Mark Lawrence for allowing us to be part of SPFBO XI.
The Team:
We’re excited to reveal our first-ever SPFBO judging team! It consists of both long-standing team members along with some of our newest recruits, all of whom are up for the task and eager to get started. Below, you will find each of our team members along with a little more information about them.
Book Assignments:
We have broken our batch into six smaller ones. Here is the list of our books and the judges who will be reading them. Each cover is linked back to its Goodreads page, so we encourage you to check them all out; if one piques your interest, add it to your own TBR!
Amanda
Anie
Grady
Khan
Kristen
Mylee
Our Process:
Our judging process is designed to be both efficient and fair. We begin by randomly assigning five books to each of our six judges. If a judge believes a title has the potential to be a finalist, they will select it as a semi-finalist. While each judge has their own personal reading style for their initial set, they will all read at least the first 100 pages of each book. The evaluation becomes a team effort once the semi-finalists are chosen. Every judge then reads and rates each semi-finalist in full; the book with the highest aggregate score is crowned our finalist.
By involving all six team members in the final evaluation, we hope to minimize individual bias. While we would love to share our thoughts on every book, it may not always be feasible depending on the judge’s specific match. Ideally, we will announce one semi-finalist per batch of five books, though we reserve the right to not move a book forward from a batch if none meet our criteria. Rest assured, every semi-finalist will receive a full review on our site.
Ultimately, our reviews are a reflection of our honest, subjective tastes. If your book isn't selected, it is simply a matter of personal preference; just because a book doesn’t land with a specific reader doesn’t mean it is of poor quality. We remain committed to selecting the best work in our group, regardless of its fantasy sub-genre.
Favorite Covers:
They say 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' and we agree—so as a team, we wanted to highlight three of our favorite covers from the books assigned to us. Of course, a great cover only gets you so far; in the end, it’s the story inside that matters most. We want to wish each and every author entering SPFBO XI the best of luck. Let the games begin!
