Kate Sheeran Swed’s Bypass the Stars holds the distinction as the first book I read in full in my capacity as SPSFC judge. It was one of 30 books randomly assigned to my team, and we collectively voted it as one of ten to continue past the first 20%, so reading this book was decided… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Bypass the Stars by Kate Sheeran Swed
It’s done. Team Tar Vol On has finished our first pass through our first-round allotment of books for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. We’ve read 10-20% of each book and made a decision on ten quarterfinalists to read through to completion. In the first, second, third, and fourth batches of cuts and quarterfinalists, I advised… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Five
We’ve hit the fourth of five batches in the first phase of the first round of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. With one update to go, this brings Team Tar Vol On to 18 eliminations and six quarterfinalists. Check back early next week for batch five. But in the interim, check out our fourth set… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Four
Team Tar Vol On continues to work through our first-round batch of Self-Published Science Fiction Competition entries, and we’ve passed the halfway point. If you haven’t been following along, you can check out batch one and batch two; otherwise, read on for another set of cuts and quarterfinalists. Neworld Papers Author: K. B. Shaw. Premise:… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Three
On Thursday, we made the first cuts and introduced the first quarterfinalists for Team Tar Vol On’s first round entries in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. Today, it’s time for another batch. If you’ve been following this competition, you know the procedure by now (and if you haven’t, refer back to the linked post), so… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch Two
After a month of silence and a lot of reading, Team Tar Vol On has begun to make decisions about our first-round entries in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. To refresh your memory, our team of six judges began with 30 self-published science fiction novels, and we’ve spent the last month reading extended previews (10-20%)… Continue reading SPSFC First-Round Cuts and Quarterfinalists, Batch One
Last week, I told you about the team of judges I’m leading for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. This week, it’s time to meet our first round entries. Each judging team has been given 30 books. It is our job to whittle that down to three semifinalists–a task that we… Continue reading Introducing Team Tar Vol On’s SPSFC Round One Entries
August 2021 marks the beginning of the first annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC, sometimes affectionately known as “spacebo”), modeled after the highly successful Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO). Three hundred entries are in–all self-published science fiction standalones or series-starters–ten judging teams are set, and it’s time to begin reading. Where do I come in? I’ve… Continue reading Team Tar Vol On and the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition
