Souls of Astraeus is in SPFBO 3!
The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO), started and hosted by Mark Lawrence, has been an absolute blast to watch unfold during its first two years. The effort and enthusiasm exhibited by Mark, authors, and all involved bloggers, is more than appreciated by the entire reader and self-published author community.
It’s no secret to independent authors, and fans of independent authors, that exposure and opportunity are some of the hardest things to come by when going it alone. This graciously sponsored and executed competition not only helps bridge the gap between legacy publishing and independent publishing, but also allows readers the chance to read quality work. Work from people who haven’t hit the lottery, (yet), with landing a connected agent and publisher. Sometimes, that’s part of an independent author’s plan, sometimes not, but there is no denying that here is still a stigma and exposure vacuum for self publishers. The SPFBO has helped to erase those stigmas, however, by allowing a standard to evolve with realistic expectations from the independent community.
With that said, I luckily caught the announcement of SPFBO 3 in time, and was able to get my first book, Souls of Astraeus, submitted, and included in the initial round of competition. I of course have no expectations. I’m looking forward to the process, getting in touch with some new friends and their books, and that’s it. If I actually had any expectations, it would be that it won’t make it all that far, because Souls of Astraeus and the rest of the Akallian Tales Trilogy, isn’t traditional high, epic, or dark fantasy, but more of a space fantasy. But even then, the main protagonists in the book have access to their millions of past lives via “active reincarnation,” and the magic system essentially consists of thousands of different skills that are simply the inherent abilities of a particular race. So, who knows? We’ll see! Regardless, SPFBO 3 is already fun!
If at any point any blogger, reader, fan of the competition, whoever, reads anything of mine, drop me a line! I’d love to know what you think!
– Jeramy
Main website: http://www.jeramygoble.com
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Twitter: @JeramyGoble
