Competiton

Rules

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General rules are (violations will result in exclusion from contest):

  • The book must be a standalone, first in a series, or an alternate entry point into a series.
  • The book must actually be self-published(*) by the start date, not something you’re considering self-publishing in future. The start date for SPSFC 4 is Oct. 1, 2024.
  • It must be a science fiction book. Underscored must.
  • One book per author per contest
  • No anthologies
  • No children’s books (young adult is OK)
  • Books must be 40,000 words or longer. Wordcount will be checked using Calibre on submission.
  • Muste be a novel. No short stories, collections, anthologies.
  • Your manuscript must be uploaded via the online form as a .epub file (as Amazon is changing formats) when you apply to enter the contest. You will not be allowed to update or change it.
  • Not AI authored
  • Don’t contact the team to which you’ve been assigned.

(*)
– for the purposes of this contest “self-published” means that when a paper or e-copy of the book sells, the fraction of the money that is not taken by the vendor (Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble etc) goes directly to the author. If it goes to a 2nd party that then pays out royalties, it’s not self-published.
– if the book is published by a publisher that the author owns entirely, then it is self-published. In the case of multiple authors, the authors need to equally own the publisher to count as self-published. You can have different arrangements with the audiobook & still count as self-published if the paper/e-book meet the criteria.

Resubmissions rules:

  • No book is allowed to be entered in the SPSFC more than twice.
  • Only those books eliminated before the semifinals in previous years are eligible.
  • Resubmitted books go to a different team than their original one.
  • New submissions get priority over resubmissions.
  • Resubmissions are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Some disclaimers, the SPSFC is not:

  • Perfect. Reading is subjective. Great books will slip through this net just like they do every other net.
  • Aimed at getting traditional publications deals. Some authors opt for them, but it would be an insult to suggest that the holy grail for self-published authors is a deal with a big publisher.
  • Charged for. This is totally free. The enormous effort given by the reviewers/blogs is a gift to be cherished and nurtured and thanked profusely. They do it out of love and in their own free time. Don’t abuse it.

Keep up to date:

We have an SPSFC group on Facebook. We’re also on Twitter at @thespsfc, and Mastodon at @spsfc@wandering.shop. On those sites the #SPSFC hashtag is a good way to stay informed of the competition’s progress.