Competiton

Rules

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

    • The book must be #1 in a series or a stand-alone.
    • The book must actually be self-published(*) by the start date, not something you’re considering self-publishing in future.
    • It must be a sci-fi book. Underscored must. No pretending.
    • One book per author.
    • No anthologies.
    • No children’s books (eg. Middle Grade 8 – 12yr, or younger)
    • 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.
    • Don’t contact the blog to which you’ve been assigned. You can contact Hugh or Duncan about important issues or cool recipes for cocktails.

    (*)
    – 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 (as of 2022):

    • No book is allowed to be entered (resubmitted) in the SPSFC more than twice
    • Only those books eliminated in the slush-pile / quarterfinal phases 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 profussely. 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. And on Twitter @thespsfc and the #SPSFC hashtag is a good way to stay informed of the competition’s progress.