I was one of the judges for the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Contest. It’s a contest I believe in, because it helps bring attention to and elevate indie science fiction, and if there was ever a genre that was made for indie publishing, it’s this one. Traditional publishers need to be very risk-averse, and science […]
I’m one of the judges for this year’s Self-Published Science Fiction Contest. While I present my scores below, please note that I am part of a large team of judges, and the finalists will be decided by the combined vote of several teams of judges. So just because I liked or disliked a title, it […]
The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest groups its entries into several judging pools at the start of the contest, each of which is assigned to a different team, each of whom selects several quarterfinalists and, eventually, two semifinalists. However, the contest also has what’s known as an “Escape Pod” option, where judges can look at books […]
I enjoyed doing mini-reviews for all the LitRPG and Progression series I started reading last year, so I’m doing the same thing this year! This list includes only series that I started reading in 2023. So yes, of course I read the next Dungeon Crawler Carl and kept reading a lot of series I mentioned last […]
I have issues, so after finishing reading my allocation, I rummaged around in the books allocated to the rest of my judging team, much like a raccoon in a dumpster: uninvited but relaxed, delighted by my own personal search for treasure. As these aren’t my assigned books, many of my assessments may not count for […]
After doing mini-reviews for all the SPSFC3 contestants’ books I read, I felt like I was remiss to not be doing any for my own genre! This list includes only series that I started reading in 2023. So yes, of course I read the next Dungeon Crawler Carl and the conclusion of the Cradle series, […]
I read a lot within the genre I write in – LitRPG – but I like to read a number of the entries in the SPSFC each year, partly as a chance to stretch my brain and partly to give indie authors a chance. I review any book I finish! Rather than give a star […]
The 2022 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition kicked off recently, and I’ve been reading my way through some of the entrants that both A) appealed to me on some level and B) were available on Kindle Unlimited. I have fairly eclectic tastes, and for your perusal today I present the first five books I liked enough […]
As a LitRPG author myself, I read a lot of work from the genre, and I think about it quite a bit too. One weakness of the genre is, sadly, women. It’s actually uncommon for women to be actively treated poorly by popular authors. Most authors – especially the successful ones – are nice people […]