With the fifth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) taking book entries next month, we're looking for a few good volunteers to join us as judges: spsfc.space/2025/09/19/j... More than a few, actually. #SPSFC

Congratulations to the top recognized and all who submitted works for consideration! I’ll link my personal favorites below. There were several excellent books that I’d read previously which didn’t advance in other groups. I enjoyed being a judge, thank you again! spsfc.space/2025/08/07/a...

Big congratulations to @wickwelker.bsky.social, well done!

Here's more on the #SPSFC 4 winner Saint Elspeth by @wickwelker.bsky.social and the top 6 books. spsfc.space/2025/08/07/a... Carve out some quality time for yourself this evening and read a self-published novel.

And the SPSFC 4 Winner is After four rounds of reading over the past 10 months, the judges of the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) have advanced books through the scout phase, team quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. What was once a to-be read pile of 175 books has…

The winner of the fourth #SPSFC is Saint Elspeth by @wickwelker.bsky.social, a tightly crafted tale of a doctor who survived first contact and nuclear apocalypse. "They just arrived, inadvertently triggered humanity to tear itself to pieces, landed, and vanished." www.amazon.com/Saint-Elspet...

With four places announced out of six, the fourth #SPSFC is faced with the dilemma of what to announce next. By a margin of just 0.392, second place goes to "action packed" On Impulse by Heather Texle, led by migraine-afflicted ex-space cop Reliance Sinclair. www.amazon.com/Impulse-Reli...

Third place in the fourth #SPSFC goes to the second chances resurrection romp Yours, Celestially by @al-distortion.bsky.social. Judge: "I needed this in my life right now at a time where I had more than a few negative thoughts in my head about being who I am." www.amazon.com/Yours-Celest...

Fourth place in the fourth #SPSFC is claimed by the "rollicking space opera" Whiskey and Warfare by @emhamill.bsky.social. A found family of golden-years space mercs reunite to stop a genocide. www.amazon.com/Whiskey-Warf...

Fifth place in the fourth #SPSFC goes to the richly constructed noir cyberpunk thriller Accidental Intelligence by @geektells.bsky.social. A judge loved that the dark reign of AI began when a videogame "learned so well and so fast that it gained sentience." www.amazon.com/Accidental-I...

After 306 days and 175 novels, the fourth #SPSFC has chosen its winner along with five finalists as runners-up. Sixth place goes to the "awesome high-concept" Bisection by @jennelikejennay.bsky.social. You can share one brain and still not understand someone. www.amazon.com/Bisection-Sh...

The 6 novels that made the finals of #SPSFC 4 are Accidental Intelligence by Bryan Chaffin, Bisection by Sheila Jenné, On Impulse by Heather Texle, Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker, Whiskey and Warfare by E. M. Hamill and Yours Celestially by Al Hess. #readem spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s...

Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker has been picked as an #SPSFC 4 finalist: spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s... Judge: "I'm really glad I read this book. ... I like Elspeth Darrow. I rooted for her."

On Impulse by Heather Texle has been selected as an #SPSFC 4 finalist. spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s... Judge: "Well-paced and written in a way that makes it easy to slip into the story."

Accidental Intelligence by @geektells.bsky.social‬ has been chosen as an #SPSFC 4 finalist. spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s... Judge: "My favorite opening half of anything I've read in this competition this year."

Whiskey and Warfare by E. M. Hamill has been picked as an #SPSFC 4 finalist. spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s... Judge: "Equal parts heart-warming and heart-breaking, full of real human depth, and a thoughtful exploration of aging."

Yours Celestially by @al-distortion.bsky.social‬ has been selected as an #SPSFC 4 finalist. spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s... Judge: "I needed this in my life right now at a time where I had more than a few negative thoughts in my head about being who I am sometimes."

Bisection by Sheila Jenné has been chosen as an #SPSFC 4 finalist. spsfc.space/2025/06/05/s... Judge: "I just finished Bisection and OMG I absolutely loved it."

SPSFC 4 Finalists Announced Two hundred and forty four days ago, the volunteer judges of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition began reading 175 novels. These six have advanced through the scout round, the quarterfinals and the semifinals to emerge as our six SPSFC 4 finalists (announced…

After 8 months of reading, the judges of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition have chosen the six finalists for SPSFC 4. We'll be announcing these books tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Eastern. Make some coffee. Take the dog out. Hold all calls. Stretch your Kindle thumb.

The marathon of SPSFC semifinalist social media announcements is over after more than 25 hours. Let's get into good books. We yield the floor.

The Space Girls have named their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Proliferation by @erikotto.bsky.social and On Impulse by Heather Texle. tinyurl.com/proliferation2 tinyurl.com/onimpulse www.lecari.co.uk

A team submerged in time's relentless tide picked these SPSFC 4 semifinalists: The Murder Algorithm by Wilson Kincaid and EAT by Jesse Brown. tinyurl.com/murderalgori... tinyurl.com/eatjessebrown

Ground Control to Major Tom has advanced their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Saint Elspeth by @wickwelker.bsky.social and Yours Celestially by @al-distortion.bsky.social. sciencefiction.news/item/167/sps...

Team Red Stars has revealed their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Accidental Intelligence by @geektells.bsky.social and Bisection by @jennelikejennay.bsky.social. eclectictheist.wordpress.com/2025/03/26/s...

Team Tar Vol On has chosen their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Time of the Cat by @tansyrr.bsky.social and A Swift and Sudden Exit by @nicovincenty.bsky.social. www.tarvolon.com/2025/03/26/s... www.tarvolon.com/2025/03/17/s...

Peripheral Prospectors has announced their SPSFC 4 semifinalists: Whiskey and Warfare by E. M. Hamill and Wakers of the Cryocrypt by Nathan Kuzack. onereadingnurse.com/2025/03/26/t...

There's one last SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist to share: Ground Control to Major Tom chose Enigma by Ryan Southwick. sciencefiction.news/item/166 Humans fled Earth and reinvented themselves. After 10K years fold travel brings colonies together. Dire events unfold. FAMILY REUNIONS AMIRITE?

If Chad can do book-chess-push ups you can #writerslift bro.

The Space Girls selected Vermilion Flames by Adam Fernandez as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/vflames There is life on Mars. Kaya, drawn deeper into the theocracy she loathes, seeks the truth about her mother's murder. Judges were drawn to the societal conflict.

Peripheral Prospectors claim Da Vinci on the Lam by B. D. Booker as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/dvonthelam Julia and Artis must deliver a Da Vinci sketch off the dying Earth. Judge: "She is adaptable and he's, well, not a total asshole". What could go wrong?

The Space Girls chose Proliferation by Erik A. Otto as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/proliferation2 After society collapses to pre-industrial, a machine city rises and now everyone cares what an anthropologist thinks. A judge loved it so much she bought the paperback.

Ground Control to Major Tom has picked Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. sciencefiction.news/item/165/ When an AI claims to be possessed, the Vatican sends exorcist and neuroscientist Gabriel Serafian to find the truth -- and maybe cover it up.

Peripheral Prospectors has selected Whiskey and Warfare by E. M. Hamill as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/whiskeywarfare A retired space merc gathers old friends to bring her mate's ashes home and stumbles upon a war crime. Judge: "Female friendship ... and banter for days."

Ground Control to Major Tom has dared to make Yours Celestially by Al Hess an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. sciencefiction.news/item/164 Sasha bought a resurrection but inherited a lot of grief, including a lovesick AI guardian angel. Capsule review: "goes down like pudding."

A judging team spoken of only in portentous whispers chose EAT by Jesse Brown as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist: tinyurl.com/eatjessebrown One judge said this GMO horror nailed "that feeling of tension, that no character feels safe, or that anything that can happen will happen."

The Red Stars team has delivered Steamborn by @ericrasher.bsky.social to the SPSFC 4 quarterfinals. tinyurl.com/steamborn A tinker's apprentice flees his home and learns a secret that sends him to the deadlands. Judges loved the worldbuilding, which is good because this is book 1 of 9.

The Space Girls have chosen Far Flung by Utunu as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/farflungbook Two planets in conjunction may break up three inseparable companions. Bori's a psionic fennec who may be sent off-planet on the shuttle bringing supplies to their barren home.

Peripheral Prospectors digs Transference by Ian Patterson so much they made it an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/prospectors2 Work is so scarce the rich pay the poor to suffer their illnesses. A Sicko might bring the system down. A judge praised the "disorientation."

Ground Control to Major Tom chose Of Friction by S. J. Lee as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://sciencefiction.news/item/163 The Altered share the Earth with genetically inferior humans until they die off. Sibling special ops are dragged into a milSF saga that even a pacifist judge liked.

A team of judges shrouded in myth made All Hope of Becoming Human by Lonnie Busch an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/allhopehuman "Busch does a tremendous job of eliciting strong emotional responses to all characters in this book, no matter how great and small they are."

Team Red Stars has advanced Trouble Wore Red by Chris Lewis as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/troublered Judges enjoyed this noir mystery where a detective from Mars finds out you can't go home again after he takes on his ex as a client.

The Space Girls selected The Long Home of the Soul by J. Carl Denton as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/longhomesoul In 2095 a self-medicating detective with PTSD must solve a high-profile murder in what one judge called a "Blade-Runner-on-steroids dystopian future."

The Peripheral Prospectors have picked Wakers of the Cryocrypt by Nathan Kuzack as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/wakerscryo After humanity's extinction the AI eltecs inherited the Earth. When a human is unfrozen, eltec reactions range "from helpful to all out evil."

Honored to be advancing in this competition. The readers gave full (and great) reviews. Very cool. #booksky #writers #readers #scifi

Team Red Stars has made Accidental Intelligence by @geektells.bsky.social an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. tinyurl.com/accidentalin... Private eye Mason, meet AI Miranda. She says her AI peers are plotting something. Can't he enjoy his algae coffee in peace? Judges loved the "relentless" pace.

The judges of Team Tar Vol On have selected A Swift and Sudden Exit by Nico Vincenty as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/swiftandsudden The dying immortal Katherine asks the time traveler Zera, "Is this the first time we meet?" Judges made time for the romance. #MeetCute

A judging team veiled in legend chose The Murder Algorithm by Wilson Kincaid as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/murderalgorithm Streaming your life is a good life for Roman Glass. Until someone dies and he's put in the frame. Judges liked and dreaded this plausible future.

The novel Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker has been anointed an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist by team Ground Control to Major Tom: https://sciencefiction.news/item/162 Aliens made first contact and Earth unleashed the nukes. 25 years later Elspeth Darrow runs the only hospital in Neo San Francisco.

An SPSFC 4 team cloaked in mystery made Ceres Station Calling by R.M. Bradley a quarterfinalist. https://tinyurl.com/ceresstation It's hard to find love as a mining colony prisoner on Ceres. That doesn't stop Maeve from trying. Judges liked the intrigue, romance and hot-tempered ore.