The Scientist, the Spaceman, and the Stars Between Them by A.L. Davidson is an emotional space horror mashup with a romance core. #Horror #SciFi #Romance #BookSky 💙📚 #SSBA2025 @maybemockingbird.bsky.social @timberghostpress.bsky.social www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

review of Kristin Osani's The Extravaganza Eternia, an #SSBA2025 fantasy finalist, which I really enjoyed! tightly-plotted and fast-paced but without sacrificing a depth of character and world: anduilleaggheal.neocities.org/leirmheasan/...

review of #SSBA2025 finalist Ghost Apparent, by Jelena Dunato, a loving and gleeful tearing-apart of fairy-tale romance by subjecting both the conventions of fairy tales and the conventions of romance to Renaissance/early modern Realpolitik: anduilleaggheal.neocities.org/leirmheasan/...

Another interview from SSBA Founder @lnholmeswriter.bsky.social, this time with SSBA 2025 Fantasy Winner @evanjpeterson.bsky.social. Read about gangster-scientists amassing occult knowledge, the smell of lies, and folklore versus fakelore. lnholmeswriter.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/a...

The next interview we want to highlight is between @specawards.bsky.social Founder @lnholmeswriter.bsky.social and SSBA 2025 Horror Winner @rabusby.bsky.social. Read about the hedgehog on the cover, mushroom research rabbit holes, and the important, true story that inspired the book.

Another lovely interview with @alexyquest.bsky.social, this time with @marybuchanan.bsky.social over on the Her Ghosts blog. Read their conversation about representation, vulnerability, and mutual aid as treatment for mental health crises.

Thanks for your review of EMPRESS OF DUST by @alexyquest.bsky.social, @margaretadelle.bsky.social!

This book was so cute, very enjoyable to read

Now that we’ve announced the ✨winners✨ of the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards, @lnholmeswriter.bsky.social & @millieabecassis.com are starting to plan for 2026. Do you want to join us in celebrating small & indie press writers? Why not join our team at the @specawards.bsky.social? 💙 #SSBA #SSBA2026

Another delightful roundup from our good friend Kriti over at Armed with a Book. This time she asks the fantasy finalists and winner about the competition and why they write fantasy. Check it out! armedwithabook.com/2025-ssba-fa...

I wrote a little about being chosen as a finalist for the @specawards.bsky.social and about why I feel Fantasy and Comedy are great bedfellows in Armed With A Book's blog here: armedwithabook.com/2025-ssba-fa...

Thanks to THE JAGUAR MASK being a finalist for the @specawards.bsky.social, I get to do a little blog interview tour about it! Here's the first, with Kriti at @armedwithabook.bsky.social : armedwithabook.com/2025-ssba-fa...

A year flew by and December saw the announcement of @specawards.bsky.social finalists and winners. I chatted with the Fantasy authors about this wonderful accolade. 💙📚 Take a read: armedwithabook.com/2025-ssba-fa...

I got to chat with @indiosyncrasy.bsky.social about sci-fi and disability and transgender crabs during my interview about the @specawards.bsky.social 🙈 open.spotify.com/episode/3Jsf...

SSBA influencer Ben G. Bronson had a fantastic conversation with @evanjpeterson.bsky.social, author of BETTER LIVING THROUGH ALCHEMY, over at Mixed Media Magazine. Read their conversation about Evan’s book here:

Announcing the winners! And stay tuned to my feed for upcoming interviews with the finalists/winners and reviews of the winning books (and a couple extras)!

Wrote a quick blog post highlighting some of my favourite books from the @specawards.bsky.social! Feat. four very good independently published fantasy books from four very different fantasy subgenres. leoastrum.wordpress.com/2025/12/13/s...

Now that we’ve announced the ✨winners✨ of the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards, @lnholmeswriter.bsky.social & @millieabecassis.com are starting to plan for 2026. Do you want to join us in celebrating small & indie press writers? Why not join our team at the @specawards.bsky.social? 💙 #SSBA #SSBA2026

This interview between the @specawards.bsky.social winner in science fiction, @alexyquest.bsky.social, & SSBA influencer & BOOKED podcast creator/host, Saffron Asteria, is fantastic! Listen to their conversation about giant crabs, shower writing, alternative D&D, & more! youtu.be/OpdsOSMyYHs?...

Back after a brief hiatus due to unexpected illness! Check out my final post featuring the SSBA semi-finalists: JR Creaden's Moon Dust in my Hairnet and Em Reed's More Bugs. @jesscreaden.bsky.social @dayofthemutants.bsky.social @specawards.bsky.social www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/2025/12/smal...

#Booksky Lookit the pretty! We love Michael Merriam’s terrific sapphic Weird West novella, TERROR AT TIERRA DE COBRE, and are delighted that it’s an #SSBA Finalist! Available direct from us as well as Smashwords, B&N, Bookshop, Kobo, iTunes and so forth!

And another one that just finished for small press fiction that had some fantastic writing that was also broadly queer as fuck.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS congratulations to all of these wonderful books and especially to THE AWESOME @kristinosani.bsky.social

Aaah!! Omg, I am so honored! Thank you so much, and thank you to @stelliform.press for all their support!!

holy shit EXTRAVAGANZA is a finalist???!!!! I'm beyond honored and frankly stupefied, thank you thank you thank you!!😭😭😭

Congratulations to all the winners, finalists, semifinalists, and nominees for participating in this year's @specawards.bsky.social! Huge thank to @lnholmeswriter.bsky.social for bringing me on the adventure and giving me the opportunity to contribute. I can't wait to see next year's nominees 👀

Congratulations to these fantastic authors! I'll be reviewing them as a special feature over on the blog soon (link in bio) 😊❤️📚

My sincerest gratitude to everyone who participated in the @specawards.bsky.social this year! The small and indie press community is amazing. 💙✨ A special, gigantic thank you to my friend and SSBA cofounder, @millieabecassis.com who worked tirelessly to help me pull this off. You’re incredible! 💙💜💚

Congratulations to all 2025 SSBA finalists! Listed below 👇 #SSBA #SSBA2025

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, and especially to @alexyquest.bsky.social!

Congrats to all the winners and finalists! 🖤☠️

Congratulations to the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards winners! ✨BETTER LIVING THROUGH ALCHEMY by @evanjpeterson.bsky.social (@slgable.bsky.social) ✨YOU WILL SPEAK FOR THE DEAD by @rabusby.bsky.social (@stelliform.press) ✨EMPRESS OF DUST by @alexyquest.bsky.social (@wctracy.bsky.social) #SSBA #SSBA2025

YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE!!!!

😱😱😱

Wow! THE SEA OF CLOUDS is a finalist! You can buy this sailpunk adventure here: buy.bookfunnel.com/157vme57uk

Well, this is pleasantly unexpected: my novel THE JAGUAR MASK is a finalist for the Small Spec Book Award! Hooray!

My little bisexual baby looks so cute with a little trophy on it!

#Booksky TERROR AT TIERRA DE COBRE is a finalist in the Horror category for the Small Spec Book Awards! Big congratulatory shoutout to author @mmerriam.bsky.social and the other finalists and winners for the @specawards.bsky.social! And a big thank you to all the folks working on this! You rock! 💖

Woo! This is such a great book and I'm so happy it won! If you want to get your copy, and the sequel, but don't want to support Amazon, you can get a signed copy from our campaign, running until tomorrow! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...

Y'all. My heart. Thank you so, so much. So many amazing books nommed in this category, and you chose mine. I am over the moon (and making love to the entities I find there)

Thanks so much @specawards.bsky.social it's been fun. Congratulations to @rabusby.bsky.social

This was my favourite while judging! An utter delight of a book that's so sincere, takes place in an obviously well-researched magic system, and is phenomenally weird. I had so much fun reading this one and the win is very well deserved.

I won? I WON!!! Immense gratitude to the Small Spec Awards and to my editor/publisher, Scott Gable at Broken Eye Books. I'm glad you like it Weird, cuz I've only just begun. Sequel in progress! @slgable.bsky.social

Huge congrats to Better Living Through Alchemy on the win, and stoked to have made it as a finalist!

Congratulations to the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards winners! ✨BETTER LIVING THROUGH ALCHEMY by @evanjpeterson.bsky.social (@slgable.bsky.social) ✨YOU WILL SPEAK FOR THE DEAD by @rabusby.bsky.social (@stelliform.press) ✨EMPRESS OF DUST by @alexyquest.bsky.social (@wctracy.bsky.social) #SSBA #SSBA2025

Congratulations to all 2025 SSBA finalists! Listed below 👇 #SSBA #SSBA2025

The winner in the sci-fi category for the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards is EMPRESS OF DUST by @alexyquest.bsky.social (@wctracy.bsky.social)! #SSBA #SSBA2025

And the winner is... #SSBA #SSBA2025

Congratulations to the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards finalists for sci-fi! 💙✨ #SSBA #SSBA2025

The winner in the fantasy category for the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards is BETTER LIVING THROUGH ALCHEMY by @evanjpeterson.bsky.social (@slgable.bsky.social)! #SSBA #SSBA2025