The First Glowing Review For The Exercise Of Vital Powers

Credit: The Qwillery

 

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better for my SPFBO entry, along comes Kitty G’s video review of The Exercise Of Vital Powers, yesterday. Not only did Kaitlin produce a very complimentary overview of my book, watching the video has actually made me seriously start to believe that it’s a better story than I previously thought. I still don’t think it’s polished enough to progress to the final round, but Kaitlin’s praise has already had a positive effect in terms of increasing interest in my book, as well as causing a spike in sales. In that respect, entering this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off has definitely paid dividends so I’m really glad to be involved. Anyway, that’s enough waffling from me; you can watch Kaitlin’s review below.

#SPFBO Update: My Book Lives To Fight Another Day

Credit: The Qwillery

 

Greetings folks, it’s time for a quick SPFBO update for those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the latest developments in this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off. First of all, with more or less two months having elapsed since the contest officially got under way, just over a third of the 300 entries have been eliminated from the competition so far. (You can view the list of titles that have fallen by the wayside at this point by visiting Mark Lawrence’s blog where he is keeping track.)

#SPFBO Update: The Exercise Of Vital Powers Makes An Impression

Credit: Laura M. Hughes

 

I have an exciting (to me at least) update about the Self-Published Fantasy Blog off contest, and it concerns my humble entry, The Exercise Of Vital Powers. To my surprise, #SPFBO judge Kaitlin aka “Kitty G” read my debut novel this week during her trip to Worldcon in Finland, and even more surprising than that was discovering that she really liked it. Yesterday she posted an initial review on Goodreads, awarding my book a 4.5 stars rating and it’s fair to say it has made my year. Knowing that my story struck a chord with a reader who has no vested interest in kissing my behind has gone a long way to making me feel a little less like an imposter.

#SPFBO Has Begun And Some Of The 300 Have Fallen

Credit: Laura M. Hughes

 

I may have mentioned, once or twice, that my novel The Exercise Of Vital Powers is one of the 300 entrants in this year’s #SPFBO contest. For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, the contest officially got under way on the first of this month, with the initial round to be concluded in December. Now that we are more or less two weeks into the competition, I thought I’d give a little update on the progress so far.

Introducing My #SPFBO Judge, Kitty G

Credit: Laura M. Hughes

 

If you have been keeping abreast of the third running of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off that gets under way in July, you should be aware that my debut fantasy novel, The Exercise Of Vital Powers, is among the pool of thirty novels due to be reviewed by popular BookTuber, Kitty G. If you’re wondering what a BookTuber is, it refers to a book reviewer who uploads filmed book reviews to their YouTube channel.

A little over a week ago, Kitty posted a short video outlining her role as a judge for this years #SPFBO contest, which you can watch below. Yes, Kitty butchers my name; but hey, when you have a non-Anglo sounding name (as I do) you get used to having it mispronounced. 😉

#SPFBO 2017: The 300 Have Been Chosen

 

It’s been almost two weeks, now, since I posted about the opening of the #SPFBO 2017 book contest, with author, Mark Lawrence’s call for 300 new submissions to participate in this year’s competition. Though still in its infancy, the contest (only now in its third year) has already made enough of an impact that 300 entries were received in a matter of days; far sooner than the July 1^st deadline. I am pleased to say that my debut novel, The Exercise Of Vital Powers, is one of the lucky entrants, though I am well aware that I have no chance of winning.

Hurry! Get Your Entires In For #SPFBO 2017

 

Yesterday evening, British fantasy author Mark Lawrence launched the third Self Published Fantasy Blog-Off contest, issuing a call for self published authors to submit their work by 1^st July. Only the first 300 hundred entrants will have their work entered so if you are interested, get a move on. At the time of writing, 147 submissions have already been received. The SPFBO book contest is a wonderful opportunity for self published authors to greatly increase their visibility, and is not to be missed. Last years winner earned a contract with a major publishing house.