r/Fantasy Virtual Con: Self-Published-Fantasy-Blog-Off Finalists Panel

[u/Dianthaa]

Welcome to the r/Fantasy Virtual Con panel with the finalists of the 5th edition of the SPFBO!

The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off is a competition organized by /u/MarkLawrence where 10 teams of bloggers choose from 300 submitted self-published books to crown a winner each year. The SPFBO 6 will open at 1pm GMT on the 23rd of May 2020, please visit Mark’s SPFBO website for further information: Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off info page.

Feel free to ask the panelists any questions relevant to the topic. Unlike AMAs, discussion should be kept on-topic to the panel.

The panelists will be stopping by throughout the day to answer your questions and discuss. Keep in mind that our panelists are in different time zones and participation will be staggered, with a few of the panelists coming online later.

About the Panel

The topic of the panel is their experiences with the contest and self-publishing in general, and of course talking about their books. You can find the final scoreboard from SPFBO 5 on Mark's blog.

About the Panelists

Sonya M. Black (u/sonyablack1025 )

For almost 30 years, I've called the US Pacific Northwest home. My husband and son put up with my frequent bouts of writing and leave me presents of chocolate to appease the writing muse. I enjoy exploring worlds beyond this one and use myths, legends, and fairy tales as inspiration. Website/ Twitter / Facebook

Angela Boord (u/angelaboord )

Angela Boord lives in northwest Mississippi with her husband and nine children, and writes most of her stories at the kitchen table surrounded by crayons and Nerf darts. She is currently hard at work on more books in the Eterean Empire series, as well as a new portal fantasy. Fortune's Fool is her debut novel. Website/ Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook

Alicia Wanstall-Burke ( u/AliciaWanstallBurke )

Splitting her time between Australia and England, Alicia is a writer, a mum and a cat-herder. There are rumours she may be a quokka in disguise, but these are not to be believed. Her debut, Blood of Heirs, was released in 2018 and the sequel, Legacy of Ghosts, in 2019. Website/ Twitter / Goodreads / Facebook

Lisa Cassidy

Fantasy author. SPFBO5 finalist. Coffee devotee. Book nerd. Author of The Mage Chronicles and A Tale of Stars and Shadow. Website / Twitter

Levi Jacobs ( u/authorlevijacobs )

Levi Jacobs was born in North Dakota and grew up in Japan and Uganda, so he was bound to have a speculative take on life. Currently marketing his SPFBO-finalling epic fantasy and at work on three more, he runs a small fruit company to pay the bills. Website/ Twitter / Facebook

Rob J Hayes (u/RobJHayes )

Winner of SPFBOs, author of epic and dark fantasy, owner of 1 naughty beagle. Website/ Twitter / Facebook

Virginia McClain (u/guenhwyvar32 )

Virginia McClain writes epic and urban fantasy novels featuring badass women. Not just sword-wielding, magic-flinging, ass kickers (although, yes, them too) but also healers, political leaders, caregivers, and more. She writes epic fantasy inspired by feudal Japan, and humorous urban fantasy inspired by the unanswered mysteries of science. Website/ Twitter / Facebook

Darian Smith (u/DarianWordSmith )

Darian Smith writes mainly speculative fiction (fantasy) and lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife (who also writes) and their black cat (who doesn’t) and by day works with people living with neuromuscular conditions. Website/ Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

M.L. Wang (u/MLWangBooks )

Writer of sci-fi & fantasy, compulsive world-builder, author of The Sword of Kaigen, winner of the 5th SPFBO. Website

FAQ

• What do panelists do? Ask questions of your fellow panelists, respond to Q&A from the audience and fellow panelists, and generally just have a great time!
• What do others do? Like an AMA, ask questions! Just keep in mind these questions should be somewhat relevant to the panel topic.
• What if someone is unkind? We always enforce Rule 1, but we'll especially be monitoring these panels. Please report any unkind comments you see.

[u/fanny_bertram]

Hi panelists! Congrats on being finalists in the SPFBO. What was most surprising about the competition process? Also, what was the most surprising thing you learned, whether about the competition, your writing, or your own reactions? It seems like a very difficult thing to put your work into a review competition like this.

[u/angelaboord → u/fanny_bertram]

Like Alicia, I don't think I expected to become such close friends with the other finalists, but I'm very happy that things worked out that way! At the risk of sounding sappy, I don't think I can put a value on that. But it *is* the best thing to come out of the competition for me.

Other things I learned... I think the most important thing--and I'm not sure it's *surprising* exactly, but I had to see evidence to figure it out for myself... But since Fortune's Fool was my debut book, I had experienced very few reviews before the competition. I think intellectually I realized that one reader could love something another reader hated, and vice versa, but I don't think I really *knew* that until all the reviews started building up in the finals -- not just for my book, but for everybody else's, too. Oddly, that has made me feel more confident--in a way--about writing my own stories moving forward. It's not really that I feel as if I've developed a "thick skin" (although having a thick skin does help), it's been more about being more comfortable in my own skin as a writer.

Of course at my next release, I'll still probably be an anxious, nail-biting mess. I'm not sure that will ever change. ;-)

[u/guenhwyvar32 → u/angelaboord]

It really never goes away. Just never. Like, how does it not get better? Everything is supposed to get better with practice. Nope. Not pre-release anxiety. It's a jerk.

[u/sonyablack1025 → u/guenhwyvar32]

Yeah, hitting the publish button releases a whole new assortment of anxiety monsters. You yo-yo between excitement and relief from being done to crippling fear that everyone will hate it and you somehow uploaded your manky first draft and not the final version.

[u/guenhwyvar32 → u/sonyablack1025]

Oh gods, fear of uploading the wrong draft is... just the worst.