SPSFC 4

Follow these links for stories about SPSFC 4.

SPSFC 4 Quarterfinalist: Saint Elspeth

Each judging team in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) decides its own method for getting from their initial scout pile of novels to the ones that advance to the next stage. Ground Control to Major Tom had two to four judges read each of our 32 books in full, giving some of them a Strong Yes or Yes vote to recommend. With eight books getting at least one Strong Yes vote and another 10 getting a Yes, there was an extremely close competition to become the six novels to ... (read more)

2025/02/21

SPSFC 4 Quarterfinalist: Drowning Earth

Ground Control to Major Tom, a team of judges for the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), began reading 32 books in September to determine which six should be our quarterfinalists. The time of choosing has begun. The next six posts on this blog will reveal those novels. Our first quarterfinalist is Drowning Earth by Sean Willson. Drowning Earth is a thriller about a technologically peerless British submarine racing to claim a wealth of undersea biomass before the Russians ... (read more)

2025/02/17

SPSFC 4 Review: Mendelson's Return

The first novel I've finished reading for the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) is Mendelson's Return by Cristóvão Correia. My team Ground Control to Major Tom is trying a different method this time around to determine which of our 32 allocated books should become our six quarterfinalists. Instead of having all seven judges sample 10-20 percent of each book, we've divided the novels so that two judges give each book a full read before deciding whether to recommend it ... (read more)

2024/10/15

The 32 Novels We're Reading for SPSFC 4

Judges have begun reading books for the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). The team Ground Control to Major Tom has been assigned our allocation of books to review during the first phase of the contest. For the next three months our seven judges will be reading novels from a scout pile of 32 books to determine which six become our quarterfinalists. The entire team then will read those six books to pick the two that advance as our semifinalists in March 2025. Here are our ... (read more)

2024/10/04