SPSFC 4

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SPSFC 4 Semifinalists: Saint Elspeth and Yours Celestially

Nearly six months ago reading began in the fifth edition of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). Our team Ground Control to Major Tom had an allocation of 30 books and chose these six quarterfinalists: Drowning Earth by Sean Willson (Kindle) Enigma by Ryan Southwick (Kindle) Of Friction by S. J. Lee (Kindle) Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith (Kindle) Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker (Kindle) Yours Celestially by Al Hess (Kindle) For the semifinals, the scores were as ... (read more)

2025/03/31

SPSFC 4 Quarterfinalist: Enigma

Seven score and 14 days ago, the judges of Ground Control to Major Tom received 32 books in our scout pile for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). Team members read the novels and we picked six to become quarterfinalists. They're now being read by all judges on the team to decide our two semifinalists. The last book we are announcing as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist is Enigma by Ryan Southwick. Nearly 10,000 years ago Earth was conquered by the Uu'nok, sending survivors ... (read more)

2025/03/07

SPSFC 4 Quarterfinalist: Our Lady of the Artilects

One of the perks of reading books for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) is that contest authors don't color within the lines. Either because they don't know the implicit genre expectations of traditional publishers or they intentionally choose to ignore them, self-published writers aren't afraid to boldly go where no science fiction author has gone before. The fifth book chosen as an SPSFC 4 quarterfinalist by Ground Control to Major Tom is one of those enterprising ... (read more)

2025/03/05

SPSFC 4 Quarterfinalist: Yours Celestially

Naming quarterfinalists wasn't planned to be part of the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) when it launched. Judges just decided for themselves to bestow that honor on the novels that made the strongest impressions during the first stage -- and were going to be read in full by the whole team-- rather than waiting until two books advanced to the semifinals. The fourth book to receive the grass roots designation of quarterfinalist from Ground Control to Major Tom in SPSFC 4 is ... (read more)

2025/03/03

SPSFC 4 Quarterfinalist: Of Friction

The teams in the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) have different ways to evaluate the books allocated to them. For SPSFC 4, Ground Control to Major Tom asked two judges to scout each book by reading it in full. After it was recommended on the team's Discord channel, another judge may have read it as well. The number of Strong Yes and Yes votes determined the six books that advanced. The third quarterfinalist announced by the team is Of Friction by S.J. Lee. Of Friction is a ... (read more)

2025/02/27

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