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While we were reading

The Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards are back!

11/2/2024

 
Welcome to a new year of SCKA!
We're back in 2024 and after much bribing, cajoling, despairing, backstabbing--no, no backstabbing. Anyway, after much debates, we have a shortlist and nominees!

Check out all those beautiful stories that you should read if you haven't already! The full list is here.

We are now going to be very busy with a lot of reading and expect to be back with finalists at some point in late spring or early summer.
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The 2023 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards - the winners!

16/9/2023

 
It was heartbreaking as usual to choose between so many worthy novels and novellas. But we had to choose and so we have winners!
Congratulations to them all!

Fantasy
Simon Jimenez, The Spear Cuts Through Water.

Science-fiction
Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea

Blurred Boundaries
Lorraine Wilson, The Way the Light Bends.

Novella
Sam A. Miller, Kid Wolf & Kraken Boy.

Short Story
Leora Spitzer, "This Excessive Use of Pickled Food".
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The 2023 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards - The finalists!

23/7/2023

 
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After many months of reading, and dilemmas the like of which can never be sung, we have finalists for the 2023 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards!

FANTASY
Simon Jimenez, The Spear Cuts Through Water.
R.B. Lemberg, The Unbalancing.

SCIFI
Tochi Onyebuchi, Goliath.
Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea.

BLURRED BOUNDARIES
Lorraine Wilson, The Way the Light Bends.
Okwiri Oduor, Things They Lost.

NOVELLA
Stewart Hotston, The Entropy of Loss.
Sam J. Miller, Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy.

SHORT STORIES
Leora Spitzer, "This Excessive Use of Pickled Food".
Tobi Ogundiran, "The Lady of the Yellow Painted Library".
Congratulations to our wonderful finalists!
The winners will be announced at FantasyCon, 15-17 September 2023, and on our social media.
You can find out more on the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards website or follow us on Twitter and Mastodon.

The 2023 Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards

25/2/2023

 
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And we're back for another year!

The Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards 2023 have begun, celebrating the best of genre fiction traditionally published in 2022.
Our categories this year are science-fiction, fantasy, novellas, blurred boundaries, and short stories.

The first round has begun to determine who are finalists will be, something we should know at some point in the summer. Considering the high quality (as usual!) of our shortlists, this is going to be tough.
Discover all our nominees by heading directly to the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards website. You can also follow SCKA on Twitter and Mastodon.

Advice to some indie writers from a book blogger

31/12/2022

 
It has been said often by people with infinitely more patience than me but I find out that it always bears repetition, so here come some useful advice to some indie writers when dealing with book bloggers.
You put some efforts and time in writing your book. It'd be a pity to ruin it all because you've no idea how to market it properly.

1) Don't contact a book blogger on social media out of the blue to promote your book. At best, you'll be ignored. At worse, they'll block you then tell their book blogger friends that you don't know what boundaries are.

2) Before contacting a book blogger check their book review policy on their website. If it states that they don't review indie writers or that they're not open to requests for reviews, please be certain you're not the exception.

3) If they review indie writers and if they're open to requests for reviews, you contact them via their contact form. They don't have a contact form or an available email address? Then it means they don't want to be contacted. Move along.

4) You've found a book blogger who accepts requests for reviews and indie writers? Great! Now you contact them with a blurb. No, you don't send just a link to your Amaz$n listing and a note saying "Check it out!" No, you don't send a sample or the book itself either, but you mention that if they're interested you'll be happy to send them a copy *for free*. No, they aren't going to pay for your book.

5) They read your book, they reviewed it and it's a mixed bag? Be graceful, professional, and thank them! If you need to rant (which is understandable and entirely human), you do that in private. Book bloggers chat together so if you abuse one, they'll close ranks and you'll be blacklisted.

Good luck with your endeavours!
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    "While we were reading" is an irregular feature about reading science-fiction and fantasy. It can contain guest posts. Nothing fancy, come as you are.
    It is also home to all the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards announcements.
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