Small Spec Book Awards 2025

2025 was my first year as an official influencer for the Small Spec Book Awards. What started as a "hey, why not?" turned into a fun series of interviews and book reviews with a whole host of new-to-me indie writers and another expansion to my endless TBR pile. This page is the home for all of my 2025 SSBA content, and you can find all the content linked below.

What are the Small Spec Book Awards (SSBA)?

The SSBA was co-founded by L. N. Holmes and Millie Abecassis. Their mission is to recognize and promote independent and small press authors writing exceptional speculative fiction.They wanted to create a free-to-enter award that was specific to small press and independent authors whose marketing often gets buried by the bigger publishers. This award will help draw attention to more of the awesome indie books out there.

More information can be found on the SSBA Website. 

 

 SSBA Features on Melody Writes

General Posts 

Introductory Post - Post announcing my 2025 influencer role and some general information

Semi-Finalists - Post announcing the 2025 Semi-finalists 

Semi-Finalist Features 

  1. Semi-Finalist Feature #1 - Carson Winter, Damien Casey, Emmett Nahil
  2. Semi-Finalist Feature #2 - J. A. Mortimore & Penelope Hill, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Sam Flynn
  3. Semi-Finalist Feature #3 - K. C. Aegis, Rose Oliver, Terry Jackman
  4. Semi-Finalist Feature #4 - Em Reed, J. R. Creaden

Finalist Features

  1. Gabby Hutchinson Crouch (December 29, 2025) 
  2. Michael Merriam (January 11, 2026)
  3. Michael Deluca (Coming January 18, 2026)
  4. Carson Winter (Coming January 25, 2026)
  5. Alvar Theo (Coming February 1, 2026)
  6. Ben Berman Ghan (Coming February 8, 2026)
  7. Evan J. Peterson (Winner: Fantasy) (Coming February 15, 2026)

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