It’s that time of year again! The sixth annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off starts today and I’m so excited about this year’s batch of books. Once again, I’ve started a list of the entries which have LGBTQIA+ characters. Last year’s list was a lot of fun and I still have many of the books on my tablet, waiting for me to read them.

You can find this list on Goodreads to learn more about the books but I’m also linking them all here. I’ll keep this list updated to track the books’ progress throughout the contest and add more entries as I learn about them.

1. + Spit and Song by Travis M. Riddle: Judge’s review
2. X The Reluctant Witch by Kristen S. Walker: Judge’s review
3. Where Shadows Lie by Allegra Pescatore
4. Hell Hound by M. J. Sylvester
5. X Squire Derel by Rachel Ford: Judge’s review
6. X To Target the Heart by Aldrea Alien: Judge’s review
7. X Heartscale by Lola Ford: Judge’s review
8. X By Sea and Sky by Antoine Bandele: My review, Judge’s review
9. X Crown of the Sundered Empire by J. C. Kang: My review, Judge’s review
10. The Jealousy of Jalice by Jesse Nolan Bailey: Judge’s review
11. X The Dragon’s Teeth by J. A. Clement: Judge’s review
12. The Phoenix Embryo by Jeanne Marcella: Judge’s review
13. X Wynter’s Edge by Lucas Pederson: Judge’s review, My review
14. The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson
15. X Political Nightmare by Rainbow Maccabre: Judge’s review
16. Shields in Shadow by Andy Peloquin
17. X Feast of the Mother by Miranda Honfleur & Nicolette Andrews: Judge’s review, My review
18. + Of Honey and Wildfires by Sarah Chorn: Judge’s review
19. Dragon Mage by Tamari Etherton: Judge’s review
20. The Swordsman’s Lament by G. M. White
21. X Last of the Exalted by Derek Prior: Judge’s review
22. Dames and Demons by G. Campbell
23. + The Hidden King by E. G. Radcliff: Judge’s review
24. X The Girl Drank Poison by Keith Blenman: Judge’s review
25. X Fade by E. G. Bateman: Judge’s review
26. The Black Lily by Mandy and G. D. Burkhead
27. Incursion by Mitchell Hogan
28. * Last Memoria by Rachel Emma Shaw: Judge’s review
29. + The Hunter’s Gambit by Nicholas McIntire: Judge’s review

There are some familiar authors from last year’s list but also lots of new names! Right now, there are 29 books, five more than last year. (I don’t have stats on the first four years of the contest.) But there could be more that I don’t know about yet.

As of October 7, thirteen have been eliminated, four have advanced as semi-finalists, and one is a finalist. (Key: X eliminated, + semi-finalist, * finalist.)

Here is my attempt to make a book rainbow using some of the covers:

And don’t forget to check out the month-long reading challenge, #PrideFantasyBookChallenge! Read my blog post for more info.