Hey people from SPFBO.

I think a lot of us have seen subtweets or have been involved in backend forums, discords, and other chats discussing this drama.

I've been talking to people on either side of this argument, and I feel like there's a really big disconnect.

I think communication and clear expectations are both important, and also lacking in our circumstances.

None of the judges I know wanted to go into this contest to squash the dreams of writers, or use personal attacks, or rip apart a book as viciously as possible.

Personally, I hate writing negative reviews, I used to have a policy where I don't review books I dont like because writing a negative review brings me 0 joy

I cant help it when it's my job in a contest to review something. If I dont like something I'm going to have to say why

Everyone reviews differently, as the spread of scores from judges for each book shows, reading is subjective and what someone will love another person will hate.

The way people express criticisms will be different, especially if they find something offensive.

Many very critical reviews revolve around sexism, the portrayal of rape, and other very dark topics which can be painful for some readers, and they express that pain in their reviews and it can come off heated in their review. I do think it's their right to do that.

That said, the heat should always be directed at the content, and not the creator.

I've asked for examples for reviews where this line was crossed and I haven't been given any yet - not to say they aren't there. Please link in DMs if you have an example

This contest is supposed to be a friendly challenge and a way to garner free publicity. It's supposed to be a way for authors to meet each other, bloggers to get to know each other, and to be a god damn community.

If there are issues, we need to communicate with each other.

I've been told this anger is several years in the making. We should have had this discussion a while ago it seems.

The bloggers I've talked with (and that's most) are open to discussion.

I don't want to see something beneficial to many set on fire because we didn't talk.