Fandom Pulse

Fandom Pulse

Books

Indie Book Contest Rattled By Accusations Of Anti-Religious Bias

John A Douglas's avatar
John A Douglas
Mar 19, 2026
∙ Paid

Another indie prose competition found itself embroiled in controversy this week when it was revealed that one of the judges was openly hostile to the book’s religious content.

The Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Challenge (SFINC) is an annual competition for novellas authored by independent authors and run by the judging team from Grimoire Ink Reviews. The review that sparked the controversy was discussed on X by indie author Andrew Gillsmith, who pointed out that the reviewer seemed unable to objectively assess Yuval Kordov’s (Dark Legacies, Orders of Magnitude) sci-fi novella ‘Sisters of Mercy’ without letting his personal biases intrude.

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Fandom Pulse.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
John A Douglas's avatar
A guest post by
John A Douglas
Author of The Black Crown, The Lionheart (Forthcoming), and reviewer of novels. Avid fan of epic fantasy, 90s animation, and indie novels and indie comics of all stripes. Written and video reviews.
Subscribe to John
© 2026 Fandom Pulse · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture