Josiah Bancroft's Blog

For a chance to win a Subterranean Press Special Edition of The Hod King, share your favorite quote from any of The Books of Babel in the comments below.

One winner will be chosen at random. Contest spans several platforms. One entry per person, please. Open to everyone, everywhere.

Closes midnight (EST) July 18.

EDIT: The randomly drawn winner of the Sub Press special edition of The Hod King is @mrdorough (via Twitter). Congratulations, Matthew!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway. It was truly wonderful to read your favorite lines from the series!

You can watch me announce the winner of the Babel Request on my YouTube channel! Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful, imaginative entries!

To celebrate SENLIN ASCENDS cracking 15,000 ratings on Goodreads, I’m taking reader requests for an original, stand-alone scene. Tell me what scenario you’d like to see your favorite character from the series in, and if you win, I’ll write your dream scene!

Want to see Senlin base jump from the Tower, or Iren and Ann compete in a life or death pub quiz, or Edith saddle a spidereater, or Adam win a dance competition, or Voleta rent a tandem bicycle with Byron? This is your chance!

To enter, reply to this thread with your request or email it to me using the Contact Form here. ONE RANDOMLY CHOSEN GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive a handwritten, signed copy of their scene.

One entry per person. Contest closes August 23rd, Midnight EST. Open to everyone, everywhere!

(Winning scene will not be considered canon; all requests are welcome, but produced content will, in keeping with the tone of the series, not be explicit in nature.)

The Grand Prize Winner

The randomly selected winner of the Subterranean Press editions of Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx is Michael G.
Congratulations Michael!

The First Place and Runner Up Winners

I’ve spent days deliberating over whose submission I enjoyed the most. I received so many imaginative, evocative, and well-crafted entries, all of which brightened my day and are deserving of praise. It has been almost impossible to choose my favorites.
Originally, I wanted to respond to everyone individually with my appreciation of their creations, but finding myself overwhelmed by the quality of what I’ve received, I will instead take a moment to quickly mention just a few of the works that filled me with felicity.

Quenby O’s story “The Circle Drawn” was wonderfully heartbreaking and expertly crafted. Jason S’s story “Excerpts from the Log of Professor Joseph A.” was clever and sharp with a devilish ending that made me grin. Thomas G’s diagram of the Hod King is suffused with whimsical engineering and ingenious detail. James W’s yarn “A Stag Rut Race” had vibrant characters and a plot that kept me on my toes before surprising me with a happy ending. Matt W’s “The Silver Skein” contained all the catharsis of a Greek tragedy and very pleasing prose. Emily’s masterful GIF of Marya in a blue dress seated at her instrument positively sparkled with delight. Chris L’s LEGO build of the Stone Cloud was fabulously inventive and a joy to behold. And I found ARob’s portrait of Cassius in the Basement affecting and inspiring.

I could go on. I’m so grateful to all of you for sharing your talents with me. Thank you, one and all, for your splendid creations. Now, to the winners…

First Place Winner of a personalized The Hod King hardcover

In the end, it was Josh J’s short story “Professor B” that affected me the most. Twice during my first reading of the story, I felt a frisson of excitement. The story is full of surprises, and it reflects that mixture of hardship and hopefulness that is essential to the Babel-verse. It is a wonderful vision skillfully told. Presuming Josh doesn’t mind, I hope to share it with you soon.

First Runner-Up Winner of a personalized The Hod King paperback

Michelle Y’s digital drawing of The Bricklayer’s Granddaughter embodies the sort of forlorn awe that I had in mind when I wrote the description of Ogier’s painting. The scintillating light and deep shadows of Michelle’s piece captures the nature of the Baths (and the Tower) perfectly. It is a sublime work of art. You can see it here.

Thank you one and all for making this such a memorable and enjoyable giveaway!

For this very special contest, I would like to see you bring the Babel-verse to life in your own creative way. The winner will be chosen at random, so even if you feel your talents are modest, you still have a chance to win. To enter, you can submit any of the following:

• Original scene, story, dialogue, or poem (of any length) set in or around the Tower
• Original artwork, any medium, depicting your vision of the Babel-verse
• A recording (audio or video) of a dramatic reading of a passage from the books
• A photograph of your cosplay (fancy or simple) of a character from the books (You may use a willing model if you’re uncomfortable modeling yourself.)

You can submit your entry to Twitter using #mytowerofbabel, post it in the comments below, or email it to me at thebooksofbabel@gmail.com

The Grand Prize of the Subterranean Press editions* will be selected at random.

Additionally, I’ll be picking my favorites from the entries.

• First Place will receive a personalized hard back copy of The Hod King (Anderida Books edition)
• The First Runner-Up will receive a personalized paperback copy of The Hod King

Contest ends March 7th at Midnight (EST). The winners will be announced on March 9th. One entry per contestant. Open to everyone, everywhere. Please help me spread the word!

* Unnumbered Publisher's Copies

The winner of my #StarsofBabel contest is Tayler (on Goodreads)! Congratulations, Tayler! You’ve won a personalized hard cover of the Hod King. (Please message or email me at thebooksofbabel@gmail.com so I can get your shipping information.)

THANK YOU to all who shared their favorite character and casting choice! It was wonderful to get a glimpse of your vision of the Books of Babel!

CONTEST STATS
76 Entrants
Favorite Character - Senlin (25 Votes)
Second Favorite - Edith (8 Votes)
Third Favorite - Tarrou (7 Votes)
Casting Choice Consensus - Gwendoline Christie as Iren (4 Votes)
Youngest Senlin - Dav Patel (29 years)
Oldest Senlin - John Cleese (79 years)

For a chance to win a personalized hardback copy of The Hod King, tell me who’s your favorite character from the series, and who you think should play them in the dreamt-of, hoped-for film/TV adaptation.

I’ll pick a random winner on June 14. (Contest is limited to residents of Earth.)

EDIT: WINNER ANNOUNCED ON LATEST BLOG POST

THANK YOU to everyone who shared their favorite Books of Babel quote. Seeing the number and diversity of quotes filled me with so much happiness and pride. Truly, you have all brightened my day. I only wish you all could’ve won.

Now, without further ado: The randomly selected winner of a #THEHODKING advanced reader is Ryan Howse! Congratulations, Ryan!!

Here’s your last chance to win an advanced reader copy of THE HOD KING!

To enter, just post your favorite quote from Senlin Ascends or Arm of the Sphinx in the comments below.

The contest ends at midnight (GMT) Dec. 9. One lucky winner will be chosen at random on Dec. 10. Good luck!

For a chance to win an advanced reader copy of THE HOD KING, all you need to do is sign up for my newsletter. (I only send out two newsletters a year, so I promise not to spam your inbox!) I will select one winner at random from my mailing list.

You can sign up for the newsletter here. The drawing will be held on October 31, 2018, and a winner will be announced shortly thereafter. This contest is open to everyone, everywhere. Good luck!