In case you missed it, I published a post the other day delving deeper into why I self-publish. As I say in the post, self-publishing isn’t for everyone, but there are a plethora of reasons why it has ended up being great for me. If you’re looking into publishing a book, I would humbly suggest that you at least read up on the self-pub model and, if it aligns with your goals, give it a chance. The following ramblings will focus on why readers should also give self-pubbed work a chance.
There’s still a stigma
As time has passed, I’ve thankfully seen less and less of this, but I still see the odd post or hear the odd comment implying that self-published work is lesser-than. It’s possible that I’m overly sensitive about it, since I consider myself a staunch defender of the self-pub industry. I won’t point any fingers, but I saw another comment made the other day; it actually wasn’t so much what the person said, but what they didn’t say that gave me the impression anything other than mainstream books were somehow beneath them.
The thing is, in this day and age where any old Average Joe off the street can toss some book files up on Amazon, it’s guaranteed that there’s going to be some sub-par work released to the public. I’ve seen my share of it, honestly. It’s certainly not required that authors hire out for professional formatting and cover design—I know multiple self-pubbed authors who are artistically inclined and do their own design work. And (hot take) I’d even argue that hiring out for professional editing services is not an absolute necessity depending on your background and level of experience (the thing is, you have to be self-aware). But I’ve come across plenty of self-published work that would definitely have benefitted from one or more of these services, and unfortunately those are the types of books people see and then they say, “Aha, this is what happens when someone self-publishes.” Then the whole industry gets stuck with that low-quality label.
Trad pub isn’t perfect
However, dear reader, if you’re not someone who has given indie or self-pubbed books much (if any) attention, allow me to assure you that there is a whole LOT of material out there that is just as good as—nay, better than—some of today’s traditionally published work. Just in the last month or so, there’s been a little hullabaloo in the indie author sphere over the trad pub book that recently won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Again, I won’t point any direct fingers; if you want to know what book I’m talking about, all you need to do is Google it. This book is out here winning a fairly prestigious literary award, but when I read a couple of excerpts from it, I was like, “Did…did an 8-year-old write this?” If books like that even get published, let alone win awards, then surely people can cut self-pubbed work a break. I’ve found plenty of typos in big-name traditionally published books, as well as some fairly major terminology errors that I’m shocked editors didn’t catch. In the not-too-distant past, I read a very popular book that became a major Amazon Prime TV series and it was throwing around the word “ordinance” when it meant “ordnance” and it drove me crazy.
But the point of this post isn’t to bash trad pub. Yes, there’s some really bad self-pub work out there, and there’s also some terrible trad pub. Then there’s obviously some great trad pub, but there’s some fantastic self-pub, too.
here’s why you should give it a chance
At the most basic level, when you buy a self-published book, you’re directly supporting a creator. Even if a self-pubbed author hires out for services like editing and cover design, there’s still an incredible amount of other work they have to put in on their own. When you buy their book, a high percentage of that royalty goes directly to them (again, see my reasons for self-pub) rather than to the publishing company. For some authors who write full-time, this is their livelihood.
And there are many other reasons besides financial ones.
Find your niche
If you’re looking for particular story elements and have either been unable to find them in traditionally published books or you’ve exhausted your supply of trad pub work with these elements, give self-pub a try. In the trad pub world, publishers often have quite a bit of say regarding the content of the story, depending on the state of the market and what’s currently selling well. This means authors can be limited by what the publisher wants, and what the publisher wants is going to fluctuate. Self-pubbed authors have much more freedom to branch out and explore—especially in genres like sci-fi and fantasy—so there’s unlimited potential. You can find more niche content you might have a much harder time finding elsewhere.
Relatedly, when a certain genre or subject is selling well in the traditional market, there’s often a big rush by authors and publishers to get a piece of the pie, and you end up with a bunch of trad pub books that are essentially the same. That’s not to say tropes are bad—there are a number of tropes I’m a complete sucker for myself. But even if a self-published author writes a story similar to what’s popular in the traditional market, there’s still more freedom for innovation and deviation, and chances are you’ll find more unique content.
Accessibility
By and large, self-published work is more affordable than trad pub books. Authors have direct control over the pricing, rather than the publishers who have dollar signs in their eyes. Price is not at all indicative of quality one way or the other—cheap doesn’t automatically mean bad, and more expensive doesn’t guarantee it’s good. But a lower price is a win for the reader, right?
Granted, you’re not going to find any self-published books on the shelves at your local Barnes & Noble, but you’ll still find them—in many cases, in multiple formats (ebook, print, and even audio)—at all the same online retailers where you’ve found your favorite trad pub books.
It’s personal
This one might not matter to some people, but…have you ever read a great traditionally published book and wished you could reach out and chat with the author about it? But who knows if they’d ever see an email you sent, and even if they do run their own social media, they’re probably so inundated with notifications that your comments might go ignored. Self-published authors tend to be much more reachable online, whether via email or social media, and I can tell you from experience that it makes our day when people reach out to say hi. So if you care about that personal connection, give a self-pubbed book a try, and if you enjoy it, don’t be afraid to follow the author on social media and even send them a message.
Don’t just take my word for it
I reached out to fellow indie/self-published authors and readers on Twitter to get their take. Most responses boil down to a combination of the points made above, but there are some unique nuances in opinion…just like how there are in indie books.
“Why should people read self-published and/or indie books?”
“Because the author’s creativity is not impeded or restrained by the demands of a publisher or marketing. You want true originality and wild stories, go to indie.”
- EPIC - @EPICINDIE
“First one is gonna sound a bit weird, admittedly, but it ties into further points: less polish. I’m not saying ‘bad’ here, mind you, and it’s likely a somewhat ignorant POV, but indies do likely have less resources at their disposal. Personally I like seeing those constraints in action. No paragraphs endlessly edited by a committee™ (as it feels like at times), the odd typo, small linguistic quirks of the author shining through…I feel that adds character. Too much stuff I’ve sampled lately feels like it has just been streamlined and standardized, and in part I’m convinced it’s overworked editors on the conveyor belt not having time to grasp more nuanced voices of characters.
Second one is probably gonna sound pretentious as hell, but: authenticity. If you get a book by a well-known name, you often seemingly don’t know if the author actually wrote this or if the publisher hired a John Doe to write in the famous name’s voice. With indies, you can be reasonably certain who it was that wrote it. Like the small mom’n’pop deli down on the corner no one else seems to know about, it feels weirdly more ‘personal’, more in touch.
Thirdly, support and encouragement. I know firsthand how it feels to be on the receiving end of praise for something you created, so I try to pay it forward whenever I have spare fun money—even if that individually only means one additional beer for the author in three months’ time when the royalties from that sale come in. And I try to do that as a matter of principle, even if I’m not convinced that I’ll enjoy it. It’s a statement—‘you put yourself out there, I’m honoring that.’”
- Mathias Rehnman - @ThatNuttyFanboy
(I love that)
“There are some really unique stories in indie publishing that you likely won't see in traditional publishing (because of uncertainty with how well it will sell or whatever). [And there’s] More diversity & representation of marginalized groups in self-publishing. Even with traditional publishing moving in that direction the last several years & actively seeking diverse stories, I think there's still an argument to be made about accessibility and gatekeeping.”
- T.A. Hernandez - @ta_hernandez5
“Indies are making and sharing what they think is cool, unfettered by corporate interests and politics. They end up being more fun and lack the aggressive school-marm attitude.”
- Katie Roome - @RedHedgedragon
“Wilson Rawls, author of “Where the Red Fern Grows,” had a trunk full of manuscripts that he burned because he thought everyone would hate them. Reading SP/Indie writers might be the encouragement an author needs to continue on to greatness.”
- Endeavor to Persevere - @HardieEric
“Originality. Everything mainstream just keeps getting regurgitated. Either redone over and over, or replaced with trash. Indie writers bring fresh ideas and fantastic beauty that stands outside of the recycled mainstream.”
- JS Webster - @JSWebsterAuthor
check out the rest of the discussion on twitter
The moral of the story is…
Sure, it sometimes takes a little extra effort to find self-published work you like, whether that means it fits your quality standards or fits your niche interests. But I guarantee you it’s out there. Being traditionally published doesn’t automatically mean a book is good, and being self-published doesn’t automatically make something bad. Why do we let a couple of typos in a trad pub book slide (when, in my opinion, those books should actually be held to a higher standard) but we scrutinize every little mistake in a self-published book?
I’d like to close by sharing a few of my favorite self-pub/indie authors and books. They’re mostly sci-fi because that’s a lot of what I read, but if you’re thinking of taking a chance on some self-published books, this would be a great place to start.
G.S. Jennsen and her sweeping 20-books-and-counting Amaranthe space opera saga
T.A. Hernandez, who brings everything to the table from futuristic thrillers to epic fantasy
Joel Shepherd and his military sci-fi Spiral Wars series
Lucas Bale’s gritty, character-driven Beyond the Wall sci-fi thriller series
Tammy Salyer, whose Spectras Arise sci-fi trilogy was a ton of fun (perfect for Firefly fans)
Piers Platt and his fun, action-packed Janus Group series
Hugh Howey’s Silo trilogy—originally self-published, these books inspired the hit Silo TV series from Apple
The Martian by Andy Weir was also originally self-published, and it became a major Oscar-nominated movie
And there’s plenty more where these came from. I’ll bet if you spent a little time poking around in these authors’ spaces, you’d discover even more work to fall in love with.
