Why I Started Reading Books by Self-Published Authors

Self-published authors are authors who publish their books on their own without the help of a publishing company. A majority of self-published books are released in eBook format, but there are many self-published authors who print and distribute physical books as well. I stumbled upon a sci-fi series by a self-published author on my Goodreads feed (I highly recommend that app to any book lover) and didn’t realize it was a self-published series until I finished the first book. I noticed no publishing company was mentioned in the opening pages or concluding notes in the book and the author credited the editor/editing company she used prior to publishing in eBook format through Amazon. The cover of the book was exquisite and the writing was high quality just as you would expect a book to be which was released by a big wig publishing company.

My hope is that I still would have read the book even if I had realized it was self-published before I downloaded it. Self-published books tend to have a bad rap for poor quality. This can be the case for some, especially those who do not invest in a good editor before publishing, but there are many worthwhile self-published books out there. Some authors don’t want contracts with book publishers and want to release the book on their own. It doesn’t lessen their talent. If anything, it gives them more creative freedom. Here are the top reasons to consider a self-published book:

1. The authors can publish what they want. There is no pressure to fit into a certain mold or expectation to be the next [insert successful book name here]. There is no contract indicating how many books or what type of books they need to publish.
2. The authors can publish when they want. When reading a series, especially those released by a publishing company, sometimes you need to wait a year or more between releases. Self-published authors have the ability to release their books quicker with less wait time between series installments.
3. They depend on fans like you. Self-published authors do not have a powerful publishing company to get the word out on their book releases. They depend on fans like you to spread the word to others and post reviews on the site of purchase, Goodreads.com, etc. Many self-published authors interact with their readers on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. If you like a book they wrote, show your love and support so they can continue doing what they are doing.
4. They write for the love of it and not for the fame or the big publishing contract. I am not saying that authors with publishing contracts do not love what they do, but there may be some who would stop writing tomorrow if they lost that contract or fan base. Self-published authors tend to take the risk and write regardless of how much money they earn from their books.
5. Their books are more affordable. A popular sales tactic is to have the first book of a series free to download to gain readers and then have the remaining books in the series available for a low price. Many self-published books I have read were in the $.99 to $5.00 range. 

Check out the book reviews on my website for self-published book recommendations. Please give these talented authors a chance. Happy reading!

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