I have decided to make a conscious effort to read more self published books this year. I noticed last year, almost every book I read was published by one of the big five publishers and their imprints. I read a lot of popular books that everyone was reading, and they were a lot of fun to read, but this year, I’d like to try something different. I want to read primarily self published and small press books. I still intend to read a few of the big books that come out, but I want to focus on independent books. The purpose of this post is to outline why I’ve decided to embark on this journey when I’m starting out. I’m sure my motivations and interests will evolve as I learn more about self publishing and independent publishing, but I want a snapshot of my thoughts at the beginning of the journey. The three main reasons I have found for reading self published books are authenticity, impact, and challenge.

Authenticity

One major draw for authors to pursue self publishing is greater creative control. As a reader, this is also a reason to read independent authors. When reading a self published book, a reader knows that they are reading the book the author wanted to right exactly as the author intended. Large publishing houses have access to a huge pool of resources. This allows them to produce exquisitely polished books tailored to the desires of the market. There books are wonderful and spread like wildfire, but there is a certain draw in a book that is a more perfect reflection of the author than of the market. Independent published books are more intimate. Self published authors often utilize beta readers and editors, but not to the extent available to large publish houses. Self published books are a more raw self expression of the author. This raw expression does invite idiosyncrasies in grammar and voice, but I am willing to read something that isn’t perfectly proof-read to get a chance to connect with another person more deeply.

Impact

When I read popular books from the big publishing houses, there are already hundreds of reviews, both positive and negative. Any review I might leave will be lost in the sea of people commenting on the book. Reviewing an independent book is much more impactful. Big publishers can afford to hire marketing teams and they have lists of people eager to read and review arcs. Any nuance in reviewing big publisher books is lost in the volume of reviews. When reviewing an independent book with only a handful of reviews, it is much more likely that each review will be read and considered. Independent books rely on reviews in a way that larger publishing house don’t. It makes reviewing these books a greater responsibility, and learning to write reviews for these books is something I look forward to while I embark on a journey to read more independent books. I look forward to helping readers find self published books they never would have encountered in the noise created by big publishing.

Challenge

There is an element of challenge to reading self published books. In the sea of self published books, there is no marketing machine picking out and elevating the best of the best. It is left to readers and reviewers to find the hidden gems. Finding an incredible book that no one else has read and having the pleasure of sharing it far and wide is something I look forwards. I hope to honing my skills and developing the ability to find and read the best of the best in the self publishing world.

What’s Next?

This is the beginning of a journey for me. I’m looking forward to setting forth into the wild jungle of the self publishing world and finding some of the best books out there! I am reading self published books un-ironically. I’m not looking for bad books to scoff at. I am a firm believer that self publishing and independent publishing produce as many if not more excellent books as the large publishing houses do. I want to find and review amazing books and share them with others.

I will be learning how to write detailed book reviews and posting those reviews on GoodReads/Amazon, StoryGraph , and here on my blog.
As I learn how to find self published books that fit my reading interest, I’ll be taking notes and I plan to post a blog teaching readers how to find self published books.

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