The Indie reader Challenge 2013

[Jason]

There are tons of indie writers out there. And it is our responsibility to weed out the bad and find the gems that could easily be forgotten or missed within the ocean of self-published works.

So, anyone willing to make it a goal this year to read a certain amount of indie books and let us know which ones are the great ones.

You can decide which indie books you want to read for your challenge and list them below.

I'll admit cheating a little with this list by adding a book or two that don't necessarily need the attention, but I wanted to make sure I read these books this year, and their publishers are rather small, so there. lol

This is my spot and my intended challenge list, to be read in no special order:

1. Blood and Tequila by Dylan J. Morgan
2. The Void by Brett J. Talley
3. Hosts by Dylan J. Morgan
4. Cinema of Shadows by Michael West
5. Roots by Daniel I. Russell
6. Six Coffins by Robert Tucker
7. Dracula's Demeter by Doug Lamoreux
8. Kiss Me Like You Love Me by Wednesday Lee Friday
9. Drink for the Thirst to Come by Lawrence Santoro
10. Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas
11. Crystal Clear by R.C. Drake
12. The Rift by R.J. Clark

Underlined means currently reading

Striked through means read

[Tressa]

I'm in. I'll grab this space. I'm not as up on indie titles as I should be. Where's the best place to go to find indie titles? Or can members who read a lot of indie titles create a Best Of list like we have for horror?

[Ardy]

Over in the Smashwords Authors group I started a thread to promote other Smashwords.com authors. We all like to promote ourselves and people tend to get sick of that. One Smashwords author I particularly enjoy is Christopher Lee Cousino. He has made me laugh and has scared me, which as readers of my posts know is hard for a writer to do.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
BTW Thousands of authors have published on smashwords.com. Many of them write horror and I have found some real gems there!
And, if anyone wants to add one of my books to their indie author to read list, I wouldn't mind! :)

[Jason]

What's your profile address over at Smashwords, Ardy?

[Char]

I read a fair amount of Indies. My group reads a book a week, so we have a $5.00 book limit (otherwise it would get to be very expensive very fast), so we read a lot of Indie authors.


I'll save this spot.

Indies Read and Enjoyed 2013

1.Injured Reserves(short story) by D.C. Bourone 5*
2. Wet or Dry, Chapter 1: The Listening Room (short story)by D. C. Bourone 5*
3. City Under the Moon by Hugh Sterbakov 5* (on the Stoker preliminary ballot for Best First Novel)
4. Occupationby Jeff Dawson 3.5*
5. Dastardly Bastard by Ed Lorn 3.5*
6. Ivy by Isaac Lefevre 3.5*
7. Gone (short story) by Adam Light 3*
8. Mosquitoes (novella) by Mark Soto 5*!!
9. House of Dead Trees by Rod Redux 3*
10. The Third Floor by C. Dennis Moore 2.5
11. House of Shadows by Walter Spence 4.5*.
12. The Red Church by Scott Nicholson 3.5
13. Cinema of Shadows by Michael West 4.*
14. Lakebridge: Spring by Natasha Troop -DNF
15. Spook House by Michael West 3*
16. Children of the Fog by Cheryl Kaye Tardiff 4*
17. Snowbound by Blake Crouch 3*
18. Haunted House by Jack Kilborn 3*
19. On the Lips of Children by Mark Matthews 4*
20. The Monkey Toy by Robert Roberts 2.5*
21. The Wide Game by Michael West 4*
22. ARBOREATUM (novella) by Evan Light 4*
23. Knock Knock by S. P. Miskowski 4*
24. The Remaining by D. J. Molles 4*
25. Drummer Boy by Scott Nicholson 3.5
26. Perfect Little Town (novella) by Blake Crouch 3*
27. Delphine Dodd (novella) by S. P. Miskowski 4*
28. The Preserve by Patrick Lestewka 4*

[Tressa]

Thanks, Charlene. I value your opinion on indie books because you read so many. Really like how you're willing to give them a try without knowing too much about them. Seems like you've been pleasantly surprised more often than not.

[Jason]

This is my saved spot. I need to get a list going.

Best places I've found, so far, for indie authors is looking on Amazon freebies in the horror section. Or, usually, any books that are $5 or less are usually indies.

[Jason]

Charlene wrote: "I read a fair amount of Indies. My group reads a book a week, so we have a $5.00 book limit (otherwise it would get to be very expensive very fast), so we read a lot of Indie authors. If I were to ..."

What type of thread, Charlene? A list of indie authors? If so, then either in this folder or the author promotion folder will do. But this folder was created with the indie author in mind. :)

[Ardy]

Jason wrote: "What's your profile address over at Smashwords, Ardy?"

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

Most of my free short stories and novellas are horror, as is the vampire novel Akeldama: The Field of Blood. There are horror elements in the other works as well and the Akeldama sequel is coming soon.

[Char]

Tressa wrote: "Thanks, Charlene. I value your opinion on indie books because you read so many. Really like how you're willing to give them a try without knowing too much about them. Seems like you've been pleasan..."

Tressa, I'm willing to try new authors, but I'm not sure if I've read more good than bad. Probably not, really. But I have discovered a few gems and that is always exciting. :)
(That City Under the Moon book was very funny and I thought it was great!)

Jason, thanks!

[Jovi]

I'm open to reading indie books so I appreciate Jason for starting this thread. I think I already have such titles in my Kindle but haven't read them yet so I won't be making recommendations this time unfortunately. I got most of them for free on Amazon (as suggested by Jason above). Will closely follow this thread :)

[Todd]

Thanks for making this folder and creating this thread. Saving my spot!

################ 2013 indie reads ###############

FINISHED
1. Sarcophagus by Philip Hemplow (novella)
2. Death Metal by Armand Rosamilia (novella)
3. MEAT by Michael Bray

DID NOT FINISH
The Hell Season by Ray Wallace

################################################

Here are a few indie books I've read and enjoyed over the past couple years:

Bottle Full of Scorpions by John Dominick - trapped in a trailer park with vicious scorpion creatures
Freeze by Daniel Pyle - something nasty is lurking in the freezing cold
Violent Ends: Horror Stories by Aaron Polson - a collection of disturbing short stories (one of my favorites includes these strange Cordyceps creatures)

[11811 (Eleven)]

Stupid question: How does one qualify as an indie author? Is Ania Ahlborn still indie with one self published novel and a second published by Amazon?

[Ardy]

If you self publish without the aid or representation of a major publisher, you are indie. Many people self publish on Amazon. Also, you might be indie if you publish through a small press or even through a major publisher's indie writer branch. There are some who d this.

[Todd]

11811 wrote: "Stupid question: How does one qualify as an indie author? Is Ania Ahlborn still indie with one self published novel and a second published by Amazon?"

Ania's first book (the one that was self-published) was re-edited and republished by 47 North and her second book was too. I believe that she removed her books from all other publishers except Amazon.

Since she doesn't have any small press or self-published books available I'm not sure many would consider her an indie author any more. I do, however :) She's also a very cool, friendly, accessible author.

The way I look at it if you can see/find the author on your grocery stand, they aren't indie. Those authors all went through major publishers, also known as traditional publishing.

[A.H.]

IndieReader (www.indiereader.com) is a great source for finding reviewed indie titles. In fact, it was a horror title, "One Blood" by Qwantu Amaru, that won last year's IndieReader Discovery Award.

[Jason]

Thanks for the link, Amy!

[Jason]

I read tons of indie stuff, but not all horror. being one of the little guys, I try to support the little guys. One not so little anymore guy I like is Lee Thompson, who you just did a group read for.

Ardy, your on my list of books to check out. So is Evans Light. I generally do reviews of the indie books I read and will posts links here to them if you guys are interested.

Of course, I like the big guys, too. I just think a lot of talent gets overlooked, but I agree, Jason, there's a lot of crap out there, too.

[Ardy]

When I said crap in the other thread, I wasn't trying to insult anyone, but the problem with indie ebook publishing becoming so easy and free is that anyone can do it. Some of us work for years to master the craft and some people slap together a few paragraphs that they don't even bother to proofread and saturate the market with stories and books that wouldn't pass a middle school creative writing course. There are a lot of great indie writers out there who probably could make it in the mainstream if given a chance. Personally, I believe my books would have done well if published by a actual publishing company, but I got sick of trying to find and agent and a publisher and waiting weeks or months to hear "You're good, but not what we're looking for." I self published out of impatience and, I'll admit, desperation. Others do it just for the heck of it, and my books are now on the "shelves" of ebook retailers next to people who can't put three sentences together.

[Ardy]

Amy wrote: "IndieReader (www.indiereader.com) is a great source for finding reviewed indie titles. In fact, it was a horror title, "One Blood" by Qwantu Amaru, that won last year's IndieReader Discovery Award."

I just checked out that site and gifted them a copy of Akeldama. Thanks for the link, Amy. Hope they review my book, or at least give it a look.

[Ardy]

Just posted "Second Chance", my most recent short story, here on goodreads. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/3...

[Ardy]

Akeldama: The Field of Blood https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... free with coupon code YS78T at smashwords.com until March 1st. This is a free promotion because the sequel is coming soon. Enjoy!

[C.E.]

Mommasaysread.com has been reviewing a lot of indie stuff lately.

Or you could cruise the self promotion threads for various groups here on GR.

[Walter]

C.e., that looks like a promising site. I liked the upfront statement that you'll rarely see five stars here, and if you see a four star book, don't walk, run to buy a copy. So many indie books out there, we need more of these websites to winnow the wheat from the chaff.

[Doug]

Behind the times, I just found this thread! Among my reads this year will be:

Pale Wolf
Room 118: 3 Stories
Danse Macabre
Purging Fires
Topia

[Nicolas]

Fun thread! I asked for similar recommendations a month or so ago, and the members here had some good ones. There's some new ones here that I have to look up. Gotta second the recommendation for Mosquitoes, though. My wife read it, and really enjoyed it.

[Jennifer]

Hi guys! very cool group. I love reading how much your support indie writers with me being one that feels good.

[Justin]

Updated the list. Currently reading The Guardians by Jennifer Raygoza and I also added a few more books to my to read list.

[Emily]

Hi all! I would love some reviews of my husband, Andy Otto’s new book - Caught on Film: An American Nightmare, which launched this week on Amazon. This haunted house book taps into the same psychological thriller/horror vein as Haunting of Hill House and The Shining. Andy's a veterinarian with an English degree and I'm a magazine editor with a Journalism degree so even though it is an "indie" offering it should be pretty clean in terms of spelling, grammar, formatting, that sort of stuff... The eBook will be free this weekend (8/24 - 8/25) under an Amazon Kindle promotion so please check it out! And BTW, it is rated R. Thanks!

[Kelly]

Justin wrote: "Hey Everyone, so I've noticed lately that I've been adding a lot of fellow Indie authors books to read. I came across this thread so I thought I would add the books I have read, am currently readin..."

Wow!! I'm on your list! how cool, lol. I need to compile my list and get it on here, there are so many great indie books I'm sifting through right now. This is cool!

[Justin]

Just updated the list. Read 6 books by indie authors so far, I've read more books this year then I have in I don't know how long!

Next possible read:
Sewerville by Aaron Saylor or Ballet of the Bones by David Haynes

[Chris]

Justin wrote: "Hey Everyone, so I've noticed lately that I've been adding a lot of fellow Indie authors books to read. I came across this thread so I thought I would add the books I have read, am currently readin..."

Thanks for the mention! I'll have to check out some of the others on this list, too.

[Katt]

So I'm new to the group, but I read a lot of indie books. The horror/thriller indies that I've read this year include:

Live Undead by Steve Warren 4*
Face of the Dead by Natasha Duncan-Drake 3*
The Kure by Jaye Frances

[Katt]

I just read Coffee, Cigarettes, and Murderous Thoughts by Henry Martin

Great collection of short stories.

[Gregor]

Katt wrote: "I just read Coffee, Cigarettes, and Murderous Thoughts by Henry Martin

Great collection of short stories."

I have that one, but haven't read all of it yet. I have read Escaping Barcelona by Martin, and that was good.

[Justin]

Hey Everyone, so I've noticed lately that I've been adding a lot of fellow Indie authors books to read. I came across this thread so I thought I would add the books I have read, am currently reading and plan to read. Not all are just horror authors. I have updated the list and here they are:
To Read:
ScarsbyC. Michael Lorion(Currently Reading)
Occupationby Jeff Dawson(Own)
The Deceivedby S.K.N. book Seance of the Soulsby David Haynes
Shinobi 7: Trials of a Warriorby L. Benitez
Beneath the Blood Moonby Kelly Samarah
Red Dust: The Fallby Ben Dixon(Own)
Night of the ChupacabrabyMichael Hebler
Steampunk Omnibusby Michael Coorlim(Own)
Six Dead Spotsby Gregor Xane
Escaping Barcelonaby Henry Martin
The Silence Before Dawnby Henry Martin(Own)
Hard Land to Ruleby Anthony Whitt
Poetry for the Heartby Christine Rice
The Guardians II The Revelationby Jennifer Raygoza
The Undertaker's Cabinetby David Haynes(Own)
The Life of a Colonial Fugitiveby Leonardo Noto(Own)
Ultimate Supernatural Horror Box Setby F. Paul Wilson(Own)
Horrorstor: A Novelby Grady Hendrix(Own)
One Undead Stepby Ian McClellan(Own)
Crimson Forestby Christine Gabriel
Rokulaby Sarah Roberts
Black Leviathan Prophecyby Paul Roberts(Own)
Soul Consumerby L.R. Currell
A Dead Horse Named Calebby L.R. Currell

Books I've read:

The Guardiansby Jennifer Raygoza
Ballet of the Bonesby David Haynes
Mask of the Macabreby David Haynes
The Riftby S.K.N. Hammerstone
Sewerville: A Southern Gangster Novelby Aaron Saylor
Faust 2.0by Michael Brookes
The XIIIth hour at Dusklandby Isis Sousa
The Dulwich Horror of 1927by David Hambling
Rakasha: Legend of the Hindi Tiger Demonby Robert Davis
Dracula's Apprenticeby Mike Zimmerman
Essence Of A Dark Soulby Faye Cross
From Withinby Joso Skarica
The Dead War Trilogyby George L. Cook III
Crawlspaceby Evans Light
Finding Poeby Leigh M. Lane
Fresh Fleshby Todd Russell
The Alpha Wolf Bent Me Overby Donald Armfield
The New Death and othersby James Hutchings
The Grove and Other Storiesby Ezra T. Gray
The Endlandsby Vincent Hobbes
Perigee Moon: Poems from a Pagan Summerby Belle DiMonté
Not Before Bedby Craig Hallam
Confessions of a Red Neck Zombie Killing Psychoby L.R. Currell
An Odd Quartetby Michael Brookes

[Justin]

Updated my Indie Author To-Read/Read List. Maybe we can make a 2014 thread or edit this one? Just a thought.