Indie Authors/Books: To read or not to read?

[Sashana]

Personally, I’ve never read anything by an Indie Author. I don’t go out of my way to avoid them but the bookstores that I go to (usually Borders or Barnes and Nobles) don’t offer indie books. I’ve heard that indie authors are kind of like piranha in the book world. Publishers avoid them and readers are skeptical of them. *These are not my words, I just paraphrased what I’ve been seeing on various forums and from personal research*

So, I want to know your thoughts about Indie books and authors in general. Are they worth reading? What’s the best Indie book that you’ve ever read?

[Sans]

I have some books by new or unheard of authors, but those are put out by actual publishing houses. I don't think I have any indie authors, even on my Kindle app. Very curious.

What actually constitutes an indie author? Is there a difference between indie and self-published? If not, then I do have some - Abigail Reynolds self-published four of my all time favourite books (her Pride & Prejudice Variations series).

[Sashana]

Well to me an Indie Author would be someone who is self published, someone who has to pay to get published, or someone who got published by a really small publisher. I would think Indie authors and self published authors are in the same boat (I’m not really sure though).

Hey, stranger :)

[Lacy♪ ♫Movements of a Demigod ♪ ♫]

I am definitely open to reading books by Indie authors. I am a little wary of trying new authors if their books are on the higher priced end without someone I know recommending them. I actually have read several of the authors works and was impressed. It is also nice that you can get some of these works on Kindle for free.

Some of the ones I have read are:

[Sashana]

Lacy wrote: "I am definitely open to reading books by Indie authors. I am a little wary of trying new authors if their books are on the higher priced end without someone I know recommending them. I actually hav..."

I had no idea The Synthesis was Indie. I've had it on my TBR for a while. I think I'll test it out for mt first indie read

[Lacy♪ ♫Movements of a Demigod ♪ ♫]

As far as I could tell it is completely self published since there is no publishing house listed anywhere. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy.

[Sashana]

Lacy wrote: "As far as I could tell it is completely self published since there is no publishing house listed anywhere. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy."

I'd say I'm fairly decent when it comes to reading fantasy. If it has little romance then I'm definitely sold.

[Lacy♪ ♫Movements of a Demigod ♪ ♫]

It is more of a YA book so you get a little of the flirting and stuff like that but no real romance yet. That may come into play in the next book as Mira and her friends get older. If you want romance then I suggest Day of Sacrifice: The Prophecy.

[~~*Julie]

Oddrun wrote: "sashana, the definition of indie music is just what you said, so i think you are right. I've never read any, at least not that i know of. But that must just be pure chance, becouse i wouldn't not r..."

I have been following a self published author ( I think). He is also a goodreads author...Scott Nicholson..... Very good stuff so far .

[Purr More]

Indie authors are generally self-published authors but the term is also used to refer to authors who are published by a small press.

There are good indie authors and bad indie authors just like there are good traditional authors and bad traditional authors. You can't paint them all with the same brush. You may have read an indie author and not even have known it.

Just use the same book smarts you use for traditional books. Does the cover grab you? Is the description interesting and well written? What do the reviews say? Check out the "best of" lists. Find blogs that review indie books, check out the author's website/blog, read an excerpt or best of all read a sample. The wonderful thing about ebooks is that you can usually download a sample to try before you buy. Indie ebooks also tend to be much easier on the wallet.

I have an Indie Challenge thread going on in this group. If you like Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, check it out if you haven't seen it yet:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3...

I was hoping more people would join me, maybe I can convince some of you to try the 2011 challenge ;) Any genre is welcome.

I also have a listopia list for Indie Paranormal Fiction so you can see which indie books others vote for as their favorites:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/59...

Is there a lot of crap out there? Sure. But there are good books too and it is not that hard to find them. I've added several indie authors to my watch list since starting to read indie. If you like paranormal fiction, then I recommend the following, and I know there will be many more as I discover them :) These are some of my faves but your mileage may vary.

Tina Folsom Paranormal Erotic Romance

HP Mallory Light Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy

Susan Bischoff YA Paranormal Fantasy

Stacey Wallace Benefiel YA Paranormal Fantasy and more recently adult paranormal romance

Monique Martin Time Travel Paranormal Romance

[~~*Julie]

Michelle wrote: "Indie authors are generally self-published authors but the term is also used to refer to authors who are published by a small press.

There are good indie authors and bad indie authors just like th..."

Have you read any of scott nicholsons stuff........very impressed so far . I will check out your list...I am always down for something new

[Tai]

I have a few Indie authors on my recently purchased need to read list...


I just recently finished....



All found on goodreads as I was looking for more books to feed my addiction. :)

[Sans]

I've noticed that most of the sponsored books on the right side of GR pages seem to be indie authors and books. Several of them sound really interesting, enough so that I've been added them to my TBR shelf. I think my biggest complaint about the small press or self-pub titles is the lack of editing sometimes seen. Though, to be honest, even the larger pub houses seem to be eradicating their editing services.

[Purr More]

~~*Julie wrote: Have you read any of scott nicholsons stuff........very impressed so far . I will check out your list...I am always down for something new

I've heard of him but have not read his stuff as it is more thriller/horror genre, I prefer my creatures on the yummy side :) I just found out that he started a paranormal YA series writing as
L.C. Glazebrook. That is more my speed :)

[~~*Julie]

Michelle wrote: "~~*Julie wrote: Have you read any of scott nicholsons stuff........very impressed so far . I will check out your list...I am always down for something new

I've heard of him but have not read his ..."

I am reading one from him now called disintigration and it is really good! It is not really horror but is definately thriller...

[Lacy♪ ♫Movements of a Demigod ♪ ♫]

Just finished reading and it was wonderful. Will definitely be reading soon.

[Purr More]

Totally agree with you Lacy! If you liked that one, you might also like .

[Lisarenee]

I loved Hush Money by Susan Bischoff. I intend to continue reading her series.

[Lacy♪ ♫Movements of a Demigod ♪ ♫]

Thanks Michelle, I will definitely add it to my to be read list.

[Stacy]

I'm kind of up in the air on this one. I was posting on the Amazon discussion groups but honestly so many self-published authors barrage you with "read my book" posts that it's hard to actually get to the disussion. It's colored me a little bit although I do understand.

If I'm going to spend $8 for a paperback of $20 for a hardcover especially, I want to make sure it's going to be a good book. Granted there are published authors out there with bad books but if the author has had a bestseller I'm likely to take the chance. I know there are plenty of great undiscovered authors out there and getting published is not an easy thing... I think for me it comes down to how I'm going to risk my money (I don't have an eReader so I can't download free books).

[Purr More]

I put up the thread for 2011 I Heart Indie Books Reading Challenge... hope some of you will want to join in. The challenge is low-key and can easily overlap other challenges you are doing. Even if you don't want to do it but have some favorite indie books you would like to recommend, feel free to stop in and chat :)

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...