self publishing Musings

Thank you to Jodie from Witty and Sarcastic Book Club for inviting me on this week long event for Self Published Authors Appreciation Week. There are a whole host of bloggers coming together for this event that has been organised by Jodie, who I am sure you will know by now has the uncanny ability to bring together a gaggle of bloggers to carry out a number of events, which you have got to admit is a bit like herding cats. Today, I am having some thoughts. And I suppose that this is what this article little thing is. Just some thoughts. 

Since becoming a blogger, I regularly see the argument of traditional publishing vs self published authors. And this is not hyperbole, it was only the other day that I saw a comment from an author bemoaning the fact that they had told their friend that they were talking about their book and their friend had said something along the lines of that they weren’t a proper author as their books weren’t published by traditional publishing methods.

Well, I am sorry but what makes a ‘real’ author? Don’t they sit in front of a keyboard, notebook and pore forth their imagination onto a page? Yup! I think you can see what I am getting at, can’t you? 

Now, personally I have not always been Mr Advocate of the self published author and have changed my views over the years. Obviously we know that the (in some people’s view) ‘evil’ giant’s introduction of a certain product that can read electronic books made things a little easier for self published books to be reaching the masses..

I have had one of these devices for many years, since about the third generation, and regularly dipped my toe into the self publishing lake, but for some reason, failed to find anything that resonated with me and came away with the impression that self published authors are not for me.  

However, whenever I make rash statements like this, you can be guaranteed that my opinions will inevitably change, because as we know,opinions are fluid and malleable and are a bit like that River near our house, forever flowing. 

And it is the same with my own!

If I look at my own reading habits now, they have changed considerably over the years. From mainly reading so-called traditionally published books to mainly self published fiction. Obviously, one of the big factors that have affected this change is the fact that I run a blog, and obviously self published blogs are a good source of promotion for self published authors. 

As putting my reading under further scrutiny, there have been other shifts. Obviously, I have not been at this game for very long, I mean it has been less than a year that this site has been on the ethernet but most of my four and five star reads come from ‘self - published’ authors.

Now, initially, I started with the idea that I was going to put together a traditional publishing vs self published article, but I think we have all heard the argument before and we know that there is no difference. I like to read different authors regardless of how they are published. I am not going to lambast traditional publishing and state that either one is better as all have their pros and cons, and if you want to know what makes an author want to self publish then there is a really good series by one of favorite sites Sue’s Musings called Indie Spotlight which showcases a variety of different authors talking about the reasons that they chose the self published routes and the pros and cons.

As I have gone on in my time as a blogger, I have become more and more involved with the self published community, I have met some brilliantly talented people who write books that have been exciting, strange, epic and at times gut wrenchingly brilliant (and yes, I am looking at you for this one Sarah Chorn!) and it has been an enlightening journey finding the wealth of stories that people write. 

All of this has been brilliant. My reading habits have expanded stratospherically. However, I must warn you dear reader, that there is a downside to all this. Unfortunately, my personal reading list has skyrocketed and I now find myself with more books that I can possibly read in a lifetime. In addition to this, I have found myself as a panellist on the BBNYA, which is the book bloggers novel of the year award. 

And if you are wondering how get started with self published books, these are a good place to start, as there are a number of book competitions going on this year (and every year). 

There is the Self Published Fantasy blog Off (now in its 8th year), which is run by that master of the grim dark, Mark Lawrence. And I suppose that this is a good place to start a journey with the wealth of self published fantasy fiction that is out there, as all these are currently been reviewed by other bloggers at the moment.

However, if your taste lies in the Science Fiction route of things, there is the Self - Published Science Fiction competition also running at about the same time, run by Hugh Howey, author of Wool.

But, the self published literature does not stop with these two genres. If you can imagine it, there is most likely a book that will fit your tastes, be it Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Adventure, Military, you name it. Someone will have thought about it.

My intention is to put out a list of some sort, about my favourite self published authors and my favourite books that I have read. So, keep your eyes peeled.

Also, as I have said before, there are a number of other bloggers and authors who are contributing to this week of appreciation. So I hope that you will visit them and that you find something that will suit your tastes.

Thank you for reading.

Oh and one last thing, another place to get some books that you might want to read that is solely for self published and indie authors is Indie Story Geek