Tag: Self-Published Author Appreciation

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Self-Published Author’s – My Can’t Wait to Read List

I keep preaching about Zoe Ashwood, but seriously, that woman can write! I’m currently waiting for her to finish writing book 2 in the Nora Moss series so I can read more of that series. But before I can share that with you I need to share my reviews of the Norse Sea Dragons duo and the prequel and first book of Nora Moss.

I have Rebecca Crunden’s second book, A History of Madness which is the sequel to A Touch Of Death, ready to go. I just need to find the time to read it. Seriously, I’m so far behind my TBR pile that I’m prioritising short books so I can give myself enough of a buffer I can then start A History of Madness because I don’t want to rush it, and I’m fairly certain it’s not a short one.

Liz Davie’s new book is coming on tour with Rach Random Resources (who coincidentally is partially why I’m so far behind, she brings way too many good books on tour!) in September so I need to get that read!

I missed out on reading Claire Huston’s Elle’s A to Z when it went on tour with Rach Random Resources (knew I didn’t have the time), but luckily Claire reached out and offered me a copy to read and review since I enjoyed her first book. So it’s also on the list to read when I find a moment.

Camilla Isley also has a new book (or two) coming out later in the year. I’m down to review the first one Fool Me Twice at Christmas but missed out on the second one. I also have the backlog of her First Comes Love series to finish.

Nicola Italia’s latest book (which is already out I believe…) The Imperial Orchid is on my list. Nicola is also a great example of why I love working with self-published authors. I was like 1 or 2 months delayed in responding to Nicola’s email looking for reviewers, and even though I mentioned I wouldn’t be able to release a review for a few months she was still OK with giving me a copy! She understands that time schedules don’t always work out, and since they don’t have massive sales targets to meet like those published with publishers, we get a bit more flexibility to provide reviews. I just like to be up front about it so I’m not killing anyone’s expectations.

Finally, I have Len Webster on my list. This one’s actually been on there forever but because I bought the book (yes I do actually buy books still!) I keep putting that one on the back burner so I can get to the ones gifted to me. Anyway, I reviewed Thirty-Eight Days as one of the first books I reviewed, and I’ve been wanting to read it’s sequel Thirty-Eight Reasons.

As you can see, I quite enjoy self-published authors!

Dave over at The Write Reads also supports self-published authors. He’s an editor and a tour organiser so he’s a pretty handy (and bloody friendly!) guy to know. I like to think I count him as a friend who’s been a great help to me when I’m freaking out and trying to figure out whether to join a tour or not.

Another way I support self-published (and indie) authors is through the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award (BBNYA). This is a competition only open to self-published and indie authors who apply and have one of their books read and reviewed by a team of panellists over three rounds. In both years it’s running I’ve been a panellist, although this year I’m also heading up a team to help keep the competition running smoothly.

Well it’s my Friday night. I hope you’ve enjoyed the couple of posts about self-published authors we’ve been sharing all week. If you have any questions about how you can support self-published authors, please drop a comment below and I’ll come back to you!

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Self-Published Authors I’ve Reviewed

I ended up busier yesterday than I’d expected so didn’t get around to writing this up for you to share. So today, I’m going to give you a summary of some of the self-published author’s works I’ve reviewed (including links to my reviews) in the hopes you’ll go and give them some love.

The first self-published author I want to share with you is Zoe Ashwood. I’ve been reading her works since she first started publishing books and I really enjoy them. So much so that the first Author Highlight I did, was with Zoe. You’ll find a good summary of her works, why I like her books and then links to all the reviews I’ve released.

I realised when I got to quite a few that I’ve read more self-published author’s than I realised. So the list below is just the ones I’ve read in the past 12 months. There’s likely even more if I go further back, but this is a good place to start!

  • Cenarth Fox (he’s actually Australian and from my home city, he publishes his books through his own publishing company he set up)
  • David Reiss (runner up of BBNYA 2020)
  • Eliza J Scott — I really need to set up a series page for her, I’ve read a couple of her books with the latest being A Christmas Wedding at the Castle
  • Graham Austin-King (winner of the BBNYA 2020 competition, and man was it a great read!)
  • Joy Skye
  • Kellyn Thompson (author highlight to be set up)
  • Kristin Ward
  • Lisa Kessler — I have a series page set up for her Muse Chronicles series, and will need to do one for her Pirates series because I know I’ll read that whole series too
  • Nicola Italia — she’s written quite a few books that I’ve reviewed, her latest is Among the Darkness Stirs
  • Rebecca Crunden (more reviews to come and an author highlight to set up)
  • Rich Amooi — he’s written quite a few books that I’ve reviewed, his latest is Uncork My Love

I hope you’ve enjoyed being able to see how many self-published authors there are that have some AMAZING books!

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Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week

Self-published authors are shit and not worth reading.

Says some ass holes on Twitter.

In response to some stupid comments some people made over on Twitter, Jodie (over on W&SBOOKCLUB) pitched the idea of creating some content around why we love self published authors. Of course, a bunch of us loved the idea and jumped at the chance of being able to offer some support to self-published authors.

While I’d be the first to admit that I don’t really know what authors I read are self-published or not. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate them and give them support. Over the next couple of days I’m going to be sharing some stuff with you, all focused on authors who’ve published their books themselves.

Today, I’m going to give my take on why I think the people saying self-published authors are idiots.

  1. Publishing houses are a dying breed. With more and more content being created that aren’t books, and with more and more books now sold in digital form than paperbacks, you don’t need the powerhouse support of a publisher to be able to reach readers.
  2. Part of a books revenue is given to the publisher to cover the costs of advertising, cover art etc etc etc. Some publishers even take a humongous cut leaving the authors with almost nothing being made from their books even if we’re paying upwards of AUD$20.
  3. The amount of work self-published authors put in to get their works out into the world is ridiculous. Part of my work is to write, edit and release learning materials for learners. I can tell you, the amount of time, concentration and attention to detail required to make sure those flow, don’t contradict each other etc is pain staking. And authors need to do this with a variety of characters, worlds and so many other little details. Hats off to them!

If you think it’s easy, then I challenge you to:

  • Come up with an idea people will want to read
  • Write the story out
  • Edit it (like 5 times, because that’s just what is needed)
  • Proof read it
  • Get cover art made
  • Get it up on GoodReads and/or other platforms
  • Get it out into the world (including ISBN, licensing, formatted, released)
  • Get people to read it (it’s harder than you’d think).

If you manage all that and think it’s easy, or think anyone who goes through all that effort release shit books, then I don’t think you should have an opinion on books.

If you can’t recognise the effort every single author puts into every single book, then I honestly don’t think you should be sharing any opinions about them. Every author puts in a huge effort and they should ALL be recognised and celebrated for that.

Self-published authors have an even harder time because they need to do everything. Often, they’re also working full or part time jobs to help fund their dreams of being an author. They don’t deserve hate for doing the best they can do.

I also find that usually (not always of course, but in my personal experience) they’re more friendly, open to feedback and I often end up with a great working relationship with them. To me, this is one of the best things about working with self-published authors.

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