Two years ago, I'd never read a self-published book. Honestly, I hadn’t read a book that wasn’t a bestseller or literary classic, or at the very least, had established a cult-like following. (And I considered myself an avid, open-minded reader.) There’s a very limited amount of ‘reading time’ in my life and I didn’t want to waste my precious few recreational reading hours on an unproven book.

Three months ago, I started reading self-published books exclusively. It’s become an addiction. For me, the experience is similar to watching independently made movies or listening to ‘undiscovered’ music. Yes, there are a lot of clunkers out there. Some are hilariously awful and many are hard to finish. Here’s a sampling of the unusual titles that would not be available without self-publishing.








Now I haven’t read “Pet Goats & Pap Smears” and I don’t think I ever will, (I don’t like hospitals), but after browsing a few of the 341 customer reviews, it looks like most agree this is a funny, informative collection of medical stories…that would have never, ever been published by a traditional publisher. I mean…at least not with that cover. Why is the the girl behind the goat so happy? Holy hell what is going on with this cover.










And then you have this book…which according to the customer reviews advocates beating your child into submission. If that’s something you enjoy, then hey, you’re lucky self-publishing exists, or you’d probably never get a chance to read about your fellow child abusers. By the way…according to amazon, people who bought “To Train Up a Child”, also bought this…



…which is some kind of banana cutter. Thanks Amazon, for the nightmares I’m going to have tonight associating these two items.







And like indie films, every once in a while, you find an experimental book with a unique voice that pioneers a new sub-genre. Such is the case with Andy Weir’s ‘The Martian. Originally the book was self-published. And if you’ve read (or listened to) the original novel, you know the dialogue can be goofy at times and for me this unconventional storytelling style was a bit tedious. I found it necessary to skim most of the calculations to keep the story moving. But, as it turns out, lots of people enjoyed the number crunching and other non-traditional elements. The story was a runaway success.

For better and worse, self-published books avoid being ‘processed’ by a traditional editors and publishers whose bottom lines dictate mainstream books should conform to formulaic writing styles and acceptable societal viewpoints. There is a weird sea of self-published books out there and if you’re the kind of person who enjoys discovery, I highly recommend picking up a few SP/indie books. A large number of these books can be read for free on kindle unlimited. Prepare yourself for bizarre dialogue, over-the-top writing styles, and unsanctioned opinions.

If you do pick up one of these labors of love, you might consider giving the ‘amateur’ author a review. If it’s a positive review, you’ll be making someone’s dream come true. If you didn’t like it, let the author know why. I assure you, those who write these books will read and care about your opinion. And who knows, you may be the first to discover the next Ridley Scott movie, years before it hits the big screen.