I am making a commitment that for a while I will make an effort to read mostly indie authors.

Being an indie author myself I feel it is important to support them. I do not believe that the only books I should invest my time and money in are those that are published by the big publishers.

I have not found it to be true from my experience that books by big publishers are better than those that are either self-published or published by small publishers.

I have enjoyed the indie books I have read immensely. There is no guarantee that a book will be good simply because a large corporate firm put it's stamp of approval on it.

Sometimes those books are very good, certainly, and you're not likely to find as many editing errors. But often the books are terrible and I can't even finish reading them, even though they are published by Random House or some such name, and even have won awards, sometimes even several awards.

I also feel that the books published by indie authors are unique finds. Sometimes I feel like I'm discovering beautiful, colorful sea shells on the beach--discovering them for myself--and not having them spoon-fed and presorted for me by "those who know best." I like that feeling, and I like to judge for myself. Either I like it or I don't.

I am truly loving the new freedom that the internet, Amazon KDP and other independent publishing sites have given readers and authors.

I also like not paying a great deal to try out a book. I do not believe that only high priced ebooks are good. That's no guarantee either. But actually, and many don't know this, you can return an ebook if you don't like it. So you really aren't taking much of a risk at all.

If you are an indie author yourself, I definitely recommend reading other indie authors, and even if you're not, I think you might be surprised by the quality that's out there. Not always perfect, but then neither are those that are given the coveted stamp of big publisher approval.

Sometimes you have to look past a few flaws in a book as well. Consider them unpolished gems, worth appreciating for their own sake and not for some imagined status that reading them or approving of them might have.

Ah the freedom!