Are Self-Published Books Any Good?

Recently, I was asked the question: “Who are some of your favorite self-published authors?” Technically speaking, some people will tell you Mark Twain and Stephen King both self published at least once, but I’m pretty sure those aren’t the answer the person was looking for with this question. They’re wanting to know who my favorite modern self-published authors are, people who few have heard of but are doing great work under the radar — like, ya know, I’d like to be doing quite soon. As a soon-to-be self-published author, you’d think I’d have a good answer for this. But it stumps me.

I’ve read 20 novels since August — I also started several others, but they didn’t hold my interest — and I honestly couldn’t tell you if any of them was self published. That’s the biggest reason I don’t have a good answer to the question. Who are my favorite self-published authors? I don’t really know who’s self published and who’s not. I look at the genre, title, cover, author and summary. If it sounds interesting, I might peek at some reviews. If it checks out, I’ll give it a shot. It never occurs to me to check for a publisher. The only one I know was self published, I only know that because I’m friends with the author.

Having said that, which ones do I suspect were self published? The ones I tossed aside after 50-75 pages. Which brings us to another question: Are self-published books any good? It seems self evident that the answer can be yes. It’s not especially common, but some self-published books sell enough to grab the attention of publishers, and end up being both self and traditionally published. Some really great writers choose the self-publishing route so they can have creative control, and make higher royalty percentages, not because they’re just scribbling in crayon — the stereotype that self-published authors are barely authors is basically dead now that it’s so ubiquitous.

Still, though, when the barriers to publishing are so low — practically non-existent now — buying a self-published novel is going to be a bit of a crapshoot. Literally anybody can upload their work to Amazon; some of those people aren’t very good writers, frankly. Still others are talented writers who just need a tough editor more than they think they do. So, when I start reading a book that has obvious, crucial, elementary flaws, my guess is they were self published, and probably just didn’t get the care they needed before going online. Are self-published books any good? They absolutely can be. But finding the really good ones can be a bit like mining for gold, and nearly as rewarding.