Indies get a bad name: people say our books are trash, that we go for quantity over quality, that there's a reason none of us are traditionally published. 

And you know, sometimes they're right. At least in my own field, epic fantasy, I've read a lot of books that could use a solid grammar revision, or a plot revision, or really any kind of revision. And seen some awful book covers, and read some of what I'm pretty sure was the author's first attempt at a book in junior high school. 

But not all of us are like that--I'm hoping, if you're reading this blog, that you count me among those good enough to read. So in that spirit, I'm sharing another with you I've just discovered: Lindsay Buroker. 

Not only is she spelling-error and trashy-cover-free, Lindsay's books are a lot of FUN. And what she writes is a great example of why indie publishing is so important: because traditional publishers would have no idea what to do with her. Shelve this in epic fantasy? Steampunk? Romance? Mystery? 

Her books are all of these--at least the Agents of the Crown series, and the first book of the Emperor's Edge series. Set in an Enlightenment (or even Industrial Revolution) era, but with magic and magical races, with heroic and spunky characters solving mysteries and falling love, there's a lot going on, meaning a traditional marketing department wouldn't really know how to advertise it, or at the very least would push the editorial team to make it more or less of any of these, so they could promote it better. 

In the indie world, we don't have to do any of that--and it turns out, readers don't mind. Not if Lindsay's rabid following is any indication anyway! 

I've got a review of the first Agents of the Crown book, The Eye of Truth, over at Top New Fantasy. Check it out! And thanks for loving us indies.