Poll

Please remember by indie I mean independently published but you can also include traditionally published books that aren't super well known like good hidden gem books etc. This is about celebrating lesser known books and embracing the spirit of National Novel Writing Month.

The books can be MG, YA, adult, or new adult.
If the book is from a series, please recommend the first book only!

If there are any MG authors out there, yes, you definitely can recommend your own books for the list, and in the spirit of our past writer's showcase, I'll try and highlight those books in our list.

Here are my recommendations for the indie readathon! It’s honestly more than I thought:

The Crowns of Croswald
Not Your Sidekick
Fat Chance, Charlie Vega
Legends & Lattes
Alone With You in the Ether
The Alchemists of Loom

by B.A. Williamson
First book in a series - Honest disclosure: this was written by a former colleague, but I've never read it. It only has 200 ratings at 4.31 and 97 reviews on Goodreads.

by Christopher Cloud. First book in a series. This is such a fun story - lots of adventure and action.

by Linda Maria Frank. First book in a series. I enjoyed this fun YA mystery with a paranormal twist.

by David Yoo. Laugh out loud funny with characters that come across as realistic.

Super excited for this one! I might not be able to read a whole bunch bc I'm so busy with school, but I love just seeing everyone's suggestions and finding new small authors to support! <3

I'm not entirely sure if all of these are indie tbh, but none of them are very well known, so here's my suggestions:

An Affinity for Burning
Into the Deep
The Sapling's Curse
Quest of Awakening

Fly With Me -- MG (small press) -- magical realism
Seeds in the Wind -- YA/Adult (indie) -- science fantasy
The Longest Con -- Adult (indie) -- comedy horror

Billy: Messenger of Powers -- MG (indie) -- urban fantasy
Shadowguard -- MG (indie) -- fantasy

Humbly suggesting my own title ...

Woven -- indie -- clean adult -- King Arthur retelling (absolutely brilliant)

Animal Future -- indie -- adult -- very unique sci fi comedy

Dane Curse -- indie -- adult -- noir detective with super powers

Fire Light -- indie -- YA -- urban fantasy

Light-Years From Home -- indie -- MG -- sci fi

Secrets of Fathara -- indie -- MG/YA -- fantasy

The Supes -- small press -- YA -- teens with useless super powers

Pitch Green -- small press -- YA -- horror

Well, I know lots of indie authors in Russia, but here I’m only starting to explore this market. I self-published a book on Amazon, in August, but I haven’t been very enthusiastic about promoting it. Kadi wrote that MG authors can recommend their own books here, so I guess no one will bite me if I do.

The Orange Curse

A fun fantasy adventure, filled with suspense and inspired by Italian folktales. A cursed prince, a girl with terrible luck, a parrot, and a cat set out on a journey to fairy country to look for mysterious oranges that will remove a curse.
The book doesn’t have any reviews on Goodreads yet; it has some on Amazon.

Another book that I believe is not well known and I want to recommend is The Perilous Princess Plot by Sarah Courtauld.

It has funny characters, lots of word play and silly illustrations. Both kids and adults will love it.