Indie Book Club discussion

Just curious. My own general reading habit has declined a bit (I'm sure others know the feeling when hours of writing mean you want to do something else when off the computer).

Although I haven't read much lately, I've got Keepers of Arden: The Brothers, Volume 2 in mind for when I've gotten through my current books. Last year I read Endeavour, which was initially self-published but has been traditionally re-released, and that was very good.

So, at the moment, it's probably 2-3 for me, but that's still about a third or a half of the number I'm reading in total.

.... I really need to read more.

I haven't counted them but I almost only read self-pubs with a very few exceptions. Out of 17 ( the 18th is almost finished) books I've read this year so far, only one was not self published (or at least I don't think it was).

I think if you are an Indie, you should practice what you preach and show that you trust other indies. Quite honestly, I'm enjoying myself reading them so I'm not about to stop.

I averaged two a month last year, but that's slacking a bit this year. Been a hectic start to the new year so far!

GG, there's a lot of good self-published stuff. I do think the kudos of being traditionally published still exists, though.

Helps that prices are often lower too (I refuse to buy e-books that are ridiculously over-priced. No reason at all they should be the same, or even more, as a print version).

Oh, I didn't mean to imply that being traditionally published isn't a huge feat, because it is. Yet, like you, I refuse to pay astronomic prices for eBooks, especially when you can often get the paper version for cheaper.

I also love to discover books. In the past, I've read popular series that everyone knew and talked about. Some I loved, others, well...I felt I was reading them only because every one else did.

With Indies, it's refreshing and it feels good to be off the bandwagon.

As an indi author, I too make a point of reading other indies. Probably about 50/50. I'm no less forgiving if the read doesn't grab me though, and will quite easily cast the book aside. Life is too short for reading a book one is not enjoying.

I probably have half and half between indie digital books (self-pub and small press) and big house print books. My reading time and energy varies greatly, and my DNF rate is pretty high. But I think I read maybe a couple dozen or so indie books last year.

Mia, that raises an interesting point: do small press releases count as indie? I know lots of people would say yes, although that does make me wonder what the cut-off from indie to traditionally published is (probably a Venn diagram overlap rather than a thick red line).

For me, it's kinda just size. Once a digital press gets to the size of Ellora's in its day, or Samhain or Lyrical, I kinda feel less likely to call them indie/small press. But that's just my very unscientific, gut-feeling judgement, lol.