Waiting On Self-Pub Fantasy Month: A Look At Some Ratings…

In my post Announcing Self-Published Fantasy Month I mentioned that I’d come to realize there’s some really great self-published fantasy out there. This after always believing  (and being told) that if a book was any good it would be picked up by a publishing house. My realization over the course of this year that I was so very wrong about self-published fantasy inspired me to celebrate it by devoting a whole upcoming month to it on the blog.

Well, I was reviewing some things on the blog last weekend and something made me take a closer look at the books I’ve reviewed this year and their scores. I was a little surprised and delighted by what I found because it fits perfectly with what I’ve been saying lately. Here’s what I discovered…

So far this year I’ve reviewed eleven books (earlier on Twitter I said it was ten but I was wrong…it’s eleven). Now I know I’ve been slacking on the reviews and been saying it since like March, and you’re probably sick of hearing (or seeing) me say it but that isn’t really the point I’m getting at. The point is I’ve reviewed eleven books…and of those eleven books I’ve rated four of them with 5 Stars. Of those four guess how many were self/indie- published. Go on guess…

Three.

(Well, two were self-published, and one was formerly self-published but recently picked up by a major publishing house.)

That says something. Yeah I know our ratings are subjective and others might not agree with them, but still…that’s an impressive stat. It speaks to the quality of work to be found in the self-publishing world and it’s a major reason I’m hosting Self-Published Fantasy Month. Mark Lawrence and the gang over at #SPFBO are already doing a lot to get the word out but we can all chime in as well. There’s some great books and awesome authors out there waiting to be discovered by a wider audience.

Oh…and if you’re curious what books those 5 Star reviews were for here you go (with links to the reviews):

First, the previous self-pub now published by Orbit Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft.

Then there was Gedlund by William Ray

And most recently The Half Killed by Quenby Olson

And if you’re curious about the fourth 5 Star review, well it was for the science-fiction classic, The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.

So there you have it. I hope you’ll join me in September for Self-Published Fantasy Month. If you do let me know and follow along on Twitter with #SelfPubFantasyMonth.

Till then go read a book and tell someone about it!