We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week’s topic is: Indie Freebie (This topic encompasses a lot: your favorite indie bookstores, indie books, indie authors, indie publishers/presses, indie books on your to-read list, indie authors I read before they became traditionally published, etc.) (submitted by @dark.shelf.of.wonders and Books Are The New Black)
I was initially stumped by this week’s prompt because I don’t read many indie or self-published authors these days—not for any specific reason or than there are just too many books I want to read and the ones grabbing my attention are the ones promoted in the mainstream. That said, I used to read a lot of indie romances on KU and some fantasy as well as thrillers. Some of these authors have gone on to be traditionally published (Talia Hibert, B.K. Borison, Jacqueline Snowe, etc.), although some are hybrid by doing trad and indie. So, this is going to be a wild mix of books I’ve read—mostly romances (some erotic, some monster, some dark), but I remember enjoying all of these immensely when I read them years ago, even if I might not remember much now. 🤭 Here we go!
The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary
Getting Lucky Series by Meghan Quinn
Office Hours by Katrina Jackson
Fate of Eyrinthia Series by Heather Frost (ongoing)
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
Surrender: An Erotic Short by Rilzy Adams (standalone)
Deep Waters Series by Emma Hamm
The Guy for Me by Marzy Opal (standalone)
The Thirteenth Hour by Trudi Skies
Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors by Annette Marie and Rob Jacobsen
Do you read indie/self-published books? Please do share recommendations! Have you read any of these books or are they on your TBR?
dinipandareads 
I do wish it were easier to find indie books. One really has to scour the web for them in many cases.
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I agree! It’s not easy. I think the only reason I have come across many of them is because of Kindle Unlimited. Although taking part in some blog tours helped with that as well!
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I only accidentally discover them myself unregularly. Glad you enjoyed them!
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Yeah, I don’t see that many people talking about them, but the few that I do follow/see have been really helpful for discovering new indie authors 😃 Otherwise, it’s mostly through random browsing!
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Annette Marie is one of my all-time favorites! I’ve also been meaning to try Emma Hamm and Meghan Quinn books forever, so I hope to get to them soon.
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I feel like I’ve outgrown Meghan Quinn in recent years, but I used to be obsessed with her cheeky/raunchy romcoms 😂 The series I mentioned is less outlandish in humour, but a lot more heart and heartwarming small town family vibes! Emma Hamm is somewhat new to me (only discovered last year) but I’ve loved her mermaid romances 😍 I hope you enjoy them if you try them out!
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I couldn’t think of many indie authors I read either — some that do both trad pub and self pub, but… yeah. It was tricky. There’s just so much out there and it can be hard to find the quality stuff!
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It definitely can be hard to find the good stuff. I think I’ve read much fewer indies that I’ve enjoyed than ones I’ve not, but the ones I enjoyed I’ve really loved!
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Fun list! And yes, it’s sometimes tricky to find indie published books when so much of the buzz is about mainstream books.
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So thankful for the bloggers and book community members who actively promote indies on the regular! Otherwise I really don’t think I’d come across even a few with how much the focus is on mainstream!
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I love that cover on Song of the Abyss!
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I think Emma Hamm’s covers are always so eye-catching 😍
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I tend to stumble across indie authors by accident, I keep meaning to make more of an effort to seek out more indie authors but never quite manage it.
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Yeah, I feel like it definitely depends on the platform you’re on and how much time you spend there. I used to spend a lot more time on Twitter and through the book community there, it was so easy to find indies. It’s somewhat similar on Bluesky but not as easy. I’m glad that I already follow some creators who read/promote indies almost all the time!
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Twitter used to be great for all things bookish and blogging. I rarely use it anymore because it’s just a cesspit of awfulness.
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Yep, I miss the good ol’ days with the book community on that platform. I hardly ever go on there anymore because it’s such a toxic mess. I see one horrendous post and it just sends me spiraling. It’s truly the worst 😮💨
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I’ve never had Kindle Unlimited, but what a great way to discover indie authors. Also love seeing these authors finding success in the traditional publishing world.
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Yeah, I’ve had KU since 2012 and it has been amazing for discovering indie authors, especially in romance, but there are so many awesome fantasy titles too! it’s hard to know where to start sometimes 😂 And yesss it’s so cool to see indie authors going trad 😍
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I read B.K. Borison when she was still self-published with Lovelight Farms! I’ve often thought about reading The Worst Guy but I read another Kate Canterbary book and really didn’t like it, so now I’m not so sure, haha.
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Yes! I read Lovelight Farms when she was still indie too and the hype around her romance started to really blow up not too long after that! Ooh, which Canterbary did you read? I feel like, even though I’ve love Canterbary for ages, I can defo understand why her books won’t be everyone’s cuppa!
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I don’t really even know how to find Indie books. Clearly I don’t try very hard.
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I think having KU has really helped me find indies, but also being part of blog tours and the book community on Twitter back in the day before the mass exodus 😂
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These aren’t the genres I read, so I haven’t heard of any of these. Glad you found some favorites, though!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Thanks! I’ve had to dig through to find these but there are defo some gems out there 😍
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It’s always interesting seeing names you recognize on a list of indie authors. While I haven’t read any of her books, I have see Meghan Quinn around.
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier.
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I feel like MQ has been around forever, so I’m not surprised you’ve heard her name before! 🤭 Even though I feel like I’ve outgrown her romcoms now, I used to adore her books so much, lol.
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An interesting looking list. I find my indie reads through Blog Tours! I didn’t realise that I had read so many 😂
Have a great week!
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Yes! Blog tours are such a great way to find indie titles 🙂 I used to do them a lot more a few years ago, so I read a good balance of indie and trad pub titles then. I do miss it sometimes!
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I used to read lots of independently published children’s books, but I don’t really do much of that anymore!
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It’s interesting to see that change in reading habits. Creating this post has made me realise how few indies I read these days!
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Like you I don’t read them often because of all the mainstream books that come my way.
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
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If only we could read all the books that piqued our interest… Lol I wish!
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I really don’t tend to read self-published books, because I already have so much to read! But it’s nice to see that there’s a way for authors to get their books out into the world besides traditional publishing. Looks like you’ve read an interesting mix!
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Yeah, I feel like that plays a big part in it as well! I wish we could read all the books that pique our interest asap. 😂 Even still, the stacks grow bigger every day, lol. It is really cool to see indie authors you love go trad!
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I know I read a lot of indie authors, but I don’t keep track of that and it would take me way to long to post ten. I think you should do a post of authors you started reading as indie authors and are now with traditional publishing houses. That would be interesting.
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You do always have many indies on your lists each week 🙂 That’s pretty cool! I think your idea is a good one, so I’ll defo be saving it for a rogue TTT day. Thanks for the suggestion, Carla!
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I have a few Emma Hamm books on my radar and they sound so good, the first book from Deep Waters series is on my tbr! & The Thirteenth Hours is also intriguing me a lot! Great list Dini, and thanks for sharing it 🥰! Here’s my TTT this week.
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