Well, its hit and miss with self published authors but I’ve read some excellent ones. So I would say yay.

TBH, it can be hit and miss with traditional publishing as well.

There’s a real danger is self published books, because often the writer think more highly of his/her work than the reader (I worked a short time fir a publisher, sorting through send-in manuscripts, which was fun and frustrating at the same time). I have bought a few, if I get to talk to the writer first and it sounds appealing. One was actually good enough to get published, the others were entertaining.

which lead to almost for every publishing house to deal with no authors but those they work with for years

Publishers continuously bring in new writers…

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Do you have any experiences with self published books from new/unknown authors?

Fantasy/scifi space has had some good ones, but the problem is finding them. I’d recommend just sitting back and looking for posts on reddit or elsewhere of self-published recommendations rather than digging through the piles to look for a gem. Also, my rule of thumb is frankly to throw out anything with an awful cover. If they couldn’t be bothered to pay for a cover artist, then it’s unlikely they paid for an editor.

Wool by Hugh Howey was originally self-published, and I love that entire series. I also found a self published author after seeing her talk about her book on TikTok but I’m not sure if I’ve had enough good experiences to say yay or nay yet.

I love Hannah Jays novels. She is self published! She has a decent following from being on bookstagram, but I liked both “Same Paige” and “Olive Brach”

I think it’s good to have some kind of editorial process. Someone to filter authors, find the good ones, and advise them how to improve their work.

Unfortunately I don’t think traditional publishing does that very well anymore. Self-publishing used to be for people with high hopes and low talent, but these days I definitely think there are more and more first-class authors turning to self-publishing.

John Norman (author of the “Gor” books) got kicked out of every publishing house in existence and started self-publishing. AFAIK he said getting dropped by publishers was the best thing that ever happened to him.

What specific genere are you talking about?

I read them all the time. Some are great, some are not so great. There is a tendency towards editing errors and sometimes progression errors. If they don’t interfere with the flow of the story, I just read around them.

Sometimes though, you can’t. And then it’s time to move on.

It used to be with any art form, you got rich and famous or starved. Most likely the latter. There was no middle ground.

Now with online publishing and platforms like tik tok etc, there’s a space for aspiring artists. Those at least passable who put in the work have the chance to make money on the side or even a reasonable living, if they create enough content and do it consistently.

Now how good is it? Hit or miss.

The monotony and boredom is a consequence of the fear of risk by the editors doing the initial review of manuscripts. Therefore, they choose what is familiar and will definitely not provoke the anger of the boss.

Self-publishing is fraught with a lack of professional growth. Especially in subscription systems for access to all books and chapter-by-chapter publication. In the first case, it’s hard to keep track of readers; in the second case, there is no editorial review.

If you like fantasy, check out these self published books! I liked them a lot. I think absolutely wonderful work can come out of self publishing, the same way absolute garbage can come out of traditional publishing. As long as the author has good and plentiful editing done by professionals, it has potential to be great.

Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang (I haven’t read her other book Sword of Kaigen but I’ve heard it’s amazing as well!)

The Cradle series by Will Wight

Ascendant by Michael Miller