Really appreciate the shoutout and the hype, encouragement, positivity, and enthusiasm you have towards us indies!! So many fabulous books, and honestly, 70% of my reading is probably indie right now!

I'm actually a self published author of 6 titles, and the hardest part of being self published is getting a fan base. Other self published authors, and I, have been at it for years without seeing many sales. Additionally to get traditionally published you usually need to have a literary agent, and I know authors who took years to find just one active agent interested in their genre. The literary business is a rough one.

To this date, The Sword of Kaigen is still my number 1 favorite standalone book, too. Btw, I should dare myself to make a clickbait thumbnail as brave as you... 😂

As a self-published author, I appreciate this video so much

Great video! I wholeheartedly agree with you that self-published authors who work very hard and go through the effort and expense of seeking editorial help can produce work that equals the quality of great traditionally published books. It boils down to how hard an author is willing to work. Cheers, Johan!

One point you may have missed is that a first time author has to have a relatively 'short' book to be considered by a publisher. I recently self published a sci-fi epic called 'River Jumping', and I would have given up almost half the story to get it within their required word counts. I loved my book too much to do that to it. Thank you so much for this video, yes, there are some fantastic indie authors out there, and their books shouldn't be dismissed.

The main question here does annoy me a bit. It shouldn't even be a question. Maybe we should be asking "are trad-published books as good as self-published books?" Certainly the books I've been most excited about for a good while have been self-pub and the trad-pub market needs to up its game to contend against them.

This video was simply incredible! Not only informative, but very creative as well. Thank you so much for treating us with such high quality content!

Thank you so much for the shoutout ☺️! This was so informative, and I learned some things I didn’t know! The Sword of Kaigen is such an impactful read. I read it a couple of years ago and still think about it! Legends and Lattes is possibly the most delightful, uplifting fantasy book I’ve read. Nice thing about self-published books is that we never have to worry about those awful adaptation covers or stickers! 😁📖

Thank you so much for the shout out! Oh gosh, I could sit here and recommend some great indie reads all day!! Sword of Kaigen is excellent, even though it made me ugly cry many times. The Iconoclasts series by Mike Shel, Waking Ursa Minor by Helen Rygh-Pedersen - how about The Nightmareland Chronicles if you happen to be a fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series? I'm so glad you brought up cover art because I am a firm believer self pubbed authors have the most gorgeous covers!!

Adding so many more books to my tbr now! It's so nice to know where I can find really good indie books.

I thought that this was such an old video at first (in the sense of I got to it when it was uploaded a while back) I'm so happy to find out it was uploaded today for some reason! I absolutely enjoyed every second of it!

There's an amazing amount of self-published books in English I didn't know about! This video was so useful, thanks! 📖

Great video. Through you and other Booktubers I found a lot of great indie books to read. I'm happy that you guys are talking about them and giving these authors a chance to shine. There really are some wonderful gems out there.

I am sooo happy to see all the self-pub and indie love! Maybe I'm just getting the best recommendations, but there haven't yet been any self-pub fantasies that I've actively disliked. In fact, most of them have made it onto my list of all-time favourites, so yay for that! I'm currently participating in the Indie Accords Readathon and so far I've read 12 indie books this month, all of which range from good to amazing! Also, something I love about reading indie/self-pub is the fact that it's so easy to engage with the author. They are always so passionate about their books and I love to see that. Great video, I hope more people will give indie and self-pub a shot! 🤩

Great video! Thank you for your support of self-published authors! 📖

Great video. I'm honoured that you enjoyed ILLBORN so much, and that it is one of your favourite self-published books. There are some fantastic novels mentioned on your video! Thank you.

This was a great video. I’ve been really enjoying self-published books lately

Im part of a readathon this month with just indie books etc and im blown away at how much Im enjoying them & never read before... definitely will keep checking them out! great vid.

Love to see the love on some self-published titles! Thanks Johan!

Unsurprisingly, another great video. Thanks for the work you do to promote the indie scene and for every moment that you have my books on screen :P

Great video! I find sifting through all the indie and self-published authors a bit intimidating at times, so I appreciate your resources here to help me (and others) explore.

I really enjoyed Sword of Kaigen but my fave self pub fantasy I’ve ever read is probably Dawn of Wonder 📖

I found your channel a few weeks ago and wow, I feel so lucky. This video is just great, many great suggestions and thank you so much for all the information on how to find indie books and the youtube ppl who like indie books. 🥳

Love this video! I have had such a hard time finding a good spot to find indie books. I'd have liked if you got deeper into each of your recommendations, but I will look into them!

Great video!📚

I loved this video so much. I'm self publishing my first book this fall and I appreciated your balanced take (and all the places to find new fantasy reads!!) I've been finding a lot of great indie reads lately and look forward to some of the ones your recommended :)

Thank you so much for the shoutout! The Sword of Kaigen is what started my journey with self-published books and is one of my favourites. So glad you enjoyed it too 😄 great video and explanations of self-publishing and recommendations!

I actually write fantasy books I intend to self publish, and I've been looking for ways to reach more readers. Thank you!

Thanks for the recommendations! 📚

Loved this video! As a man who intends to self publish, this meant a ton to me. Subbed!

The Sword of Kaigen is really gaining a lot of traction. It's doing very well for a self published book. I haven't read Dreams of the Dying yet but now that you mentioned it I would definitely put it in my TBR for August.

Great video! I definitely need to dive into some more indie books. Will

Absolutely loved this video, Johan! You really did hit the nail on the head with a lot of this. Though, I will never forgive you for pointing that arrow towards my book!

Thank you for channel recommendations. I followed them all & you. I loved your positivity about indies.

This is my favourite video that you have ever produced. I love all your videos but this is a topic I have great passion about. I’ve read all of what you have posted and they were all so great. So many great reads here. If I had one recommendation it would be The Eye of Everfell by Lewis Knight. It is in this year’s competition. One of my all time favourites. That being said still happily working my way through so many great adventures. Thanks for being such a great supporter and for such wonderful and fantastic reviews. James.

I have Dreams of the dying in my TBR since last year, when Philip reviewed and interviewed the author! Thanks for the video

📖 Awesome video! Thanks for the breakdown and the recommendations.

Yes, I have read a self-published book titled 'Plank Children' by Michael Schutz (at least I think it is self-published). Happy to see self-pub fantasy writers getting some recognition.

Thanks for supporting indie! 📚📖

Sword of Kaigen is incredible! It was my entry point into self-pub too and now I'm actively seeking out more. Like with traditional publishing, I think you can find absolute gems among self-pub/indie but you do have to search them out. I've read a few recently that have been more on the mediocre end so I'm trying to be more selective with what I try out next. Legacy of the Brightwash, Illborn, and Nomads of the Sea are all high on my radar currently. Thanks for adding more to that list!

As a self-published author of fantasy myself (admittedly not very successfully at the moment lol), it's wonderful to see a video like this speaking about the pros and cons of the self-publishing industry. Especially speaking on quality of story, plot, and writing. Just found your channel mate, keep up the great videos!

📙 great video! I'm picking up Illborn ASAP. Thanks for the recommendation. I loved Sword of Kaigen too. I'm still hoping for a sequel that will never come.

As a BookTuber who specializes in the review of self-published books, I found all that you've said in this video to be absolutely true. I often imagine why some readers look down on indie books, and I can understand their opinion of it not being published by a publication house and so; most people often believe that as much as it's self-published, then, it's trash, lol. I mostly review indie books on my channel and, surprisingly, most indie authors that I've read have the same talent as the famous ones. By the way, ain't all famous authors once an indie author striving hard for recognition? I've read some exceptional books by some indie authors and I end up saying to myself that "these authors need some awards, I mean, they're so brilliant." Timestamp 6:52, those books are amazing, I see that you've got a lot of recommendations, I'd love to check them out, as well as those channels. However, since you're a lover of fantasy, I'll recommend Fae or Foe? The Cracklock Saga by Craig Deegan, you'd so much love it if you read it. It's in series, and I can send you copies.

📖📖📖great video!! Love your channel! 📖📖📖

📖 📕 📘 I love that you champion indie, and your content is so helpful! Quickly becoming a big fan 😁

Great video! I have self published my first novel and I understand how hard is to get readers to know you even though you have a good story. The company that helped me to self publish, my family and friends that read my book said you have a very good story but if you don’t have the money for a massive marketing it’s become useless. But I am not giving up and I encourage fellow authors to keep writing. Thank you for helping us in some way

This video was so helpful! I have read and loved some self published books, but don't usually know where to find them. I've picked up a few from fantasy conventions, or from suggestions on reddit.

Thank you for the shoutout! Some fantastic information here and great recommendations as always. 📚

Love seeing self published get some more love! 📚 thanks for the shout out 💛

This was great! I've been dipping my toe in the self-publishing world, and I find it absolutely fascinating. I worked in a bookstore in the early 2000s, and self-published books around that time were generally very sub-par. Not anymore!! Thank you for all the recommendations!

Wow, what a great video! I just came across it at Ace of Spades (Sunday Book Thread), and sort of watched it "by accident" because I'm not terrifically into fantasy books. Still, lots of what you say covers all (or at least many) genres. I started reviewing indie books back in about 2012 (super small blog) and quickly came to find that, while there are certainly some bad books, there are an amazing number of wonderful stories out there. You also bring up a great point about the covers, which I also have slowly been realizing, that indie book covers have some of the most beautiful depictions I've seen. The covers you show in your video are so attractive, and I especially love chunky books - because I'm greedy plus I just like the look - so you may not be surprised to find that I'm a little curious about some of the titles you promote here. If you are at all interested in historical fiction, you should check out the indie scene there: fantastic! Annie Whitehead, Paula Lofting, Sean Poage, G.K. Holloway, G.J. Berger, Toni Mount. Joanne Larner - there are so many, and I love that their approach is diverse. For example, some are more serious reading, others are lighter and fun, while still maintaining the same standards of research as other great books.

I will have a recommendation for you here in the next 4-6 months, hopefully. But so glad I saw this video from a year ago. Glad to see that there are a lot of content creators who are specifically supporting indie authors. I was on the fence about how to publish my fantasy work in progress for some time, but then I discovered Ryan Cahill (which I'm basically considering as a comp title in some ways). Seeing all Ryan's interviews and how he has been successful in self-publishing has pushed me to prefer that over traditional. Plus, it seems that traditional publishing is a bit rocky at the moment, even though it seems like there might be some good changes coming in the near future. Either way, the freedom of self-publishing just feels right for me at the moment. But I say all that to point out that I think self-publishing is a great way to go and, as you mentioned, totally valid if done right. I will try to follow the same patterns as others have done successfully to hopefully help the indie author community continue to build it's rising reputation. And hopefully, I can get people like you and some of the others to even recommend my book one day!

Thank you for all the resources for finding high quality indie books! All the books you mentioned look fantastic. One of my favorite indie fantasy reads is Wayfarer by K. M. Weiland (it's basically Jane Austen meets the MCU).

Gives me hope as I strive to get my stories in the world.

📖 This was really cool! I wasn't aware there were websites I could find good self published stuff! I usually just read stuff for free online as its being posted and then buy the final ebook (or printed when available!) version. The few times I bought without reading beforehand, I've been burned by some seriously impossible to read prose, so I'm slightly leery of buying them these days, so I'm glad there's good ressources!

Hi 👋 an interesting video!! thank you for a great video!! Happy reading to you!! 👋😊🦋

The sword of kaigen is my absolute favourite standalone fantasy of all time! And I've been looking forward to reading Dreams of the dying, which has been setting on my shelves for months! Watching your video made me realise how excited I was when I first got it! So all I can do now is to put it on my August tbr and hope for the best! 😆

Thanks for the video ☺️ i am going to self publish my first standalone novel soon(ish), working on edits now ☺️

📖 thank you for sharing where to find good indie books. I've been curious for a long time but have never known where to find the really good ones out there.

Once again great video, clear and consise. As a tentative indie author I enjoyed this.

Self pub can be incredible. I loved the Fall by Ryan Cahill as well. Looking forward to book 2. Im working on a indie review vlog and am hoping to find some new favs. I loved this video! What a great way to shed some light on the preconceptions people have about self pub.

Just got Sword of Kaigen Very much looking forward to it!

📖 thanks for the video :)

📖 loved this video! SP deserve all the hype! I'd highly recommend the Aspect series by Mark Holloway, both books are defo some of my favourite reads of the year!

Self-Pub and Indie have SO MCUH to offer. Definitely agree that the quality of the covers are truly amazing! Dreams of the Dying was a fantastic read...had me ruminating on the meaning of life for days after finishing it. I would also recommend people interested in indie should check out the hosts of the Indie Accords readathon as al of them are champions of self-pub as well! 📚

I just got The Iron Crown and am looking forward to it :)

I'm currently writing a fantasy book and plan to self publish it. I'm so excited😍😍😍

Great video I bought the iron crown got it for $0.99 on your recommendation I love books about dragons I have it on my TBR list now

Thanks so much for your ongoing support of indy-pub! I feel like BookTube is definitely making an impact on fantasy fans' willingness to check out so many great books. As a longtime writer who's soon to release a debut as an indy-author, I am an example of the scenario you describe: I did indeed spend many years seeking a traditional deal before turning to self-publishing. While one could easily surmise that the work just wasn't good enough to break through, and get a deal, I can tell you--at the very least--that there are often myriad reasons for this. First, there are only a handful of acquiring editors at the Big 5 imprints, all with very subjective tastes (and moods). Next, even when you gain the interest of an acquiring editor, the manuscript is then often subjected to a reading by an entire genre department, including sales and marketing teammates. As once happened to me, the sales folks said that my work too closely resembled (to their taste) another title they were making ready to promote. The two titles would've competed with each other. Not infrequently, authors are asked if there are willing to concede to major changes. Changes that authors are sometimes unwilling to make to work on which they've labored, often for many years. By the way, all of this can take a very long time (in my case, my agent was actively pitching my manuscript for three years--years that were filled with occasionally exciting fits and starts, often followed by sudden and depressing roadblocks). Not to make excuses, and I hope that I don't sound bitter. I remain glad I went through the process, as I'm sure it's made my work stronger. I also learned there are elements of my storytelling that I am unwilling to compromise on. Whether an indy author has decided to self-publish from the onset, or after seeking other means of publication, what counts is their level of passion and willingness to pursue excellence. I believe our genre is in a period of great growth and expansion because of such passion, among self-published authors as well as those seeking traditional deals. Thanks again!

📘 Sword of Kaigen is a quiality read, even though it took me forever to get through that chunky thing. A lot of the books you mention specifically I've either read or have on my TBR.

📖 I highly recommend the short story anthology Dark Ends which has some recognisable indie names from last years and this years SPFBO. They were great novellas that made me want to dive straight into each of their works

i self-published my book ARKDUST before it was picked up by Rosarium. The biggest issue i had with self-publishing was mailing them out! Man, they hated to see me comin at the post office LOL

Thanks for this awesome video. So cool that booktubers champion indie authors. I had no idea that Bookborn’s husband is an indie author!

I want the bound and the broken so bad. Don’t know much about it but the covers are my favorite style

📖 Yup I still watching! Haha Great video. 🎉

Great video! I have read a few self-published books, Daniel Greene's short stories, Dyrk Ashton's Paternus Trilogy which I have in physical form, but then I have a lot of self-published books on my kindle and I only remember Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree and The Houseplant by Jeremy Ray that i have read. I'm waiting for Michael J. Sullivan's Legends of the First Empire (which is stuck in Germany and has been that for the last 2 years now I think). And i have The Sword of Kaigen is on my TBR (there are "only" 4 books ana a short story before I get there). Then I wait for around kickstarter 15 books from different self-publishing authors.

Thank you for the shout out 🥰Also you know I share your Sword of Kaigen obsession!

Good to know. I spent 45 years working on a truly epic fantasy series. It now stands at 2 million words, and I am going forward with self-publishing the first book. I went deep into the publishing process with DAW. They asked me to rewrite and shorten it. I did, but I felt my book lost too much. Two other publishers gave me contracts that allowed them total control over any games or movies from my creation. I spent my life on this; they want to control and profit from it! Also, publishers want me to tone down the sexual themes because they won't touch anything that might piss off one faction or another these days, and trust me, to tell the truth, even metaphorically, you have to challenge the reader, not coddle them.

Exceptional work advocating for Indy fantasy.

Mage Errant series by John Bierce! I love love LOVE the characters and the friendships in this series. For me it's one of the best found family stories.

i self published a fantasy novel and i’ve gotten great reviews so far! 😊

it’s been really great watching the love for indie books grow more and more over the last few years. I self published my first book earlier this year, and boy is it a lot of work and so expensive! I paid an editor for professional editing but did everything else myself, I’m lucky enough to have a background in design, and just that cost alone was over $4k (aud). With sales the way they are currently I probably won’t make a profit on my book for the next 5-ish years and thats only if I don’t publish again 😅 which I will because I started off publishing with a series 🤦🏻‍♀️ So it’s definitely a slow game and not a money making machine but it is amazing and so rewarding to see people reading and enjoying my book ☺️ and because I self published I can say that the final book is all me and no decisions were made by high up publishers just trying to make money.

There are so many hidden gems in the indie world!

That was a very nice review and good information about finding credible authors. I originally published my first book (which was non-fiction) as a self published work. The same with my second book which was a fact based fiction. My third book was self published as well, but I was delving into fiction with a very poorly written work. I had not written very much in the genre that I was attempting. But more to the point, I hadn't really properly honed my skills as a fiction writer. This brings me to the main issue that can hamper the reputation of indie authors and self publishing. In my case I took a very serious and self critical pause and realized that I needed to improve on many levels. The creativity was there, but the knowledge, how and when to apply "show don't tell," how to avoid info dumps, building characters and good dialog, creating tension, proof reading and editing, use of beta readers, alpha readers, and rewrites, as well as world building, conlangs, plot development, etc. all contributed toward improving my writing skills. Today I am miles apart from my early efforts and fortunately my work has improved as well. But there are many "writers" not to malign the term, that are self publishing as opposed to serious authors who have taken the time and effort to really move forward in the quality of all aspects of their books and writing. All authors are writers, but not all writers are what I personally consider authors. It's easy to see that in a day and age when increasingly poor literacy and an increase in access to resources has ensured that anyone can write and self publish a book. For those that are serious and have taken the time to improve and hone their skills, kudos! I don't believe that the method of getting a book published is as important as the character and efforts of the author. Self publishing is subject to a lot more junk writing than traditional publication. Finding the stars among the offered galaxy of good and bad is what matters to readers. Once you have those resources and can look at credible fiction, the publisher is just a passing thought and the pleasure of new works is the reward. Thanks again for the video and resources to look for those works.

I've been book blogging since 2009, holy crap I started my blog in 2009 😅 and have been reading indie/self pub for probably just as long. SPSFF has come a long way and it makes me so happy to see and hear so many people finally especially over the last few years appreciating it. 📚 You seriously do need to read the sequel to Voice of War, it is even better then the first book and book 3 is coming out in August.

The sword of Kaigen is still one of the best fantasy standalones I’ve read!! 📚📚

I just put down dreams of the dying this morning after getting to part 2 half way through. hope to finish it eventually but not getting enough enjoyment from it. I’d give it 3.5 stars thus far but think it’ll be 4 ⭐️ by the end

Cannot do a book emoji on my laptop :(. But I'm still watching!

Sword of Kaigen was Really Good. Characters/story were really good. Especially the story structure. It felt new/fresh and worked perfectly for what the story wanted to do imo

I self published King Vs. Kings The Golden Era and its doing well for now.

Such a useful video! I don’t read a enough indie authors. 📖

You should do a video about Web Novels!

📖 Good video!

@Library of a Viking You should read the ARIA OF STEEL trilogy and upload a review. It's a quick read, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Compass Line by D A Millington published May 2022

I bought a self-published book once at a book signing. It was so awful that I edited it as a mental exercise. It was a huge job, and when I finished, I tossed it.

I am working on writing a book do you recommend anything? It is like a medieval fiction fantasy type book.

📖 Nightmare In Lazzar Perish Series by N W Fitch, just came out on amazon in May or so. Highly recommend

I've read maybe 4 self published books. I generally stay away from them unless my good friends wrote them. Perhaps I am a snob