Why I Love Indie Authors

Posted July 18, 2014 by Lillian in Features / 2 Comments

Why I Love Indie Authors

Today I am super-excited to be participating in the International Authors Day Blog Hop! So when I started thinking about what I wanted to write about I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than Independent Authors. These men and women work their butts off to provide good reading for you and me, and most of the time their books are cheaply priced. Sometimes I feel like I’m stealing from them, especially when it is such a good book!

I became obsessed with indie lit when I read my first book for review, which happened to be Armored by M.A. Wilder. This particular book was unlike anything I had ever read! It was unique, had paranormal and supernatural elements, and even better a young African American woman as the leading character (which she kicked butt by the way!). This began the slippery slop of addiction for me 🙂 And boy did I love it!

I started reading all the books I could get my hands on. Books like the Imdalind series and Through Glass by Rebecca Ethington, the Driven trilogy by K. Bromberg, the Dwellers saga by David Estes, the Dark Angel series by Hanna Peach, and everything written by Isobel Irons. These books are all unique in their own rights, but what I love…what I truly love is that these books are whole, meaning a publisher didn’t tell the author it was too long and they had to cut something. A publisher didn’t tell them it was too short and to add stuff to make it longer. This makes the book completely the author’s and wholly unique.

Now I know what you’re thinking, you’ve read some indie work and there’s been errors. Errors in grammar, spelling, maybe (but hopefully not) even storyline. Well guess what? They are human just like you and me and if they are going at this business by themselves, then they aren’t going to catch all the mistakes. Would you? Honestly, for me sometimes it is after my husband or friend has read my blog that an error is caught (and I re-read these posts like a gazillion times before publishing!). So would it not make sense that an author would have the same issues? Especially if said author didn’t have a team of editors at a publishing company? I guess the point I’m trying to make is if you overlook the minor mistakes and look at the story itself you will find something beautiful on the pages–maybe a new genre, a new series, a new favorite author.

For me, indie authors have kind of become my go-to read, as proven by my reviews. A majority of my posts are books by indie authors and I wound’t change it for the world! Below you will find the author bios for some of my favorite authors!

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About M.A. Wilder

M. A. Wilder is a wife, mother, and native New Yorker who writes books in order to retain her title as a hipster. She is a stay-at-home mom by day and a crime fighter author by night. She is also rumored to be a full-time geek, a part-time fangirl, and an imaginary superhero.

About David Estes

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. David grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife. They now live together in their dream location, Hawaii. A reader all his life, he began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and started writing full time in June 2012. Now he travels the world writing with his wife, Adele. David's a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table.

About Rebecca Ethington

Author Rebecca Ethington

Rebecca Ethington is an internationally bestselling author with almost 700,000 books sold. Her breakout debut, The Imdalind Series, has been featured on bestseller lists since its debut in 2012, reaching thousands of adoring fans worldwide and cited as "Interesting and Intense" by USA Today's Happily Ever After Blog.

From writing horror to romance and creating every sort of magical creature in be-tween, Rebecca's imagination weaves vibrant worlds that transport readers into the pages of her books. Her writing has been described as fresh, original, and groundbreaking, with stories that bend genres and create fantastical worlds.

Born and raised under the lights of a stage, Rebecca has written stories by the ghost light, told them in whispers in dark corridors, and never stopped creating within the pages of a notebook.

About Isobel Irons

As you might have already guessed, Isobel Irons is a pen name.

In real life, I am (among many things) an indie film director and TV producer with a deep–some might even say obsessive–appreciation for onscreen storytelling and a lifelong book habit that I just can’t seem to kick.

In film, there’s nothing I like better than a JJ Abrams “show, not tell” character reveal, or a Joss Whedon banter session. Or an Erik Kripke-level “bromance.” And of course, I’m a die-hard fan of the will they / won’t they trope, where the fans start shipping two characters agonizingly long before they share their first kiss. Or in Hart Hanson’s case, like three frigging years before. (That’s right, Hart. I’m talking to you, you incorrigible tease.)

In my novels, I use my visual storytelling skills to show the reader an entire menagerie of hidden worlds. When it comes to imagination, there is no production value and no budget. But if there was, I would spend it all and then some. To me, my characters are real people, who just happen to live in my mind. Before I write, I scout locations to set the scene, I hold exhaustive casting sessions to find the perfect quirks that will ignite the maximum amount of conflict. Then, I throw in some tricky, but believable situations that allow my characters to expose themselves–sometimes in a figurative, emotional sense, other times quite literally. Rawr.

Finally, I sit back and let the story unfold. If it sucks, I cut it. I tell my characters–sternly, but calmly–to reset and do it again, but this time give me MORE. Show me MORE. Make me laugh or cry or want to hit something MORE. And then, when I realize I’ve read through the entire thing in one sitting and–Holy shit, is it really that late, and Oh my God I am SO hungry! Have I even eaten today? That’s when I know it’s ready to be unleashed into the world.

Vivid characters. Vibrant settings. Relatable problems. Together, these elements combine to form the Ultimate Literary Crack. Or, as I like to call it, “Promoting Literacy through Shameless Addiction.”

About Hanna Peach

Hanna is the bestselling author of the Bound romantic suspense series and the Dark Angel fantasy series. Although she writes in more than one genre she can’t write a book without weaving together a complicated plot and filling it with twists. She writes what she believes: good people can do bad things, ordinary people can do great things, and choose love above everything.

Eternally restless, Hanna has lived in Indonesia, Australia, Germany, Scotland, England, Croatia and Ireland – everything she owns fits into one suitcase. She’s planning her next move with her gorgeous (and understanding) partner right now. If not writing, she can be found wandering a dusty market in Marrakesh or trekking a mountain in Peru, often using her travels as settings in her novels.

To WIN a copy of her next release go to www.hannapeach.com/subscribe.

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