Self-​​published Books — Worth Reviewing?

This is a preface to a blog I’m in the process of writing con­cerning self-​​published books. I was recently asked by a pub­lished writer, if I intended to review self-​​published books. It was an easy question to answer. I will review any­thing that I, or any of the other five reviewers at Bookin’ with Sunny, believe is a book worth a reader’s time and/​or money.

That being said, it made me think more seri­ously about where the pub­lishing world is headed, with more and more writers bypassing the big six and striking out on their own. Make no mistake, this is occurring with increasing regularity.

My comfort zone when rec­om­mending books on Bookin’ with Sunny is drawn from my expe­rience as a book­seller. A lot of ter­rific book review sites/​blogs that are hugely suc­cessful, are genre driven, pri­marily or exclu­sively reviewing children’s lit­er­ature, chick-​​lit, romance, SF, fantasy, history, memoire, etc. Bookin’ with Sunny is broad­ening its genres reviewed, hoping that we will appear more and more like a neigh­borhood book­store staffed with well-​​read employees reflecting a broad range of subjects.

So where does the reader go for sug­ges­tions as to what is worth their time and/​or money? Usually we turn to our friends. Or, if we are lucky, there is a neigh­borhood book­store still in business. But what do we know about a book that has been self-​​published and hasn’t had the benefit of national adver­tising or reviewing? A good reader doesn’t like to trip over mis­spellings any more than a good editor does. Not all self-​​published books have been through any rig­orous editing process. It reminds me of that old TV cereal ad in which two sib­lings push away a bowl of cereal, a new brand and one they’ve never eaten before. Refusing to taste it, they push the bowl over to the youngest sibling with the words, “Mikey won’t like it, he hates every­thing.” But, to his and everyone else’s sur­prise, Mikey digs in and loves it.

Bookin’ with Sunny isn’t quite there yet, but we have begun to review self-​​published authors whose books we think are worth reviewing. For the self-​​published book, we also pay attention to the product itself — the paper, binding, print, cover. We’ve also been looking at books from very small inde­pendent presses. Because I feel strongly about brick and mortar book­stores, I will look for those authors with dis­trib­utors so that their books can be pur­chased at your local book­store and not just online from Amazon. The bottom line has not changed, only that we’re now thinking of our­selves as a review/​bookstore; a one-​​stop shop where reviews of many genres can be found, reviews that are trust­worthy and helpful, and where there’s at least one intriguing title for everyone.

More on this subject will be posted soon.                      –s.s.