Buy a self-published ebook for Christmas

The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan is the best-selling Kindle book of 2011

Christmas time is perfect to reach for a book. This year’s Christmas for many users may be different, though. Many people will receive ereaders.

Instead of a specific book you will get a device you can use to read this book. It is important – and very enjoyable – to think of which books you want to download first.

I think many users will go the proven way. They will find a well-known book, from a bestselling author, released by an established publisher.

Well, maybe it’s good to do something on top of it.

Owning an ereader, and turning to ebooks in general, is something which opens the mind completely. You will discover such a variety of new titles and authors, that it’s just very reasonable not only to follow recommendations from the others, but also to start following your own taste.

Do you like to read books from a specific genre? Try to find new books and new authors. Refresh the way you learn what book to read next.

Many authors self-publish books in digital format, because otherwise their books would not have been seen by anyone else. Ebooks are a temple of self-published authors. Variety of titles and authors is impressive. There are much more chances that in a specific category you’ll find an ebook you want to read – even if there is no print book.

Do you think a self-published $0.99 title from an unknown author is a piece of a bad-quality writing nobody cares about? Maybe it’s just a prejudice, and maybe it’s time to update.

On the newly released list of Amazon’s top-selling books of 2011 (print + Kindle), The Mill River Recluse, a debut novel from a self-published author Darcie Chan, is #4. The same book is #1 on a list of bestselling Kindle ebooks of 2011. And there are two other self-published books in top 10. Would you believe that?

Darcie Chan submitted her book to several publishers and over 100 literary agents. It was rejected. If you need a social proof you have to ask yourself a question: is the rejected book that bad or is the bestselling book that good?

John Locke, author of the extremely popular Donovan Creed series was a first self-publisher to join Kindle Million Club – an exclusive group of authors who sold more than one million Kindle books. He sold altogether over 1.7 million ebooks and signed a contract with Simon & Schuster for a distribution of print versions of his novels.

Amanda Hocking is first self-publisher you may have heard about. She became famous at the beginning of the year as the 26-year old who earns millions of dollars selling Kindle-only versions of her Trylle Trilogy. A couple of months later she signed a contract with St. Martin’s Press. Trylle Trilogy will be republished early next year and ebooks will cost a few times more. Will they be a few times better?

There are on average 20 self-published books in Top 100 in Kindle Store every month. Low price is not the only factor readers take into consideration. Check ratings and user reviews to see if the book you’re interested in deserves its price.

How to find self-published books?

The easiest way is to explore Kindle Indie Books. It’s a sub page of Kindle Store where you can discover lots of great books in popular genres - all from self-published authors and indie publishers.

And remember, you can always read a preview of a book – just click on a book’s cover and Look Inside window will open. Or you can download a free sample to your Kindle. You don’t have to buy the book if you don’t like it. But if you like it you can get the rest of a book in a couple of seconds. That’s the beauty of ebooks.

The book from the author you haven’t known so far, which costs suspiciously low, can be an unexpectedly great Christmas reading. Just make a wish.

* * *

If you liked this post, please share it with your friends. Get next articles by RSS or email.