FANTASY AND SCI-FI BOOKS THAT STARTED OUT SELF PUBLISHED

[@melsbookshelves]

I love that fact that you included author quotes with some of the books. Really puts things in perspective :)

[@Hamilwhovian]

I love that Sanderson put Warbreaker on his website, it was the first book from him that I read and I did it because it was free! I loved it so much that ended up buying it when I got the money

[@aishwarya39-j6s]

I couldn't believe that Warbreaker was self published. Sanderson is a well known fantasy author and I never thought any of his books should be self published. But self publishing is a good way to write whatever you want and then earn a good amount.

[@ebnovels]

It’s so funny to me that he basically was just like, “Hey fans, I wrote this. Here it is if you’re interested!”

[@aishwarya39-j6s]

@@ebnovels I always think that he is so famous that publishers await his next novel.

[@Iza56]

@@aishwarya39-j6s if publishing takes 200K of your income, self publishing is definitely something to consider 😉

[@Above_Parr]

Saying that Senlin Ascends is a book you could see being read in literary circles with like a teacher or guide is what just made me put it on my tbr list. I love to read books like that & try to figure it out on my own, like the symbolism & other literary devices because I don’t have any friends who read. But I can also see how much fun it would be to do it with others. Great list btw!

[@ebnovels]

Ohh, I hope you enjoy it if you pick it up 😄

[@AbbySalter]

Orbit as a publisher seem to be very good at picking up self published authors and republishing the books with good marketing

[@ebnovels]

I agree! I may have an orbit video coming out soon that mentions this 😄😄😄

[@adriennereads5978]

The first book in the Licanius trilogy by James Islington was self published and then got picked up by orbit to finish the trilogy. It’s fantastic ☺️

[@LarryHasOpinions]

im pretty sure sword of kaigen will be picked up by a traditional publisher at some point

[@ebnovels]

I would expect so too! Unless the author doesn’t want that :)

[@rhiannonjames3212]

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers was originally self-published via Kickstarter! It was actually how I originally found it way back in the day, because it was on a list of self-published sci-fi.

[@readingwithrebeccanicole]

wow, really? I love her books but I had no idea she started out self published!

[@FreyaWarr]

Hey! I finally read the Strange the Dreamer books! I LOVED them. So whimsical and exciting! Thank you for talking about it on you channel. It was definitely a 5 star read for me ❤️

[@ebnovels]

Ohh, yay!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed them 😄😄😄

[@erinbrooks6463]

Describing Warbreaker as a parent trap sent me 😂 so hilarious and yassss for this video!!! I’ve seen a few booktubers really hate on self publishing but it is so so important!

[@shailvithapliyal1883]

I love your hairstyles and i can never figure out how do you do them 😅

[@ebnovels]

This one is just putting lots of pins in my hair!

[@shailvithapliyal1883]

@@ebnovels looks lovely 😄 and the one with a bun is my favorite

[@somusoelueze4579]

Riyria Revelations is one of my favourite series of all time, just amazing,

[@LarryHasOpinions]

had NO IDEA warbreaker was self pub!!

[@ebnovels]

I’d heard awhile back that it was free online, and I was always worried it was something kinda sorta illegal, but its definitely not 😂

[@ta_hernandez5]

I was surprised by most of these! The only one I already knew was self published was The Martian. As a self-published author, I always think its fun and encouraging to see other self-published books find success in the traditional publishing world. Thanks for sharing this list.

[@lisagoldstein5676]

I know of books self published but I haven't read many of them yet except throne of glass of course. Love ur videos!

[@RosLanta]

There are also authors who were traditionally published who later self-published the books after the rights returned to them.

[@JessOwens]

So happy to see Michael J Sullivan on this list 🥺. He done so good

[@nickflesher7608]

the very first book you mentioned sounded so cool I went and spent my monthly audible credit on it. The narrator is so good too!

[@arindamgoswami5764]

Amazing to see so many great titles were self-published! What I agree with you in this video is it's a problem for many good writers who are lagging behind due to lack of funds. By the way, @ElliotBrooks I love your videos. Always some great content to see!

[@arunimapal6733]

Every time you were these dangling earrings, I am so distracted buy them. They are lovely! 😍

[@vanessaebony529]

Actually, Sarah J Maas Throne of Glass was on fictionpress, it was Fiction presses most reviewed story. After she graduated with her degree she took it down to rework and started querying agents to get it published.

[@ebnovels]

Self publishing just means to publish your work at your own expense, so I still consider Throne of Glass to fall under that 😄

[@TsubasaNoYukiko]

The web publishing community shouts for Worm (complete) - epic dark superhero story of a sort by wildbow The mother of learning series (complete) by Domagoj Kurmiac - groundhogs day meets a magic world where the protagonist is very much not the ‘chosen one’ (physical books coming - second of the quartet going through pre-publishing now!)

[@blackroomred]

i believe alice osman's very popular 'heartstopper' series used to be self-published on a social media platform before it became what it is now. i think it was tumblr but i'm not 100% certain, maybe i'm just remembering tumblr because i used to see a lot of talk about it there way before it got traditionally published. another very popular series i know was self-published is the 'captive prince' trilogy. the author used to publish the story chapter by chapter on her blog, if you buy the books she even has the handles of the og readerbase/commenters from her blog days at the end of it. i personally love self-published titles so much, many times i end up finding more unique stories in that category than in traditional publishing. most probably because the writers have more freedom to go wild with their creative juices without anyone telling them to cut this or that during the editing process.. either way i love the unpredictability of it all.

[@RosLanta]

Winter's Orbit started out being posted on AO3 I believe. And of course there are numerous books which started out as fanfic, most famously including 50 Shades of Grey.

[@catsandbats77]

I was definitely surprised to hear Warbreaker was self published. Years ago I read some YA books by the author Michelle Zink. They're kind of fantasy/supernatural books. She decided several years ago to switch from traditional publishing to self publishing. She now writes adult romance books and makes more money and publishes more books each year than she did when she was traditionally published. It was quite a risk since she's a single mother. It just works better for her.

[@AndrewWatsonChangingWay]

Well-chosen books and quotes, thanks!

[@ebnovels]

You’re very welcome ☺️

[@jacquelinegreen4592]

I'm currently reading Atlas Six by Olivie Blake and I do believe it's self-published. I'm really enjoying the characters.

[@cynthiaholmes5124]

I love the wolf of oren yaro I did knew that it was self published I haven't read the other two books yet

[@GaganUluvaru]

Its soo good to watch your videos, commenting to this one after a while since been watching your other videos whole afternoon, Currently am reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire, also gonna start A Heart So Fierce and Broken. Anyways love you soo much...❤❤❤

[@TheBookishMom]

I did know a few of these but some of them surprised me. I had no idea the Martian was self published to begin with.

[@stanhoneycutt7544]

Craig Alanson’s Expeditionary Force series I believe was self-published before Audible picked it up. Currently at 12 books. Ditto Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series and Andrew Rowe’s Sufficiently Advanced Magic series.

[@ebnovels]

So interesting to me when audible picks something up 😯

[@stanhoneycutt7544]

Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia was self-published in 2008 and became a best seller before Baen picked it up a year later. I enjoyed the series.

[@ebnovels]

Thanks for mentioning that! 😄

[@sthutisrinivas9890]

I didn't expect to see Warbreaker.. I love cosmere and only started reading on your recommendation.. Now I can't put them down.

[@safinan8008]

Great video!! 📖📽😊

[@AdamFishkin]

"Cerebus" is a series of graphic novels by Dave Sim about a Conan the Barbarian-esque aardvark who gets swept up in political intrigue. The middle of the series is controversial because Sim goes off on a gender-studies tangent, but the early entries ... especially "High Society" and "Church & State" ... are among the greatest comics ever created. The whole series was self-published from 1978 to 2004.

[@wolkcumulus2547]

Can you do books that started as Wattpad stories? I know The Summoner series (Taran Matharu) was first a Wattpad story.

[@markmiles3768]

Senlin Ascends was amazing. It certainly was a strange and wonderful journey. The tower reminded me of Willy Wonka's Factory. Is that odd?

[@markmiles3768]

Have you read Wool by Hugh Howey? That is a lot of fun and he certainly was self published at first.

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

I didn’t know that about so many of these!

[@gabrielamartins5053]

I definitely want to read Warbreaker! Is the vocabulary too difficult? I'm not a native speaker 😕 I loved Mistborn!!

[@danielleoliver1734]

Most Sanderson books are pretty easy to read, just long. They aren’t purple prose or overly long descriptions of everything. You should be able to read it, it will take a while due to length not complexity

[@gabrielamartins5053]

@@danielleoliver1734 Thank you!! 😊

[@BookishDrummer]

The one video I thought you wouldn’t mention Sanderson in lol I forgot that he did that with Warbreaker. I think for an author trying to publish a unique story that doesn’t have mass appeal, it would be better to go the self publishing route.

[@cynthiaholmes5124]

I totally forgot that rage of dragons was self published I absolutely love the book and fire of vengeance can't wait to read the next book 🤔😊😇☺️

[@ebnovels]

I hope you enjoy the third one too!

[@cynthiaholmes5124]

@@ebnovels thanks have a nice day 🙂😊

[@vanjakatarina1517]

I am currently reading Warbreaker. As much as I am in love with the story and most of the characters, I love the magic and the world, BUT I hate the way he describes women in it... I have read his Skyward series and they don't have this problem so I'm hoping it is something of his older works. I gave it the benefit of the doubt with the first few characters as it described the religion and the "lustfull" character. But when every single woman in the book was described by their breast size and curves? It made me feel really off. Especially when the male characters got much more indept descriptions. Like hair, posture, aura, colours, clothes, eyes, messy or clean, dull or bright, etc

[@ebnovels]

I recall only Blushweaver being described in that sort of way, but that’s more because she dresses in revealing clothing and she’s very confident in how she presents herself. The hair is definitely described for the other two, which I recall being a quite common description since it turns colors and is a reflection of their personalities and moods. I think the main two women in the book aren’t actually described much at all beyond that. I remember wanting to draw them, and wanting to look up fanart for them, and there isn’t much of any description. It has made it somewhat difficult for artists to depict them and for fans to pick them out in artwork.

[@Bookborn]

Wait noooo I couldn't disagree more! I feel like I'm super sensitive to sexism (at least that's what people who watch my videos say because they get mad that I call it out a lot 🙈). I agree that Blushweaver is described by her body a lot, and I think the only reason it doesn't bug me as much is because it seems very purposeful for her character - her character is very forward about *wanting* to be sexual and tries to use her body to influence Lightsong...so I feel like since it's her choice, and she wants to be portrayed that way as a character, it's ok. I honestly don't remember Siri or Vivenna every being described by their bodies - maybe Siri in the naked scene in the beginning? But I actually love how the sisters are portrayed...IDK if you have come to a certain scene yet, but Vivenna and Siri view the same thing two different ways and I think it's such a good commentary on how women can view something feminine in two different ways. But I'm probably biased because I love Warbreaker lol

[@vanjakatarina1517]

@@Bookborn I have noted it as I have been reading. As I said, with Blushweaver given her character I can see thet it makes sense. But Vivenna, Mercystar and several of the servants are discribed like this too. I understand that it has to do with the religion and the mindset of the characters. But I still find it uncomfortable.

[@vanjakatarina1517]

@@ebnovels Yeah, I meant Blushweaver as the lustfull character. So I understand her. I just remember feeling really odd that Vivenna out of all characters had all of her clothing described by how much or little skin it showed. I understand it had to do with her religion. But something about describing everything her clothes covers defeats the purpose of covering it. Mercystar was also described entirely by her curves and bust. I understood nothing of her pose or height or hair or clothes or anything. Just that she was curvy... But I think a lot has to do with highlighting the religious differences in the world. I still find it a little off putting.😅

[@ebnovels]

Ah, the modesty of one city vs the “lack” of modesty in another is definitely highlighted in the book, so I get how that would be something you might not love!

[@sandraw.2010]

I was reading Warbreaker, but I had to put it on hold at 50%, I was too bored

[@ebnovels]

Ahh, that’s too bad! Sanderson books can definitely take awhile to get going.

[@TwilightBizarre]

Talking about selfpub is similar as talking about fanficiton. There's good out there, there's tons of bad, some of it gets picked up. In the end, good content is good content! Technical thing, I have to say not a fan of the background music, I feel like it just adds unnecessary noise :/