Booksellers, publishers, librarians, and agents are encouraged to look at the 50 self-published titles below. Each appears with a list of retailers that are selling the book and a description provided by its author. Some of these writers are waiting to be discovered; others have track records and followings and are doing it on their own. If you are a self-published author interested in listing titles in this section, please visit publishersweekly.com/pw-select for more information.

Fiction

American Blasphemer

John Matthew Gillen. John Matthew Gillen. $17.95 paper (304p), ISBN 978-1-951937-12-6

Amazon, BN.com

After a breakup, a lovesick yuppie moves to New York City to escape his dysfunctional family and meets a tattooed witch who tries to get him to join her coven.


The Bomb Squad: Clash of the Patriots

Neil Gordon. Neil Perry Gordon. $3.99 e-book, ASIN B086Q1MJHG

Amazon

This espionage tale centers on the inevitable clash between two WWI patriots: German spy Harold Schwartz, administrator of the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, and New York City detective Max Rothman.


The Calling

Michael Kott. Double I Publishing. $12.99 paper (355p), ISBN 978-0-9989230-6-2; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B086L6V7BY

Amazon, BN.com

A group of first-year students find themselves sent not to the Naval Academy in Annapolis but instead to a civilian-run version.


Call Me Joe

Helen Lewis. RedDoor Press. $8.99 paper (360p), ISBN 978-1-913062-33-0

Amazon, BN.com

With the world on the brink of disaster, one man, called Joe, tries to convince the world’s leaders to collaborate and change their ways before it’s too late.


Charlyyk: Book 1

Spencer Carvil. AuthorHouse. $18.67 paper (338p), ISBN 978-1-5462-9483-2; $4.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5462-9482-5

Amazon

Capt. Brian “Bryn” Collier, a 58-year-old retired special air serviceman of the British Army, raises an alien child after being abducted and returned to Earth with the child.


The Defeat of Gilgamesh: An Ancient Epic History of Love and Power

Greta Sykes. Austin Macauley Publishers. $13.95 paper (224p), ISBN 978-1-5289-7852-1

Amazon, BN.com

This novel follows the lives and times of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna and the hero Gilgamesh, bringing to life their loves, struggles, and friendships.


In the Realm of Ash and Sorrow

Kenneth Harmon. Eiledon Press. $12.99 paper (352p), ISBN 978-0-578-59150-6

Amazon

In this story of otherworldly love, the spirit of an American bombardier haunts a Japanese war widow in the months before America drops its atomic bomb on Hiroshima.


Issues

Sharon St. John. Aloma. $15.99 paper (258p), ISBN 978-1-73330-304-0; $9.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-73330-305-7

Amazon, BN.com, Books-a-Million

People who are lonely and desperate for love realize—too late—that their needs have driven them into the arms of an antagonist who threatens their lives and well-being.


The Persephone Theory

Namir Rashid Thompson. Rosedog Books. $12 paper (108p), ISBN 978-1-4809-8203-1

Rosedogbookstore.com

In a mix of comedy and horror, a myth comes to life. Those who stand in Persephone’s path pay in blood. Her progeny roam Earth with a message that life is a vicious cycle.


Tales of Other Times

John Leathem. Austin Macauley Publishers. $13.95 paper (226p), ISBN 978-1-5289-5065-7; $4.50 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5289-7275-8

Amazon, BN.com

The stories within this collection are based on the places Leathem has been and the people he has met during the course of his life.


Treed: Because Trees Have Consequences.

Virginia Arthur. BookBaby. $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5323-7736-5

Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo

Maybelline Emmons is just going to see an old friend, one that happens to be an old tree. What could possibly go wrong? Eco-political fiction of the most passionate and hilarious kind.


Two Worlds Apart

Gail Rose Thompson. Outskirts Press. $24.95 paper (480p), ISBN 978-1-977218-72-8

Amazon, BN.com

When an American-educated Persian girl returns home, her life changes drastically. Through her love of horses, she becomes one of the most influential women in Iran.


Unflappable: A Novel

Suzie Gilbert. Perch Press. $19.99 paper (326p), ISBN 978-0-578-61200-3; $19.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-578-61199-0

Amazon, BN.com, Ingram

Luna Burke and Ned Harrelson are on a 2,300-mile road trip, with the authorities hot on their heels and a homicidal eagle in the back seat.


When Life Was Like a Cucumber

Greg Wyss. Page Publishing. $27.95 paper (606p), ISBN 978-1-64462-166-0

Amazon, BN.com, Apple iBooks, Google Play

An evocative work of fiction centering on the personal, social, and political hangover of the early 1970s in Europe and America.



Poetry

To Water Her Garden: A Journey of Self-Discovery

Samira Mahmoodi. Samira Mahmoodi. $11.99 paper (226p), ISBN 978-1-79882-616-4

Amazon, BN.com, Books-a-Million, IndieBound

This collection of poetry is about healing—recognizing pain, unveiling its origins, and discovering the power behind failure.



Mystery/Thriller

Into the Suffering City: A Novel of Baltimore

Bill LeFurgy. High Kicker Books. $9.99 paper (318p), ISBN 978-0-578-61878-4; $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-578-62545-4

Amazon

A female doctor on the autism spectrum forms an unlikely partnership with a tormented private detective to enter the seedy underbelly of 1909 Baltimore in search of killer.


Night Stalker

Amy Raines and Michael Millington. Amy Raines and Michael Millington. $8.99 paper (170p), ISBN 978-1-65021-422-1; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B0832RKX4D

Amazon

New cop Jennifer Cleary is called to a murder scene that echoes those of murders that occurred 20 years earlier. Can Cleary find the truth before the Night Stalker destroys more lives?


Sister Margaret: A Tommy Keane Novel

Travis Myers and Natasha Myers Marsiguerra, illus. by Phred Rawles. Bully Press. $12.95 paper (214p), ISBN 978-1-73433-700-6

Amazon, BN.com, Books-a-Million

Tommy Keane investigates the grizzly crime of a murdered nun, where nothing is as it seems, and where even a seasoned detective can be surprised by the cruelty humans can commit and endure.


Special Means

Andrew Ceroni. Outskirts Press. $18.95 paper (342p), ISBN 978-1-977225-76-4

Amazon, BN.com

CIA agents must play catch-up to stop powerful men in Homeland Security and the Defense Department from staging the overthrow of the president and his administration.


Who Would Have Thought

Barbara Mostella. Stanton Publishing House. $17.95 e-book, ISBN 978-1-71982-837-6

Amazon, BN.com, Smashwords

In this suspense/mystery story, a client hires law firm Soco & Soco, headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska, to solve the suicide case of his brother, who worked in Washington, D.C.



SF/Fantasy/Horror

By Sea & Sky: An Esowon Story

Antoine Bandele, illus. by Sarayu. Bandele Books. $4.99 e-book, ASIN B084F2MV6N

Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo

With no magic, no brawn, and no pirate crew, Zala seeks to steal back the one treasure that matters to her most: her husband.


The Clockwork Mirror

Richard Snow. Austin Macauley Publishers. $12.95 paper (204p), ISBN 978-1-5289-8392-1

Amazon, BN.com

In a darkly surreal alternative reality, Hitchcock plays the wolf and Marilyn plays the sex kitten as a cast of departed icons take the stage on the eve of apocalypse.


Dynamicist

Lee Hunt. Lee Hunt. $16 paper (320p), ISBN 978-1-9990935-0-1; $9.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-77705-051-1

Amazon

Robert thought he was entering the New School in a new age of invention, but instead he finds himself on the edge of a cold war and another dark age.


Fake News from a Distant Planet (The Book of Bill #1)

Alan Burroughs. TA Burroughs. $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-83800-700-3

Amazon, Kobo

Kevin’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy—but that doesn’t stop a couple of bumbling angels from enlisting his help with hilarious consequences when they accidentally lose God.


Premonitions of a Lucid Dreamer: Magic Novellas

Peter Saucier. Peter Saucier. $10.99 paper (347p), 979-86-23-13640-4

Amazon

In this collection of novellas, an archaeologist in Belize discovers the ghost of a Mayan girl saved from sacrifice, a researcher becomes the first white man to experience magic mushrooms, and an American becomes an unwitting smuggler in a Dominican revolution.


Qubit

Sergio Mendes. Page Publishing. $21.95 paper (350p), ISBN 978-1-64584-956-8

Amazon

A science fiction thriller centered on a shocking temporal shift in which Harlan Forster, a manager on a business flight, awakens in a strange room nearly 1,000 years into the future.



Romance/Erotica

Dark Descent into Desire

J.J. Sorel. J.J. Sorel. $2.99 e-book, ASIN B084H5H3KG

Amazon

When a complex billionaire meets a hungry artist, her innocence becomes his obsession. Their passion deepens, and, unlike any before, she enters the heart and soul of this damaged man.


Hidden Magic: The Eldritch of Hallows

Elana McDougall, illus. by George Long. L.M. Fraser Publishing. $5.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-7771992

Kobo

Sasha found sanctuary and a sexy sheriff in mysterious Hallows. When evil stalks her, can she protect Hallows’s magical secrets and save the man she loves with her newfound powers?



Nonfiction

Amplify Your Marketing, Career, and Company: The Entrepreneurial Journey of the Creative Genius

Tommy Swanhaus. TMS Publishing. $9.99 paper (107p), ISBN 979-86-27-75574-8; $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-67800-280-0

Amazon

This book offers personal stories and real-life examples in order to potentially help readers grow their careers and companies.


Effective Prayers: Prayers That Move God’s Heart

Godwin Arisa. URLink Prints & Media. $14.99 paper (211p), ISBN 978-1-64753-163-8

Amazon

Arisa introduces the type of prayers that she says bring the truths of God and his absolute authority and powers to end oppressive earthly situations in the lives of those who believe.


I Know Jesus Christ Is Real

Melinda Deir-Boyette. Deir to Dream. $0.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-73471-426-5

Amazon, BN.com

A candid spiritual and philosophical autobiography aimed at adults.


The MSCP Principle

Rene Qian. Page Publishing. $20.95 paper (384p), ISBN 978-1-68409-225-3

Amazon

Qian provides an easy 16-step energy routine that strives to grant mental clarity and awareness.


Pandemic Teaching: A Survival Guide for College Faculty

Kevin Patton. Lion Den. 99¢ e-book, ISBN 978-1-393-58588-6

Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo

As faculty scramble to move on-campus courses to remote learning, a veteran teaching mentor provides a quick and dirty survival manual to help teachers get things started and keep them going.


Spiritual Reality: Transforming the Ordinary into the Extraordinary

Lydia Anne Mitchell. Balboa Press. $8.86 paper (162p), ISBN 978-1-982206-03-1

Amazon, BN.com, Booktopia

Mitchell's guidance seeks to help readers link with their internal spirit to increase their joy, improve their outlook, and take control of their lives.


This Book Is the Longest Sentence Ever Written and Then Published

Dave Cowen. Dave Cowen. $3.33 e-book, ASIN B086WWNVLN

Amazon

Beginning with a humorous stream-of-consciousness quest to gain a quantifiable literary achievement, this experimental book becomes a raw livestream of the Kaddish year of mourning following Cowen’s father’s suicide.


The United Nations’ Top Job: A Close Look at the Work of Eight Secretaries General

Lucia Mouat. CreateSpace. $18.50 paper (530p), ISBN 978-1-4848-0619-7

Amazon

Based on Mouat’s research, experience, and interviews, this book looks at how each of the eight UN secretary-generals were elected and what they managed to accomplish.


The Universal Grammar of Story: An Author’s Guide to Writing for the Soul of the World

Hazel Denhart. The Invisible Press. $19.99 paper (234p), ISBN 978-1-936262-01-4

BN.com, IndieBound

This treatise on writing covers the technical, philosophical, and psychosocial needs of writers and their audiences.


The Vibrant Landscape

Gary Paul Levinson. Kimiye Press. $39.99 hardcover (132p), ISBN 978-0-578-53675-0

Autumnscapes.com, Amazon

This art book includes 98 color landscape images of the national and state parks, forests, and byways, as well as an essay from author and photographer Margaretta K. Mitchell.



Children’s/YA

Amire La Vie! Visual Impressions of Paris, Berlin, and Rome

Reana Ashley. Reana Ashley. $14.49 e-book, ISBN 978-0-578-67538-1

Amazon, BN.com, Google Play, Kobo, Overdrive

Travel though Ashley’s lens and explore the beautiful sites of Paris, Berlin, and Rome.


Daughter of Destiny

Jennifer Thomas. Christian Faith Publishing. $14.95 paper (150p), ISBN 978-1-64416-721-2

Amazon

The story of an orphan with the gift of prophecy and healing power of the spoken word as she overcomes adversities and persecutions in her life.


The Door into Whimsy

H.F. Clarke. Western Gate Books. $20.56 hardcover (156p), ISBN 978-1-73477-460-3

BN.com

Tyler Wordsmith encounters ogres, trolls, and a grumpy ruckus who just wants a nap in this illustrated children’s fantasy about the wisdom of mastering one’s words and temper.


Ever Alice

Heather Cuthbertson. Red Rogue Press. $14.95 paper (356p), ISBN 978-0-9969239-4-1

Amazon, BN.com

Alice finds herself back in Wonderland, this time under orders to take out the Queen of Hearts.


Harry and the Pelican Coloring Book

Amy Leaf. Leaf Publishing. $5.99 paper (28p), ISBN 978-0-578-49097-7

Amazon, BN.com, IndieBound

This is a coloring book companion to Harry and the Pelican in which readers can color the illustrations as they follow along with the story.


The King’s Broad Arrow

Kathryn Goodwin Tone, illus. by Crystal Cregge. Kathryn Goodwin Tone. $16.99 paper (354p), ISBN 978-1-73400-280-5

Amazon, BN.com, IndieBound

A young man must choose between the safety of home or his country’s future in this action-packed novel set in the early years of the American Revolution.


Little Bit & Big Byte Go Green

Craig T. Feigh, illus. by Patrick Carlson. BookBaby. $24.99 hardcover (34p), ISBN 978-1-5439-6310-6; $11.99 paper, ISBN 978-1-5439-6306-9

Amazon, BN.com

The second in this series following unique technology-related characters, Little Bit and Big Byte share creative and humorous ways to save natural resources.


Merlin Raj and the Santa Algorithm: A Computer Science Dog’s Tale

Priya Ardis, illus. by Shelley Hampe. Vulcan Ink. $5.99 paper (110p), ISBN 978-1-951767-10-5

Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Google Play, Kobo

Service dog Merlin Raj learns computational thinking to “think like a computer” to help his family when Mom can’t come home for the holidays.


Mesopo

Eva Dietrich, illus. by Ingrid Kallick. Sable Books. $14 paper (340p), ISBN 978-1-73151-821-7; $5.71 e-book, ISBN 978-1-73151-821-7

Amazon

A boy on a quest to find his father finds a land in need of a hero.


Polly Goes to the Fair

Marcia Miles, illus. by Courtney Lopez. Marcia Miles. $9.99 paper (31p), ISBN 979-86-12-85183-7

Amazon, BN.com

In the second book in the Polly series, Polly visits the fair and learns more about her world.


Yara’s Tawari Tree (Yara’s Rainforest #1)

Yossi Lapid. Yosef Lapid. $4.99 e-book, ASIN B07T1SM5WL

Amazon

Yara rescues a Tawari tree in her besieged rainforest home. When Yara falls ill, the forest returns the love and saves her life.