Booksellers, publishers, and agents are encouraged to look at the 49 self-published titles listed below, with descriptions provided by their authors. Some of these writers are waiting to be discovered; others have a track record and a following 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
Access to Capital
Gary Hobbs. Azuza Publishing. $19.99 paper (376p), ISBN 978-0-9960879-0-2; $9.99 e-book, ASIN B00S1N504O
Amazon, BN.com
A regional economy falters from declining oil prices and the capping of fracked wells as the Reagan administration consolidates the financial industry. Luke Boyd’s financial company is targeted for a takeover as he struggles through a multiyear divorce and a long-term secret relationship. The high-stakes world of finance and the changing roles of women in the 1980s are backdrops to this look at money, love, and values.
Africa’s Heart: The Journey Ends in Kansas
Mark Wentling. Peace Corps Writers. $20 paper (522p), ISBN 978-1-935925-55-2; $8.99 e-book, ASIN B00T8A4ZDG
Amazon, BN.com
Fascinated by a mysterious novella, Robin goes with Molly on a madcap quest for a man known only as J.B. Their journey takes them from Gemini, Kansas, to a remote country in Africa.
Approaching Twi-Night
M. Thomas Apple. Kinoshita Kajitsu Press. $11.95 paper (242p), ISBN 978-4-905426-66-0; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B00TI3WVJ8
AbeBooks, Alibris, Amazon, BN.com
Struggling with an overbearing manager, squabbling teammates, and family problems, a journeyman pitcher confronts his own sense of worth in the twilight of his career.
Damaged Cargoes
David Turri. Vanguard Press. $10 paper (363p), ISBN 978-1-84386-730-2; $6.99 e-book ASIN B00ICNR0E6
Amazon
In 1870, Thaddeus Galt, a giant of intemperance and pride, discovers a horror that drives him on a crusade for justice into a chilling world of child trafficking, opium, and violence.
Dangerous Love: A Novel
R.J. Wilson. CreateSpace. $24.95 paper (201p), ISBN 978-1-4137-2563-6; $4.99 e-book, ASIN B005WOFH0M
Amazon
This is the story of two drug-influenced lovers set against the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Dreams of My Mothers: A Story of Love Transcendent
Joel L.A. Peterson. Huff Publishing Associates. $14.95 paper (344p), ISBN 978-0-9895277-8-1; $6.99 e-book, ASIN B00UKD8Z2C
Amazon
Based on a true story, this novel is an account of identity, race, and family, bound up within the dreams, redemption, and love of two women—mothers from opposite ends of the world—and the human condition.
God Made the Rainbow: A Love Story
Ken Regan. WestBow Press. $33.95 hardcover (214p), ISBN 978-1-49087-313-8; $17.95 paper (214p), ISBN 978-1-49087-312-1; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-49087-311-4
Amazon, BN.com, Westbow Press
A young minister has a crisis of faith when his new bride dies, leaving him to raise her two little girls.
Kick Back: A Romantic-Comedy Thirty Miles Out to Sea
R.C. Atchisson. Stingy Brim. $10.99 paper (336p), ISBN 978-0-9864257-1-4, $4.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-9864257-0-7
Amazon
Joe Thornton is having the time of... the end of his life. After losing his wine business to an unscrupulous business partner and his marriage to an unfaithful wife, Joe drowns his sorrows day after day. At the end of his rope, Joe tosses a coin to decide his future. When the flip determines that he must kill himself, Joe resolves to complete one final item on his bucket list by traveling to the tiny island of Nantucket, where he plans to “accidentally” drown. Over the course of the island summer, Joe finds himself falling for a young woman half his age and befriended by a variety of colorful locals. Eventually, Joe engages in a high-seas showdown with the man who stole his company. Now he must decide if “integrity of the game” truly requires that he follow through with his morbid plan or if he has the faith to begin again. Even more importantly, Joe must answer the question “What do you do when the bucket kicks back?”
Mom on the Road
Allyson Ochs Primack. CreateSpace. $11.99 paper (280p), ISBN 978-1-5078-0955-6
Amazon, BN.com, Lulu
Shortly after she turned 40, Maggie Stevens took an unexpected journey that changed the course of her life.
The Soul Retrieval
Ann W. Jarvie. JazzComm Publishing. $15.99 paper (434p), ISBN 978-0-692-36820-6
Amazon, BN.com
A suspenseful novel of love and healing inspired by a true story about a traumatized southern woman, a Native American mystic, and the murder mystery that threatens to unravel the woman.
Unsung Victims (Resiliency, Book 1)
Ica Iova. Ica Iova. $15.99 paper (412p), ISBN 978-1508959359; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B00U9T2VIQ
Amazon
By turns amusing and tragic, this novel takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through the highs and lows of divorce and all the foolishness surrounding it.
Zoo Story: A Tail for Our Time
Miles Wortman. CreateSpace. $9.95 paper (132p), ISBN 978-1-5060-1680-1; $4.99 e-book, ASIN B00UGTDXMW
Amazon, BN.com
When the zoo’s animals revolt and seize control, the blogosphere and global outrage spin out of control in this Orwellian satire on the decline of language and political discourse in social media.
Mystery/Thriller
57 Chevy
Michael Seigler. CreateSpace. $13.70 paper (389p), ISBN 978-1-5061-4413-9; 99¢ e-book, ISBN 978-0-9909037-1-0
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo, Smashwords
Detective John Bloom for the town of Letterson unearths a mystery when a family of three are found drowned in their car. As he investigates, he finds that it was no ordinary car and someone still wants it to remain under water some 50 years later.
Angels Three Five
Don Candy. CreateSpace. $13.99 paper (462p), ISBN 978-1-5053-6610-5; $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00UA715T8
Amazon, BN.com
Sam McKensie, whose father was killed while attacking a surface-to-air missile base in Vietnam, becomes a naval aviator like his uncle Bo Jameson. He joins an elite and unknown SEAL team to assist in developing an HAHO/HALO system with capabilities far beyond the then-current state of the art. Sam and Bo lead elements of a multiforce Special Operations team to plan and execute a mission to eliminate one of the largest threats the U.S. has ever faced. But when Sam’s wife, a Navy flight instructor, is kidnapped by enemy forces, the mission is threatened.
Breaking Free
Rob Lubitz. iUniverse. $17.95 paper (272p), ISBN 978-1-4620-5286-8; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-4620-5284-4
Amazon, BN.com
A beautiful woman with a shrouded past draws an unsuspecting lawyer, Ryan Butler, into a traitorous espionage plot. Soon his life and the world’s balance of power are at risk.
The Intern: Chasing Murderers, Hookers and Senators Around DC
Dale Wiley. Dale Wiley. $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-311-98771-6
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo, Smashwords
In 1995, DC intern Trent Norris becomes the most wanted man in America. He holes up at the Watergate on a senator’s dime and enlists a comely call girl to help.
The Last Entry: A Mystery
Teri MacIntosh. CreateSpace. $12.99 paper (232p), ISBN 978-1-5053-0770-2; $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00U01IERK
Amazon, BN.com
Bethany Henderson’s obsession with her journal leads her to leave the suburbs of San Diego by train and travel to a small town where something terrible must have happened 20 years earlier.
Project Nephili
T.L. Farmer. Story Merchant. $15.95 paper (424p), ISBN 978-0-9904216-2-7; $5.99 e-book, ASIN B00LR65KDS
Amazon, BN.com
Angie McDowell, a newspaper reporter paralyzed by insecurity and alcoholism, stumbles on a story about a Civil War–era plantation owner’s obsession to engineer, by Darwinian principles, the perfect slave.
SF/Fantasy/Horror
The Dead Days Journal, Vol. 1
Sandra R. Campbell. Sandra R. Campbell. $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00V5FWLII
Amazon
A once unbreakable daughter and father are pitted against each other when a new twist in their postapocalyptic world arrives and threatens to destroy it all.
Oversight
Thomas Claburn. Lot 49 Labs. $12 paper (264p), ISBN 978-0-98610160-1; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B00UO7CDYK
Amazon, BN.com, Smashwords
A near-future science fiction thriller about an investigator struggling for redemption amid personal tragedy, private demons, and mediated reality.
The Robusta Incident
Jennifer Fales. Jennifer Fales. $16.95 paper (308p), ISBN 978-0-9907791-0-0; $5.99 e-book, ASIN B00SGFLTTC
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Outskirts Press
Slapstick horror, delicious coffee, and office satire served up with a double shot of voodoo and vengeance.
Shadow’s Voice
Natalie Johanson. Elementa. $25.55 paper (480p), ISBN 978-91-87751-51-6; $8.99 e-book, ASIN B00LFAQNM8
Amazon, BN.com, Book Depository
Rose Ula is tasked with taking news of a military coup and assassination plan to the king. Along the way, she ends up, despite her efforts, involved in trying to stop the plot and save the king.
Romance/Erotica
Five Days: Which Days Would You Choose?
Matt Micros. Micropulous Press. $9.99 paper (176p), ISBN 978-0-692-20684-3; $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00KGJQBV2
Mattmicros.com, Amazon, BN.com
A Connecticut teacher drowns after saving a little boy, but because of the heroic way he died, is given the opportunity to relive any five days of his life.
Nowhere Ranch
Heidi Cullinan, illus. by Kanaxa. Heidi Cullinan. $14 paper (254p), ISBN 978-0-9961203-1-9; $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-9961203-0-2
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Google Play, Kobo
Roving ranch hand Roe Davis never mixes business with pleasure, but his new boss, Travis Loving, lines up with Roe’s kinks like a custom-set rail and makes it clear Roe’s days of running away from love are over.
Out of the Box Awakening
Jennifer Theriot. Jennifer Theriot. $13.95 paper (366p), ISBN 978-1-4922-9707-9; 99¢ e-book, ASIN B00CNX3MU2
Amazon
What happens when a married woman and a sexy, handsome widower are thrown together by fate? This is a story about second chances, shared passion, and shared joy—about what happens when two people find new life and new love for themselves and for those around them.
Protecting Caroline
Susan Stoker. Susan Stoker. $9.99 paper (230p), ISBN 978-0-99073880-0; $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00N9JVRUQ
Amazon
Caroline, with the help of three members of a SEAL team, foils a terrorist plot, but after she gets home she finds herself still in the sights of the terrorists.
Sachael Dreams
Melody Winter. REUTS Publications. $15.99 (532p), ISBN 978-1-94211111-5; $5.99 e-book, ASIN B00TYZJNFA
Amazon, Smashwords
At every full moon, Estelle performs a ritual in the ocean—a ritual preserving a hidden heritage. As her secrets are uncovered by a dangerous sect, can she save herself and her legacy?
Inspirational
Discovering the It Factor Within You: Developing Your Charismatic Personality
Leesa Rowland. Kismet Publishing. $19.95 paper (241p), ISBN 978-0-578-15629-3; $9.99 e-book, ASIN B00VW6YDYU
Amazon, BN.com
Why do some people walk into a room and instantly command everyone’s attention and admiration, while others go unnoticed? What makes the difference?
The Lost Art of Resurrection: Initiation, Secret Chambers and the Quest for the Otherworld
Freddy Silva. Invisible Temple. $22 paper (218p), ISBN 978-0-9904151-1-4; $9.99 e-book, ASIN B00MQZCOAQ
Invisibletemple.com, Amazon
Long before Jesus, a secret ritual was practiced by the living from Egypt to China that disclosed insights into the nature of reality. Its initiates were called “risen from the dead.”
Real Things: 6 Ways to Embrace Life
Brigitte Cutshall. Gemini Media. $18 paper (128p), ISBN 978-0-9787475-1-0
Amazon
A cancer survivor with a brain tumor, Cutshall inspires others to embrace life. Look for beauty around you, stay humble, strive for harmony; focus on real things.
Nonfiction
Beauty and Chaos: Essays on Tokyo Life
Michael Pronko. Raked Gravel Press. $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00PDH4KVA
Amazon
Pronko explores Tokyo from the inside to reveal the city’s deeper meanings and daily pleasures. In turns comic, philosophic, descriptive, and exasperated, Pronko’s essays have been popular with Japanese readers for more than a decade.
Before India: Exploring Your Ancestry with DNA
David G. Mahal. DGM Associates. $17 paper (230p), ISBN 978-0-692-21820-4
Amazon, BN.com
This easy-to-read guide to ancestry focuses on the Indian subcontinent. It illuminates how human origins and ancestry are best discovered through a combination of science and history. Not a dry study of genetics, the book includes many pictures, maps, and charts. Mirroring a multifaceted subject matter, it’s a well-researched amalgamation of genres (part genealogical guide, part ethnic history, part science exposé) that draws a holistic picture of ancestry.
Dear Mother, Love Daddy: The World War II Letters of Roscoe and Gladys Yegerlehner
Deborah Sweeney. CreateSpace. $19.99 paper (258p), ISBN 978-1-5007-3554-8
Amazon
When the United States entered the Second World War, American men from all walks of life rushed to enlist, and not all of them were young and single. Dr. Roscoe S. Yegerlehner had been out of medical school for three years with a growing medical practice in the small northern Indiana town of Kentland. Married for almost 13 years, he had two young boys. He volunteered to serve in the U.S. Naval Reserve and accepted a commission as an assistant surgeon with the rank of lieutenant (JG) in May 1942. He eventually served in several posts throughout the South Pacific. During his 18 months of overseas deployment, he and his wife corresponded every day. They lovingly addressed their letters to “Mother” and “Daddy.” This is the first volume of their letters.
Fighting Hamas, BDS and Anti-Semitism: Fighting Violence, Bigotry and Hatred
Barry Shaw. CreateSpace. $15.99 paper (314p), ISBN 978-1-5085-9553-3; $4.49 e-book, ASIN B00TYT5W8S
Amazon, BN.com
This book defines the Gordian knot that binds the fervent anti-Israel activism, at all levels, as inimitably anti-Semitic. The author discovers a new strain of anti-Semitism in his research. He calls it the Malmo Syndrome. and says this modern-day anti-Jewish virus attempts to drive a wedge between Jews and the Jewish state.
Grantsmanship: Program Planning & Proposal Writing
Barbara Floersch. The Grantsmanship Center. $45 paper (214p), ISBN 978-1-930250-01-7
Tgci.com, Amazon
New updated and expanded edition of a seminal publication on how to win grants. The original was named the “grant seekers’ Bible” by the New York Times and used by one million professionals.
Naked and Transparent: Six Vital Tools for Knowing Yourself and Attracting Healt
Vladimire Calixte. A Flair for Writing. $13.95 paper (128p), ISBN 978-1-63415-127-6
Amazon, BN.com
An enjoyable yet informative must-read for women, men, and teens who suffer from low self-esteem, unworthiness, anxiety, shame, feelings of failure, and toxic relationships.
Seasons and Reasons: A Parent’s Guide for Cultivating Great Kids
Debra E. Ross, illus. with photos. Kids Out and About. $9.99 paper (144p), ISBN 978-0-9909151-0-2; $5.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-9909151-1-9
Amazon, BN.com
Ross, of KidsOutAndAbout.com, offers inspiration, humor, and parenting advice to help kids grow into their best, most confident, and joyful selves, to become happy, engaged adults.
Bio/Autobio
Between Two Bridges
Victor Colaio. CreateSpace. $13.99 paper (172p), ISBN 978-1-4392-1448-0
Amazon, BN.com
A sweet story, both sad and happy, that vividly depicts living and growing up on the Lower East Side of New York City from the Great Depression to 1960.
The Blameless Victim: Our Ten-Year Legal Battle Against Zurich American Insurance and American International Group
Harold S. Rhodes. CreateSpace. $15.95 paper (360p), ISBN 978-1-4995-4328-5; $7.99 e-book, ASIN B00T7THF76
Amazon, BN.com
This book documents the saga of the catastrophic injury to Marcia Rhodes in early 2002 to the final decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 2012, which penalized insurance giant AIG in excess of $20 million for its delaying tactics but failed to penalize insurance giant Zurich American Insurance.
Determined: The Story of Holocaust Survivor Avraham Perlmutter
A. Avraham Perlmutter. Mascherato Publishing. $14.95 paper (172p), ISBN 978-1-937945-09-1; $6.99 e-book, ASIN B00QGX5PW8
Amazon, BN.com
Young Avraham outwits the Nazis, then fights to establish the State of Israel, and overcomes every obstacle standing in his way.
Failing Upwards
Julian Caesar. Acme. $9.99 paper (156), ISBN 978-1-50861013-7; $4.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-84914-671-5
Amazon, Apple iBooks, Baker & Taylor, BN.com, Kobo
The author says, “I did everything wrong, and I lived to write about it.”
That Day: My Story of September 11th
Jean Colaio. CreateSpace. $12.99 paper (100p), ISBN 978-1-4991-8211-8
Amazon, BN.com, Booktopia
Colaio provides a glimpse into the heart of the personal loss of her two brothers and the national grief of that fateful day that still touches America.
Children’s/YA Fiction
The Europe Tracks
Oren J. Basse. CreateSpace. $4.50 e-book, ASIN B00MEWG5PQ
Amazon, Lulu, BN.com
Ryan and Noel see their long-planned trip to Europe go horribly wrong when they get in a fight with some gangsters and suddenly find themselves running for their lives across borders.
The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts: The Unbelievables, Book 1
K.C. Tansley. Beckett Publishing Group. $11.99 paper (258p), ISBN 978-1-943024-00-1; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-943024-01-8
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo
A prep school junior accidentally time-travels to 1886 Connecticut, where she must share a body with a rebellious Victorian lady, prevent a gruesome wedding night murder, disprove a deadly family curse, and find a way back to her own time.
Gladly Giraffe
Catherine Meade, illus. by George Masi. Friesen Press. $24.95 hardcover (24p), ISBN 978-1-4602-3866-0
Amazon
This is the story of a sensitive and kindly giraffe who is always eager to help his friends with their problems in an effort to make them happy.
The Last Order, Vol. 1: Transforming Gypsies into Knights, She Will Inspire a Kingdom to Rise
Angela M. Caldwell. Rocket Circus Press. $13.99 paper (240p), ISBN 978-0-9863115-1-2; $3.99 e-book, ASIN B00PCZCN44
Amazon, BN.com
Fiercely driven Lana Crewe forms a secret order of women knights to fulfill her father’s final request: find the queen who was thought to be dead and return her to the throne.
Children’s/YA Nonfiction
How to Draw Cool Stuff: Shading, Textures and Optical Illusions
Catherine V. Holmes. Library Tales Publishing. $19.99 paper (222p), ISBN 978-0-69238251-6
Amazon, BN.com
Simple step-by-step illustrations that make it easy for anyone to draw cool stuff with precision and confidence.
In Search of a New Morality (second edition)
Wolfgang Mack. WAMFAM Press. $12.95 paper (113p), ISBN 978-1-47929-408-4
Amazon, BN.com
Love, sex, and morality in our fast-changing modern world—a guide for young people and parents.
Stinky Thoughts: You Are What You Think!
Mary Ross, illus. by Miguel Caraballo. Angel Wings. $9.99 paper (42p), ISBN 978-0-692-36694-3
Amazon, BN.com
A fun, rhyming, character-building journey to true happiness that encourages the development of positive thinking patterns. It is a time-tested, scientifically proven principle that we become what we think. If our thoughts stink, our life will too. Teach your kids how to be happy. Happy kids make happy parents
