Booksellers, publishers, librarians, and agents are encouraged to look at the 59 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
And Then I Met Elvis...
Doug Bari. CreateSpace. $7.99 paper (256p), ISBN 978-1-985693-45-6; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B07DQK5HS2
Amazon
Thirteen-year-old Tim comes of age in the summer of 1969. Tormented by bullies and his alcoholic mother, he has nothing going for him until he meets a friend he nicknames Elvis.
As the Light Fades
Catherine West. KDP. $14.99 paper, ISBN 978-1-09-145323-4
Amazon
Liz Carlisle returns to Nantucket to start over. But past mistakes threaten her new life, forcing her to make a choice that may cost her all she’s come to love.
Clifford’s Spiral
Gerald Everett Jones. LaPuerta Books and Media. $15.99 paper (280p), ISBN 978-1-73326-840-0
Amazon
With wry humor, Clifford Klovis, a stroke victim, pieces together the fragments of his memory with the help of his son.
Cooperative Lives
Patrick Finegan. Two Skates Publishing. $28 hardcover (474p), ISBN 978-1-73390-252-6; $13.99 paper (348p), ISBN 978-1-09-089363-5
Amazon, BN.com, IndieBound, Kobo
The cream of New York City’s elite reside quietly in a co-op near Central Park until a bus hits a neighbor. Thus begins an investigation that exposes their lives to unrelenting media scrutiny.
Fall Rotten
Eric Serrell. Winding Road Press. $14.95 paper (426p), ISBN 978-0-578-49949-9
Amazon, BN.com, IndieBound
A group of sharp, fun-loving ne’er-do-wells pull off a gold heist in Paris right before the Nazis invade in 1940.
Moctu and the Mammoth People: An Ice Age Story of Love, Life and Survival
Neil Bockoven. Waldorf Publishing. $16.95 paper (300p), ISBN 978-1-64255-077-1
Amazon
A strong, young Cro-Magnon boy must fight his rival for leadership of his tribe and the right to mate with the beautiful Nuri.
One Dyke’s Theater, Selected Plays 1975–2014
Terry Baum. Exit Press. $24.95 paper (340p), ISBN 978-1-941704-15-8
Amazon, SPDBooks
These 10 plays by Terry Baum span 40 years of making theater about lesbian lives, from absurd farce to historical drama.
The Peregrine’s Odyssey: Burnt Offerings—A Novel of Early Christianity
Michael Kleinfall. Barnes & Noble Press. $32.50 hardcover (422p), ISBN 978-1-987065-91-6
BN.com
The Roman Empire confronts Christianity in the late first century, as seen through the eyes of two close friends: Ignatius, bishop of Syrian Antioch, and Gaius, a wealthy merchant from Gaul.
Prudence in Hollywood: And Other Stories
Ralph Cissne. Morgan Road. $24.95 hardcover (166p), ISBN 978-0-9998537-5-7; $14.95 paper, ISBN 978-0-9998537-4-0
Amazon, BN.com, Book Soup, IndieBound
This collection of stories includes those of the ending of a long-term romance, a love junkie meeting his match, an Elvis impersonator crashing his class reunion, a stand-up comedian facing her fears, and a blended family healing emotional wounds.
Returning to Eden
John Mazurkiewicz. Page Publishing. $19.56 paper (198p), ISBN 978-1-64138-444-5; $9.99 e-book, ASIN B079V22RLX
Amazon, BN.com, Page Publishing
About 100 years in the future, humanity has the potential to achieve immortality through advancements in systems, engineering, and medical sciences, but it will have to get past hostile conflicts in order to have a chance.
Trust and Believe
Richard C. Loban. Loban Originals. $3.99 e-book, ASIN B07TD6KPMF
Amazon
Charlene Riley’s a single mom trying to raise her son, Robert, the best she can. But when trouble’s added to the mix in the form of a jealous boyfriend, it sends her down a path of destruction.
The Unseen Blossom
Zlaikha Y. Samad and L’mere Younossi. SunRayz. $14.95 paper (238p), ISBN 978-0-9981036-3-1
Amazon, BN.com
Two searching souls embark on a mystical journey from the dusty roads of Kabul to enchanted gardens that reveal the realities of life and delve within themselves to create a magical love story.
When We Were Brave
Karla M. Jay. Book Circle Press. $2.99 e-book, ASIN B07QHGVPPN
Amazon
In these braided stories of a conflicted SS officer, a young Jewish boy, and American citizens caught in the hellish panorama of WWII, bravery is all they have.
Mystery/Thriller
Beware the Spider: A Black Orchid Chronicle
David L. Haase. C. Lawrence Publishing. $11.99 paper (302p), ISBN 978-0-9994847-5-3; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-9994847-4-6
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com
Nature photographer Sebastian Arnett, cursed by a spider demon with the power to kill with his thoughts, becomes the target of Chinese crime lords.
Life Force Preserve: Anna and the Resurgent of the Precious Blood
Courtney Leigh Pahlke. eBooks2go. $9.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5457-4431-4
Amazon, BN.com, Google Play, Kobo
Anna confronts people she’s seen after several of her near-death incidents. They’re from an organization that’s been protecting her bloodline from another sinister presence.
A Murder on Jane Street
Cathy Cash Spellman. The Wild Harp & Company. $19.99 paper (416p), ISBN 978-0-578-46139-7; $6.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-4756-0698-0
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo
The brutal murder of the little old lady next door puts FitzHugh Donovan on the case. As a retired New York City police chief, he knows a cover-up when he sees one.
The Retired Detectives Club: See No Evil
Shawn Scuefield. Newman Springs Publishing. $22 paper (395p), ISBN 978-1-64531-070-9
Amazon, BN.com
Three retired police detectives hired to investigate the case of a missing college student race to unlock clues to the young woman’s disappearance in hopes of finding her alive.
SF/Fantasy/Horror
Empire of the Goddess
Matthew Warner. MW Publications. $9.99 paper (315p), ISBN 978-1-79823-795-3; $2.99 e-book, ASIN B07QBCBZV1
Amazon
When a father searches for his missing boy, priests kidnap him to a parallel, theocratic America where human sacrifice cures disease.
Jack of Thorns (Inheritance, Book 1)
A.K. Faulkner. Ravensword Press. $15.99 paper (390p), ISBN 978-1-912349-11-1
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo
Laurence Riley can’t control the addiction that dominates his life, the mind games of his stalker ex-boyfriend, or his untamed supernatural gifts.
Lesath
A.M. Kherbash. Asma Kherbash. $14.99 paper (254p), ISBN 978-1-73388-540-9; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-73388-543-0
Amazon, BN.com, Book Depository, IndieBound
An amateur journalist falsely imprisoned in a remote facility tries to escape while struggling to remain conscious and keep his mind from slipping.
She of Strangeness
J. Sheldon Jones.
Book Vine Press.
$2.99 e-book,
ASIN B07QC4K9QX
Amazon, BN.com
An interstellar explorer discovers a human colony and becomes another captive “she” in a society where brutality toward captive women is the accepted norm. Her first attempt at escape ends in recapture, but she is determined to try again.
Romance/Erotica
Mari, Why I Needed to Return from the Future
Winfried Sedhoff. Senraan Publishing. $2.98 e-book, ASIN B07T2WXH3B
Amazon, BN.com, Kobo
Ben Ecclestone’s greatest potential for self-realization and happiness is tied to a woman living over 100 years before he was born. Will Ben be allowed to return a love beyond compare?
McSexy
Sianah Nalika DeShield. Sianah Nalika DeShield. $4.99 e-book, ASIN B07NP33JJL
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo, Okadabooks
A businessman looking for a surrogate finds a young author struggling to pay off her family loans. Will there be a shot at love, or will they break each other’s hearts?
Sexiful Rose II: Back with a Vengeance
Clara Williams. Xlibris. $19.99 paper (304p), ISBN 978-1-5434-5444-4; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5434-5445-1
Amazon
La’Roc is back in court, fully ready to fight to bring Shawn, her sexy man, back home where he belongs.
Nonfiction
The Art of Hunting Humans: A Radical and Confronting Explanation of the Human Mind
Sidney Mazzi. Mazzi Limited. $9.50 e-book, ASIN B07NF7VGWC; $19.90 audio, ASIN B07PXM7ZBP
Amazon, Audible, Audiobooks.com, BN.com
With straightforward language, weird metaphors, and practical examples, the book strives to enable readers to understand human behavior and evaluate their lives from an outsider’s perspective.
Black Education in White America
Shukdeb Sen. Newman Springs Publishing. $16.95 paper (220p), ISBN 978-1-64096-383-2
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com
An educational book that attemtps to connect slavery and racism to the current state of the U.S. educational system.
Both-And: Ridding Our Theology of Spin and Letting the Bible Say What It Says
Stephen Beale. CreateSpace. $8.50 paper (111p), ISBN 978-1-985026-70-4
Amazon
Beale takes a critical look at the common exegetical principle of “interpreting unclear verses in light of clear verses” and suggests a “both-and” alternative.
Chasing a Flawed Sun
Daniel McGhee. Phoenix Rising Publishing. $8.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-73394-851-7
Amazon
McGhee relates his story of escaping personal destruction, a life in prison, and, repeatedly, death. A true story of years spent avoiding cold, hard truths in pursuit of the comfort of heroin.
Confessions of a Script Doctor: How to Turn Your Life Experiences into Books, Plays, Screenplays
Jack Fitzgerald.
iUniverse. $20.99 paper (285p), ISBN 978-1-5320-7233-8
Amazon, BN.com,
iUniverse
Readers have the opportunity to potentially learn how to quickly and easily write well and with confidence in practically all situations.
Creative Memoir: Rewrite Your Life (Teach Your Child)
Chris Knoblaugh. Chris Knoblaugh. $15.99 paper (75p), ISBN 978-1-07-484176-8
Amazon
Knoblaugh demonstrates ways writers can capture the stories and memories shared by their families and friends in their own personal memory books.
Iron Legacy: Childhood Trauma and Adult Transformation
Donna Bevan-Lee. Mountain Goat Press. $14.99 paper (275p), ISBN 978-1-79546-179-5
Amazon
Utilizing a combination of memoir, scholastic, and self-help writing, Dr. Bevan-Lee addresses the impact of childhood trauma on adult functionality.
Killing History: The False Left-Right Political Spectrum and the Battle Between the “Free Left” and the “Statist Left”
L.K. Samuels. Freeland Press. $19.95 e-book, ASIN B07T3G3X25
Amazon
According to Samuels, almost everything about the political spectrum is dead wrong. This book attempts to find a meaningful way to navigate the confusing political map and redraw the left-right landscape.
Lakers: The Evolution of the Great Lakes Freighter
Ryan R. Gale. Nordeast Press. $24.95 hardcover (128p), ISBN 978-0-692-94653-4
Nordeast-press.com
This book takes the reader on a 300-year journey following the evolution of freight-carrying vessels on the Great Lakes of North America.
Make America Great Again: Myths, Lies, and Facts
Leon Robertson. Lulu Books. $15 paper (283p), ISBN 978-0-359-68825-8
Amazon, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Lulu
This book is about past solutions to America’s historic problems, and how those solutions apply to today’s problems.
Moments in Time
S. Carolyn Boyette. Christian Faith Publishing. $17 paper (194p), ISBN 978-1-64416-332-0; $9.99 e-book, ASIN B07MZZWKDK
Christian Faith Publishing, Amazon, BN.com
Pulling from her experiences and inspiration, Boyette includes essays, poetry, a card game, a recipe, a Bible study, and much more.
The Offline Dating Method: How to Attract a Great Guy in the Real World
Camille Virginia. Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Press. $17.95 paper (260p), ISBN 978-1-948787-92-5
Amazon
A step-by-step guide to potentially attracting a great man in the real world by creating meaningful in-person connections.
One Percent Devils and Their Satanic Tools
Curtis Alan Woods. Rosedog Books. $21 paper (336p), ISBN 978-1-4809-7197-4
Amazon
Woods addresses what he believes to be the rampant moral crisis in a dozen professions, including moral politicians, religious leaders, news media workers, and economists.
Puttering Around the Art Studio: An Eclectic Notebook/Journal/How-to Manual of Art and Sculpture Ideas, Explorations, Sources and Techniques
Charlie Maiorana. Charlie Maiorana. $29.50 paper (173p), ISBN 978-1-09-097050-3
Amazon
In this very personal book, multidisciplinary artist and sculptor Maiorana shares some of the techniques, art explorations, and insights gathered over his varied art career.
Scrum for Non-Techies: Learn How to Use in Your Business the Methodology That Led Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Lockheed Martin to Success
Antonio Montes Orozco. Antonio Montes Orozco. $5 paper (110p), ISBN 978-1-79404-661-0
Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo
This book analyzes why Scrum is the most widespread agile methodology in the world, with plain language and without technicalities.
Skin in the Game: The Stories My Tattoos Tell
Kelly J. Mendenhall. BookBaby. $25.99 paper (180p), ISBN 978-1-73254-050-7
Amazon, BN.com, BookBaby, Kobo
Mendenhall recounts significant life events through the stories behind her tattoos. Photographs accompany the text.
Smoke Rings Rising: Triumph of a Drug-Endangered Daughter
Jennifer L. Hunt. Smoke Rings Media. $12.99 paper (300p), ISBN 978-0-692-04051-5; $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-692-04052-2
Amazon, BN.com, Google Play
Starting out in rural Concow, Calif., in the 1980s, Hunt lays bare the struggles she faced in growing up “straight” in a family of illicit substance users.
Surrender: A Love Letter to My Daughter
Lou Alpert. Hybrid Global Publishing. $16.95 paper (228p), ISBN 978-1-948181-32-7
Amazon, Baker & Taylor, BN.com, Ingram
One mother’s journey through her child’s addiction after waking to CNN coverage of her pregnant daughter shooting up heroin and being confronted by a policeman.
We Died in Water
Meg Flores. Meg Flores. $14.99 paper (164p), ISBN 978-0-578-49106-6
Meg-flores.com
Flores reflects on how each love in her life has affected the subsequent love, beginning when her father left her mother and continuing on to Flores’s current partner.
Words and Music into the Future: A Songwriting Treatise and Manifesto
Michael Koppy. Good Track Records. $16 paper (336p), ISBN 978-0-9966400-2-2
Amazon, BN.com, IngramSpark
In an examination of popular songs and songwriting devoid of fan idiocy, Koppy presents an indictment of the abject industrial illiteracy that currently prevails.
Children’s/YA
Adaptively Radiant
Joseph E. Henning. Joseph E. Henning. $6.99 e-book, ASIN B07SW1NWBM
Amazon, BN.com, Kobo, Lulu, Smashwords
Two cousins inherit a bag of stones, triggering a mythological scavenger hunt in Japan, Hawaii, and California.
The Adventures of Samba Rat and Friends in Sherman the Last Dragon
Steven and Mary Munsie. Page Publishing. $24.95 paper (125p), ISBN 978-1-64298-979-3
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Google Play
Four woodland friends—Samba Rat; Peter Porcupine; Squirrely, scout camp mascot; and Cindy, a ladybug—find a mysterious egg, which hatches into a baby dragon.
Aliens, Ladybugs, and the Lethal Virus
Hilda L. Trevino. iUniverse. $17.99 paper (210p), ISBN 978-1-5320-6581-1
Amazon, BN.com, iUniverse
Extraterrestrials and robots from another planet recruit a ladybug family to fight danger in order to save children from a deadly virus.
The Book of Mem
Jody Walker, illus. by Shannon Benson. Sacred Earth. $19.95 paper (62p), ISBN 978-0-692-06774-1
Amazon, Lulu
It has been quite a long time since humans have visited, yet Old Tree and Mem, a large chunk of granite, forget nothing. Then two kids with magical powers arrive at the campgrounds, and a forest adventure begins.
The Good Dog
Walker Jean Mills. Covenant Books. $20.95 hardcover (40p), ISBN 978-1-64003-345-0; $11.95 paper, ISBN 978-1-64003-344-3
Amazon, BN.com
An allegory about how to love, accept, and show compassion to others, as shown through a girl’s love for her dog. It is the recipient of a Mom’s Choice Award.
H.M.S. Barabbas
Ben Jeapes. Climbing Boy Productions. $15 paper (304p), ISBN 978-1-07-305745-0
Amazon
Four years after the adventure, Jim Hawkins wants to put the wealth he acquired on Treasure Island to good use. But, thanks to the bragging memoir he wrote of the Treasure Island expedition, Jim’s past catches up with him, along with friends and enemies that he never knew he had.
Island Life: Back When Series
Tia Rose. AuthorHouse. $22.95 paper (122p), ISBN 978-1-5246-6976-8; $3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5246-6977-5
Amazon
Rose’s collection of short stories was written to encourage reading in primary schools.
The Last Surviving Dinosaur: The TyrantoCrankaTsuris
Steven Joseph, illus. by Andy Case. Mascot Books. $14.95 hardcover (38p), ISBN 978-1-64307-157-2
Amazon
This is a story of how humans descended from the tiniest dinosaur on the planet: the TyrantoCrankaTsuris.
A Look Back in Time: Memoir of a Military Kid in
the Fifties
Bernard N. Lee Jr. Bernard N. Lee Jr. $12.95 paper (318p), ISBN 978-0-692-31304-6
Amazon, BN.com
Lee recounts his childhood in a military family that moved every three years.
Pumpkin Patch Party
Curtis Booher. ReadersMagnet. $13.25 paper (56p), ISBN 978-1-948864-97-8
Amazon
Things seen and heard by a farmer, such as crows flying and shadows in the trees, become characters in a dream as he naps in his chair on the night of Halloween.
Shirleen and the Shoes
LaKesa Cox, illus. by Hatice Bayramoglu. BookBaby. $12 paper (28p),
ISBN 978-1-64570-997-8
Lakesacox.com, Amazon, BookBaby
From a nurse’s to a construction worker’s, Shirleen tries to fill some big shoes in Mr. Connie’s Shoe Shop, but not before realizing those shoes tell the stories of their owners.
Style Engineers Worldwide, Vol. 1: Doctor Tailor
Kristen O. Bobst, illus. by Sonia Liao. Global Tinker. $13.95 paper (102p), ISBN 978-0-9988077-0-6; $4.99 e-book,
ASIN B06XT6JTRN
Amazon
A STEM graphic novel about teen genius Tilly Tailor and her friends, who form a club to help improve the world by creating #TechForGood.
Terrific Timothy Tree Climber
Jean Johnson. Dorrance Publishing. $16 paper (30p),
ISBN 978-1-4809-5948-4
Dorrancebookstore.com
Timothy is terrified of his teaser. But when an accident happens, Timothy must be brave enough to tell the truth. Maybe his teaser just needs a friend?
When Justin Saved the Day: A Story in Poetry to Read Aloud Inspired by a Real-Life Adventure
Steve Cunningham, illus. by Kate Henriott-Jauw. Read It to Them. $17.99 hardcover (24p), ISBN 978-1-73312-760-8
Aerio, Amazon, BN.com, Ingram
This story, told in rhyming poetry, is inspired by the real-life adventure of Justin, an unlikely hero who saves his aquarium friends.
Where Does Money Grow?
Beth McGuinness. Donovan Publishing. $13.99 paper (24p), ISBN 978-1-79697-901-5
Amazon
A book for four- to 10-year-olds that teaches lessons about earning and saving money to attain goals. Money can’t be grown—it needs to be earned.
