I’m currently writing a piece for “Heroes and Heartbreakers,” and collecting titles on a particular theme. It happens to be one simply bursting with new books right now — the popularity of certain television shows likely contributing to the trend — and many are self-published. I’m finding myself reluctant to use any of the self-published titles, and I feel bad about it. I don’t want to discriminate against indie authors, and a lot of the books have very intriguing premises. But even though I’m only mentioning books, not reviewing them, I feel uncomfortable with the possibility that a book I tacitly promote could be riddled with errors, or really obvious fanfic.
I think the freedom authors get from the ability to self-publish is terrific, but right now I’m thinking of an old fake “Saturday Night Live” commercial my husband told me about, which had the tagline: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Something to think about, from the people at Trojan.”
Got something to say?