Richard Levesque

Photo by Eneas De Troya

Is it too obvious to say there are a LOT of books to choose from these days? And it’s not just physical books but the thousands of ebooks that are out there as well. And every day there are new books being added to the ranks. No bookstore could hold them all, and the numbers seem to be growing exponentially.

So how do you choose a good book when there are so many options? Some people let the Bestseller lists do their book vetting for them. The revolution in independent and self-publishing has given readers so many other opportunities, though; these book buyers look to the indies the same way they’ve looked to small presses in the past, seeking new voices, new interpretations, books that are just as good as (or better than) the sanctioned Bestsellers.

And those same book buyers often get burned when the book that had so much potential turns out to be a badly edited mess with inconsistent characters and points of view, deus ex machina endings, and stylistic sinkholes that should get the “authors” (yeah, those are air quotes) relegated to internet-less desert islands where they can torture one another with their scribblings and leave the rest of us to read real books.

I’m exaggerating, of course, but it is disappointing to find oneself victimized by a bad book. You didn’t know it was bad when you bought it, of course. It might have had a professional-ish cover and a bunch of 5-star reviews that you couldn’t tell were paid for or all written by the writer’s friends. So you dropped your $3.99 (or more) and invested some time, got yourself all set to get your read on, and then found yourself disappointed–not because you didn’t like the story, but because the content failed to live up to the professionalism that the package promised. Too many of those, and readers are likely to turn back to the Bestseller lists, leaving Indies to whither and fade away.

Fortunately, there’s an answer to that problem in the form of Jefferson Smith, a Canadian writer who has taken it upon himself to read Indie books for you and warn you about the bad ones in his Immerse or Die reports. It works like this: Jefferson grabs an Indie book and climbs onto his treadmill. When he runs into a problem with the book that breaks his sense of immersion, he notes it (as a WTF) and moves on. If he hits three such losses of immersion within the 40 minutes he spends on the treadmill, he gives up on the book and posts a report on the problems he encountered.

The reports are both amusing and informative, prompting readers to wonder what those writers were thinking. Some of the WTF moments result from sloppy editing (like one book that didn’t make it to the 2-minute mark), some stem from poor punctuation, and others cause loss of immersion due to poor stylistic choices. Sometimes the problems are bigger–like issues with consistent world building, implausible situations, or unbelievable character behavior.

Big deal, you say? That sounds like a slightly more tortured version of your own book vetting process?

Not to worry. Jefferson also posts the survivors, books that have made it through the whole 40 minutes without WTF-ing themselves out of the (literal) running–remember what I said about the treadmill? Not all the survivors are perfect, but looking through the list, you find books where the author knows how to get world building right, knows how to blend humor with science fiction, or really knows how to tell a story. The page of survivors alone is worth the trip to the IOD site. If you enjoy science fiction or fantasy, you’re bound to find an indie book that pulls you in.

So, whether you’re looking for a good Indie book to read or you just take glee in reading about the train wrecks that some books appear to be, Immerse or Die is a great resource for anyone feeling a little overwhelmed by all the titles out there.

And, of course, my own Strictly Analog is one of the survivors. Just sayin’…

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