Wrangling self-published books for teens can seem like a daunting task for a public librarian (meaning: me). There are a lot of very popular self-published YA novels, mostly series or continuations of traditionally-published series, that get a lot of teen readership but never make it to review journals or even vendor websites. Learning what these are is a challenging first step; making a decision to purchase without the usual backups (publisher/author reputation, professional reviews, reading it yourself) is another challenge. Very many of these straddle the YA/NA line (we do not put New Adult in our teen collection), and that’s yet another facet to tackle. Luckily, there are a number of teens in my community who are more than happy to request the books they want, whether they do it through our online form or via another staff member.
Below are the titles and series I have gotten the most requests for and seem to be the most popular. They circulate really well; it’s clear teens are telling their friends about them. In fact, that’s often what they write on the request form: “recommended by a friend.” What self-published YA titles do well in your library, and how generous are you when you buy something that’s more or less an unknown quantity?
Arcana Rising, The Dark Calling, and From the Grave by Kresley Cole
The Emperor unleashes hell and annihilates an army, jeopardizing the future of mankind–but Circe strikes back. The epic clash between them devastates the Arcana world and nearly kills Evie, separating her from her allies. With Aric missing and no sign that Jack and Selena escaped Richter’s reach, Evie turns more and more to the darkness lurking inside her. Two Arcana emerge as game changers: one who could be her salvation, the other her worst nightmare. To take on Richter, Evie must reunite with Death and mend their broken bond. But as she learns more about her role in the future–and her chilling past–will she become a monster like the Emperor? Or can Evie and her allies rise up from Richter’s ashes, stronger than ever before?
These three books are self-published continuations of Cole’s traditionally-published Arcana Chronicles.
Spy Girl by Jillian Dodd
An eighteen-year-old covert agent is pulled out of training before graduation by Black X, a espionage group so secret even the President of the United States doesn’t know it exists.
For her first mission, she must go undercover as the long-lost daughter of a recently deceased billionaire, infiltrate high society, and protect the Prince of Montrovia from assassination. But Prince Lorenzo is known as the Playboy Prince for a reason and his sensuality and charisma add a whole other level of complication to her mission.
She knows that her every move is being watched, but what she doesn’t know is that the Prince is just a chess piece in a bigger game that will have world-wide ramifications. And that Blackwood Academy, the place she has called home for the past six years has secrets of its own.
This is a 7-book self-published series.
The Gender Game by Bella Forrest
A toxic river divides nineteen-year-old Violet Bates’s world by gender. Women rule the East. Men rule the West. Ever since the disappearance of her beloved younger brother, Violet’s life has been consumed by an anger she struggles to control. Already a prisoner to her own nation, now she has been sentenced to death for her crimes. To enter the kingdom of Patrus, where men rule and women submit. Everything about the patriarchy is dangerous for a rebellious girl like Violet. She cannot break the rules if she wishes to stay alive. But abiding by rules has never been Violet’s strong suit. When she’s thrust into more danger than she could have ever predicted, Violet is forced to sacrifice many things in the forbidden kingdom … including forbidden love.
This is a 7-book self-published series.
The Apple Throne by Tessa Gratton
There is only one person in the whole world who remembers the famous prophet Astrid Glyn: the berserker Soren Bearstar.
Ever since Astrid agreed to give up her life, her name, and even her prophetic dreams to become Idun the Young, the almost-goddess who protects the apples of immortality in a secret mountain orchard, she’s been forgotten by everyone. Everyone except Soren.
For the last two years he’s faithfully visited her every three months. Then one day he doesn’t come. Though forbidden to leave the orchard, Astrid defies the gods by escaping with a bastard son of Thor to find Soren. But ancient creatures are moving in the mountains beneath the country. They are desperate to leave the shadows and Astrid’s quest might be the key they need.
Not-quite-a-goddess, but no longer only a girl, Astrid must choose a path that will save herself and the people she loves without unraveling the ancient magic that holds the entire nine worlds together. Welcome to the final chapter of the United States of Asgard.
This is the final book in the United States of Asgard trilogy whose first two books were traditionally published. Gratton has since re-released the first two as self-published titles as well.
Intensity by Sherrilyn Kenyon
It’s a demon-eat-demon world for Nick Gautier. Just when he thinks he’s finally gotten a handle on how not to take over the world and destroy it, Death returns with an all-star cast that is determined to end the Malachai reign and lineage forever. Worse? Death and War have found the one, true enemy Nick can’t find, and even if he did, it’s one he could never bring himself to banish or kill.
Now framed for murders he hasn’t committed, and surrounded by new friends who might be turncoats, Nick is learning fast how his father went down in flames.
The heat in New Orleans is rising fast, and Nick’s threat-level has gone into a whole new level of intensity. He’s learning fast that when War and Death decide to battle, they don’t take prisoners. The don’t negotiate. And they’re both immune to his biting sarcasm and Cajun charm. To win this, he will have to embrace a new set of powers, but one wrong step, and he will belong to the side of Darkness, forever.
This book is a self-published continuation of Kenyon’s Chronicles of Nick.
Air Awakens by Elisa Kova
A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…
The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.
Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.
This is a 5-book self-published series.
Tainted Accords by Kelly St. Clare
I know many things. What I am capable of, what I will change, what I will become. But there is one thing I will never know… The veil I’ve worn from birth carries with it a terrible loneliness; a suppression I cannot imagine being free of. My mother will always hate me. Her court will always shun me. When the peace delegation arrives from the savage world of Glacium, my life is shoved wildly out of control by the handsome Prince Kedrick who, for unfathomable reasons, shows me kindness.
Sometimes it takes the world bringing you to your knees to find that spark you thought forever lost. Sometimes it takes death to show you how to live.
This is a 4-book self-published series.
Cashmere by Temple West
Relieved that her nightmares have ended, Caitlin is disturbed to find that something even stranger has taken their place.
Determined to get on with her life, even amid a crazy paranormal manhunt, she applies for a competitive summer fashion internship in New York. Searching desperately for answers about what Caitlin might be, how Adrian’s father is involved, and where Lucian has been kidnapped to, Caitlin and Adrian must rely on each other to survive. But when the truth finally comes to light, the consequences are unimaginable.
And the question still haunts them both: even if they survive, how will they deal with the fact that Adrian is immortal and Caitlin is not?
This is the sequel to West’s traditionally-published Velvet.