The ugly truth: most indie books are crap

That’s not a polite way to say it, but it’s true. Scroll through Amazon, and you’ll find thousands of hastily churned-out books with shitty stock-photo covers, sloppy formatting, and prose that reads like someone dictated their shower thoughts straight onto the page. The self-publishing boom has created opportunities, yes, but it’s also opened the floodgates to anyone who thinks uploading a Word doc makes them an author.

And here’s the real kicker.This avalanche of mediocrity has made “indie” almost synonymous with “cheap.” Cheap in price, cheap in presentation, and cheap in quality. These slop merchants have created a race to the bottom for all authors, and it sucks.

But that’s not the whole story.

Because buried beneath the landfill are indie authors who care. Authors who sweat over every sentence, who pay out of pocket for professional editing, who design covers that could sit proudly on a Waterstones display. Authors who respect readers enough to deliver something polished, gripping, and worth their time. I’ve met plenty of them, I’ve worked alongside them, and their work often leaves traditional publishing looking slow, bloated, and frankly amateurish.

The tragedy is that these voices are outnumbered ten-to-one by the hacks chasing a quick buck.

The flood of slop

There’s an ugly truth few want to admit: a huge chunk of the indie world doesn’t care about writing. They care about cash flow. They follow YouTube gurus who promise passive income by “publishing a book a month.” They buy cheap shitty looking stock covers, don’t edit their work, and upload whatever half-formed mess they’ve scraped together.

The result? Books that look like they belong in a bargain bin before they even hit the store. Stories riddled with typos. Characters as thin as cardboard. Plots so recycled you could put them out with the plastics.

And readers notice. They’re not stupid. They can tell when something is slapped together, and they can tell when someone actually cares.

But the sheer volume of trash makes it harder and harder for real indie gems to stand out. Discoverability is already brutal in a marketplace flooded with millions of titles. Now it’s like wading through quicksand, with hacks spamming their way to visibility while serious authors fight to be seen.

The scam economy

And let’s not forget the scammers. There are whole cottage industries built on exploiting indie publishing. Ghostwriting sweatshops. AI “authors” churning out hundreds of books a year. Kindle Unlimited manipulation schemes. Entire series stitched together like Frankenstein’s monster, designed not to tell a story but to trick the algorithm.

This isn’t just embarrassing. It actively damages the reputation of every indie author trying to do things the right way. When readers get burned by one of these scam jobs, they’re less likely to take a chance on the next indie book they see. Everyone pays the price.

The uphill battle for real indies

And yet, despite all of this, the best indie authors keep going. They have to juggle roles that traditionally would be spread across a publishing house: writer, editor, marketer, designer, publicist, accountant. Every decision, every mistake, every investment comes out of their pocket. It’s exhausting, and plenty of talented writers burn out before they ever get the recognition they deserve.

But the ones who persist? They’re building something extraordinary.

Because here’s the truth that traditional publishing doesn’t want to admit: some of the best books being written right now are indie. Period.

I’ve read indie novels that left me floored—beautifully written, tightly edited, with covers that would make you stop in a bookshop. Stories that weren’t filtered through a corporate marketing department or forced to fit a “market trend,” but told with passion, authenticity, and vision. Compared to some of the bland, cookie-cutter releases being churned out by Big Five publishers, these indie works feel alive.

Respect your readers

So here’s where the controversy really lies: if you’re an indie author who’s publishing slop, you’re part of the problem.

Readers aren’t just numbers. They’re giving you their time and money, and in return they deserve your best. Not your first draft. Not your half-baked experiment. Your best.

Indie publishing shouldn’t be a race to the bottom. It should be a proving ground for creativity. A space where writers break rules, take risks, and build worlds that would never survive the gatekeeping of traditional publishing. But that only works if quality is the foundation.

If you’re not willing to invest in an editor, don’t publish yet. If you’re not willing to take cover design seriously, don’t expect anyone to take your book seriously. And if your plan is to flood Kindle Unlimited with AI garbage, congratulations—you’re not an author, you’re a scammer.

Where Epic Indie stands

This is exactly why EPIC Indie exists. Our mission is to champion indie authors who take their craft seriously and put the work in to deliver professional, engaging, and unforgettable books. We believe in celebrating the indie writers who treat their readers with respect and who prove, through their dedication, that indie can be every bit as good as—if not better than—traditional publishing.

At the same time, we’re not here to sugar-coat. If a book is crap, we’ll say it’s crap. Indie doesn’t need another platform politely pretending that everything deserves five stars. That kind of blind praise just fuels the race to the bottom. EPIC Indie is about raising the bar, not lowering it. We’ll highlight the good, call out the bad, and help readers find the gems worth their time.

The future of indie

The indie community is at a crossroads. On one path, it becomes a swamp of low-effort slop, where readers no longer bother to sift through the muck. On the other, it becomes the place where innovation and excellence thrive, free from corporate bloat.

Which path we take depends on authors. Not Amazon. Not the algorithms. Authors.

And the choice is simple: respect your readers, or lose them.

Because at the end of the day, the hacks and the scammers won’t last. They’ll burn out, move on to the next get-rich-quick scheme, and leave behind a trail of forgettable titles. But the indie authors who believe in their craft, who put in the work, and who treat readers with respect—those are the ones who will endure.

And with EPIC Indie, those are the authors we’ll be shouting about.