Self-published authors have been getting more attention lately.  One of the big names going around right now is, of course, Amanda Hocking (who recently signed a big book deal with a traditional publisher, but who is continuing to self-publish at the same time), an author of YA dark fantasy whose books are wildly popular.  Another big name is Lucy Kevin, who writes chick lit and contemporary romance.  There was also an article on Yahoo! recently about Darcie Chan, who self-published a literary novel that none of the traditional publishing houses would touch, and has nevertheless sold more than 400,000 copies of her novel as a self-published ebook.

Of course, not all self-published books are worth reading, but there are quite a few out there that are just as high quality as traditionally published books.  The truth is that traditional publishers only publish so many titles a year, but that doesn't mean that there are that few publishable books out there.  Many worthy authors get overlooked by agents and publishers.  The readers of authors like Amanda Hocking, Lucy Kevin, and Darcie Chan are voting with their wallets, and the results are nothing to sneeze at!

So how do you tell whether a self-published book is worth the time and money?  First of all, pay attention to readers' ratings -- and read the reviews, too, as they can tell you a lot more about the book than the average number of stars it's given.  For instance, readers will often say what they liked and what they didn't, information that you can use to determine whether you are willing to take a chance on the book.

I also like to pay attention to the book's description -- if there are a lot of spelling and grammatical errors, for example, or if I feel the book is presented poorly, I move on.  Perhaps it's not always fair -- a good writer isn't necessarily a good marketer -- but I feel that the level of professionalism in marketing the book is an indicator of the overall quality of the writing, too.  The same criteria goes into play when I look at the cover art.

Reviews and word of mouth recommendations are also powerful indicators as to the quality of a self-published book.

What about you?  Have you read any quality self-published books -- romance or otherwise -- that you would recommend?  What criteria do you use when deciding whether to buy a self-published book?