Spearhead Books and General News

Things have been crazy lately.  I've been volunteering up at my local YMCA pool, but slightly more importantly, have tons of books to review.  Among those being books such as The Bone House (Advance Review Copy-review publishing time undecided), The Wolf of Tebron, The Final Summit, and Precisely Terminated(Advance Review Copy-review publishing time also undecided).  I'm really excited to bring my readers some reviews which you likely won't find in much other places.  While they're a while down the road, I also have The House of Dark Shadows, Sword int he Stars, By Darkness Hid, The Book of Names and it's sequel, and a few other books I haven't gotten to read yet that I own myself.  So those will be reviewed at some point in time, unless I die, which I'm kinda hoping won't happen too soon, cause it'd be kinda a bummer, but also kinda not... Anyway!  In other news... (that means scroll down, like, one click-or click the read more button)

Spearhead books is a 'Guild' according to Christopher Hopper, one of the four authors founding it.

Spearhead is a gathering of authors who combine efforts and resources, link arms through shared branding and emblems, co-occupy websites, and venture out on tour together. Not because they have strong backing, but because their audience is strong enough to trust them and those they create alongside of.

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing the heights this can reach.  Wayne Thomas Batson, another of the authors, stated that there will be a "...friendly rating system will let readers know the kind of content they can expect. Easy to browse listings and reader reviews--even an interactive forum will allow the most important people: THE READERS to help other readers find something they'll like."
Hopefully some of these features will be released soon and I can't wait to get in on it.


On another note, but also related, one of the biggest problems with independent publishing is it doesn't allow for the amount of quality-editing that publishing houses can provide.  When I buy a book from Thomas Nelson, or AMG Publishers, or any of the many publishers out there, I can safely expect the book to be done well.  While there's sometimes a typo or two, the writing is typically engaging and flowing.  With independent publishing, while if you put enough work into it, it can be up to par with the industry standard or above, but it could also be just awful.  I don't want to spend ten bucks on just awful.  And that's a big risk that you take when you buy indepenent.


What do you think?  Am I overreacting about the quality of indie books?  What about this guild?  Which direction do you want to see it go?  Be heard!  Voice your thoughts in the comment section.