Top 10 Indie Authors To Watch In 2017

As 2016 comes to a close, we’re left with the sour aftertaste of an unusually exhausting and convoluted election cycle and the fresh sting of seemingly nonstop celebrity deaths. Simply put, we’re feeling pensive, and we’re feeling a little anti-establishment.

2017 is - at least on the literary front – looking promising. With a slew of talented indie authors joining the market, and literary rising stars announcing exciting new books, here are the top 10 Indie authors to watch in 2017:

10. Anna Pitoniak: Her debut novel, The Futures, tells the story of a young couple, Evan, and Julie, who move to New York right after college. In this emotional piece of writing, Pitoniak has been lauded for her ability to paint a realistic picture of New York in the 21st century. The novel will be released on January 17, 2017.

9. Amy Liptrot: The Qutrun is Amy Liptrot’s story of addiction, mental illness, and the healing properties of nature. The Guardian calls it “a lyrical and brave memoir.” The Outrun will be released on April 25, 2017.

8. Emily Fridlund: Winner of the McGinnis-Ritchie award for its first chapter, Emily Fridlund’s debut novel, History of Wolves, is set to be released on January 3, 2017. Its countercultural, coming of age themes fit the mood of the moment perfectly.

7. Jarod Powell: He’s been compared to literary giants like Salinger and Faulkner with his shocking debut novel Boys in Gilded Cages - a deranged, acid-washed Midwestern satire of religious hypocrisy that, at the doorstep of Trump’s America, rings a little too true for comfort. 2017 looks to be Powell’s breakthrough year with the unofficial sequel to Boys, TweakerBaby (May 1, 2017), and an anthology of postmodern feminist horror stories titled She Burned Me Alive (February 14, 2017).

6. Ruth Lauren: Thirteen-year-old Valor is willing to do anything - including shoot the prince - so that she can be sent to prison to break her sister out. Pretty daring, for a Young Adult Fantasy novel. Lauren’s Prince of Ice and Snow will be released on April 4, 2017.

5. Lindsey Becker: In the midst of such bleak world events, you’d be cheating yourself to ignore the vibrant inventiveness of Lindsey Becker’s writing. The Star Thief is set to be released on April 11, 2017, and is one that not only Becker’s audience (Middle Grade children) will love, but parents will, too.

4. Ali Standish: Themes of death, guilt, and forgiveness are featured in this coming-of-age story. Set to be released on January 24, 2017, The Ethan I Was Before has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly as “tender,” and promises that you will be riveted as “well-developed characters face the somber realities of life head on.”

3. Deepak Unnikrishnan: Temporary People is a debut collection of short stories that are ferocious, funny, imaginative, fantastical, and to a great extent, scary. Winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Temporary People will be released on March 14, 2017.

2. Lisa Ko: Lisa Ko has a whole lot to offer to readers in 2017 if praise for her debut novel The Leavers is any indication. Winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for fiction, The Leavers is the story of a 12-year old Chinese-American boy abandoned by his mother. Watch out for Ko’s novel in May 2, 2017.

1. Dan Egan: We saved our number one spot for a book that perfectly encapsulates our existential fears for 2017. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Egan is a master of compelling nonfiction. His book The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is a book that warns of grave ecological catastrophe, and is a call to arms that leaves you with invaluable knowledge and hope. Unless the world ends before then, it will be available on March 7, 2017.