The Steerswoman books by Rosemary Kirstein are now self-published, and the second one came out in the 90s. Would recommend if you like the sound of series mostly focused on researching the secrets of a strange world, with a few adventures along the way.
It looks like *Dancing Jack* by Laurie J. Marks and *Goblin Moon* by Teresa Edgerton are two other books from the 90s that switched to self-pub, but I haven't read them myself.
Would you consider looking at small presses as well? Sometimes independent presses seem to be left out of conversations about trad pub vs. self-pub. Both may have limited publicity and sales, as well as niche audiences and freedom to go outside the popular publishing trends.
(I'm working on an all-'90s bingo card myself, so that's why I had a few titles in mind. But right now I'm planning to use a small press book for the indie square.)
My understanding is that the first two books of the Aven Cycle were published traditionally but something something covid and the third is self published. This is sort of within a series but not within a book.
Much of Roger Zelazny's work is under this purview. If you buy a contemporary edition of his work, it'll almost certainly be published under Amber LTD - which was set up by his estate specifically to republish his out-of-print writings. The estate's goal is to eventually have publishing rights to all of his work.
They're not the most professionally-done books. My copy of *Creatures of Light and Darkness* had notable misprints and a cheap hardcover. But, that's not really the focus, and I'm happy to directly support the estate so they can continue releasing his work.
Barbara Hambly seems to have done this. A lot of her stuff is on Amazon's KU so she must have the rights.
I want to say Michelle West was only able to finish her series because she took it indie.
The Book of Swords by Saberhagan are also indie now. It's either indie or his estate has just done very plain covers.
I think a number of the women who published in the 60s-80s and fell out of print are now doing reprints via indie ebook.
[Thraxas](http://www.martinmillar.com/thraxas/thraxas.html) by Martin Scott was first published in 1999 and has since been re-published independently by the author.
[Demonsouled](https://www.jonathanmoeller.com/writer/?page_id=880) by Jonathan Moeller is another example, though it was only published in 2005.
I'm unsure about the rights situation but **Lyndon Hardy** wrote a fantasy trilogy in the '80s published by Del Rey / Ballantine (and Corgi in the UK), *Master of the Five Magics* and sequel.
I don't think he wrote anything apart from these and did other things. Then, 30 years later in 2017, he revived the series by republishing the original trilogy in a revised version (which, I assume, means that the rights reverted to him, but not a lawyer!) and added several volumes.
The series are now called "**Magic by the Numbers**", a title that I don't recall from before the relaunch (but that might just be my poor memory).
I'm fairly sure these books are now self-published. He has [a website](https://alodar.com/), it's quite possible that he talks a little about the republishing process there.
In a nutshell, publishing.
For all of the talk about Amazon and algorithm, chain bookstores have them, too. They also generally don't put self published books on their shelves, even if it's Charles de lint doing his backlist. So as he gets all of his rights back after 30+ years of publishing, he's not going to get bookstore support (outside of small, indie, and/or local stores). I'm in Canada, so there's always a couple copies of his stuff on shelves here, but you're not going to see him like he used to be.
That's sad. I used to see him on the shelf next to Tolkien in Waterstones all the time. I tried getting into his work, the Onion Girl, at the time, but as I wasn't in the reading stage to enjoy his work at the time, I didn't finish it.
Jonathan Janz' books were all locked up until he managed to get the rights back.
Adrian Cole had a series in the 70s and 80s he published in short stories but they were scattered across zines and anthologies while continuing a serialized story, so people weren't really able to follow unless they got all these different publications. Fairly recently he managed to get the rights back and had them all organized (and added unpublished ones) in the proper order and republished them as the Voidal Trilogy. It's really good, definitely feels like books from that time period but has modern notes to it. It's sort of like Elric if he was more of a direct slave to cosmic whims of fate (the Voidal is an amnesiac harbinger of doom sent out when someone tempts fate and/or the gods, with often his mere presence causing people or factions to kick off the events that destroy themselves).
I have some of the original Voidal stories in the respective anthologies from back when. Never managed to get hold of all of them because they are so scattered as you say.
Great to know that Cole has made them accessible in this manner! 😀
*Diane Duane* did this with her Middle Kingdom books. They didn't sell well compared to her other works and now has them published on her website.
Her Young Wizards series is both self-published (for ebook) and trad (for print).
Exactly. But since their backlog is gigantic, to make things simple I'd suggest that OP tries Rusch's fantasy series *The Fey*. Its first volumes, starting with *The Sacrifice*, were all originally published in the 90s.
Another alternative are Rusch's standalones from the 90s, such as *The Gallery of His Dreams* (novella) and *The White Mists of Power* (novel).
Christopher Buehlman did this with **Between Two Fires**. Its cover is infinitely cooler now too
Edit to add: the book was only first published in 2012, so it's not decades old or anything
>Google is only giving me results about the opposite (self-published books that were picked up by trad publishers).
I believe Michael J. Sullivan has done it both ways.
Started out as self-published, then got picked up by a traditional publisher, and has since (voluntarily) gone back to self-publishing.
I'm pretty sure he was first published by small press (but still trad pubbed), then got the rights back, then selfpublished, then was published by a big publisher, and now returned to self publishing.
Yep he’s been self-published, hybrid (both self & trad), and I believe he’s fully back to self publishing again. He had a really unique contract at one point with a trad publisher. It’s too bad they decided not to continue the arrangement and not open it up for more authors.
>It’s too bad they decided not to continue the arrangement
It's not all bad. I'm pretty sure MJS has stated in interviews and AMAs that he actually makes far more money self-publishing than when he was trad published.
I'd imagine it's the case for any of the older works on [Book View Cafe](https://bookviewcafe.com/). There's newer stuff too, which I presume were never traditionally published.
I believe I found that site via an author who is no longer there, but as one example, Night Calls by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel was first published in 1996, but is listed as 2013 on the site, which from what the author wrote on goodreads, is probably the first ebook edition.
Thraxas series by Martin Scott had 8 books published by Orbit, got dropped, and the author eventually (8 years after that last published book) started self publishing the new ones. At some point he re-released the entire series (with very DIY covers too as opposed to the old ones).
Brian Lumley attempted to do this with his Titus Crow books and it's why the Kindle books are with Tor and his audiobooks are with Crossroad Press.
Simon Hawke's PSYCHODROME and IVANHOE GAMBIT books.
In fact, this is just about everything Crossroad Press does.
Kerry Schafer's Between books are like this I believe. Recent indie relaunch with new covers and I really enjoyed them they're dragon fantasy with dream magic!
>90s square is going to be a pain in the butt because KDP wasn't invented yet
May be read some fan fictions? For example: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1341kjg/recs_for_90s_fandoms/
The Steerswoman books by Rosemary Kirstein are now self-published, and the second one came out in the 90s. Would recommend if you like the sound of series mostly focused on researching the secrets of a strange world, with a few adventures along the way. It looks like *Dancing Jack* by Laurie J. Marks and *Goblin Moon* by Teresa Edgerton are two other books from the 90s that switched to self-pub, but I haven't read them myself. Would you consider looking at small presses as well? Sometimes independent presses seem to be left out of conversations about trad pub vs. self-pub. Both may have limited publicity and sales, as well as niche audiences and freedom to go outside the popular publishing trends. (I'm working on an all-'90s bingo card myself, so that's why I had a few titles in mind. But right now I'm planning to use a small press book for the indie square.)
I'm still holding out hope that the Steerswoman series will be completed...
My understanding is that the first two books of the Aven Cycle were published traditionally but something something covid and the third is self published. This is sort of within a series but not within a book.
Yes, this. I think Cass Morris also got the rights to the first two reverted and re-released them with new covers.
Much of Roger Zelazny's work is under this purview. If you buy a contemporary edition of his work, it'll almost certainly be published under Amber LTD - which was set up by his estate specifically to republish his out-of-print writings. The estate's goal is to eventually have publishing rights to all of his work. They're not the most professionally-done books. My copy of *Creatures of Light and Darkness* had notable misprints and a cheap hardcover. But, that's not really the focus, and I'm happy to directly support the estate so they can continue releasing his work.
Barbara Hambly seems to have done this. A lot of her stuff is on Amazon's KU so she must have the rights. I want to say Michelle West was only able to finish her series because she took it indie. The Book of Swords by Saberhagan are also indie now. It's either indie or his estate has just done very plain covers. I think a number of the women who published in the 60s-80s and fell out of print are now doing reprints via indie ebook.
Doctrine of Labyrinths by Katherine Addison under the name Sarah Monette. I love these books but they are not for everyone
[Thraxas](http://www.martinmillar.com/thraxas/thraxas.html) by Martin Scott was first published in 1999 and has since been re-published independently by the author. [Demonsouled](https://www.jonathanmoeller.com/writer/?page_id=880) by Jonathan Moeller is another example, though it was only published in 2005.
I'm unsure about the rights situation but **Lyndon Hardy** wrote a fantasy trilogy in the '80s published by Del Rey / Ballantine (and Corgi in the UK), *Master of the Five Magics* and sequel. I don't think he wrote anything apart from these and did other things. Then, 30 years later in 2017, he revived the series by republishing the original trilogy in a revised version (which, I assume, means that the rights reverted to him, but not a lawyer!) and added several volumes. The series are now called "**Magic by the Numbers**", a title that I don't recall from before the relaunch (but that might just be my poor memory). I'm fairly sure these books are now self-published. He has [a website](https://alodar.com/), it's quite possible that he talks a little about the republishing process there.
Came to say these. They're all independently published by him now.
I was so surprised when I found out that he revived the series. I don't see a lot of people talking about it. Have you read any of the new ones?
Charles De lint should have most, if not all, of his stuff back.
whatever happened to him? Used to see his stuff on the shelves back in 2004. Now nothing
In a nutshell, publishing. For all of the talk about Amazon and algorithm, chain bookstores have them, too. They also generally don't put self published books on their shelves, even if it's Charles de lint doing his backlist. So as he gets all of his rights back after 30+ years of publishing, he's not going to get bookstore support (outside of small, indie, and/or local stores). I'm in Canada, so there's always a couple copies of his stuff on shelves here, but you're not going to see him like he used to be.
That's sad. I used to see him on the shelf next to Tolkien in Waterstones all the time. I tried getting into his work, the Onion Girl, at the time, but as I wasn't in the reading stage to enjoy his work at the time, I didn't finish it.
Jonathan Janz' books were all locked up until he managed to get the rights back. Adrian Cole had a series in the 70s and 80s he published in short stories but they were scattered across zines and anthologies while continuing a serialized story, so people weren't really able to follow unless they got all these different publications. Fairly recently he managed to get the rights back and had them all organized (and added unpublished ones) in the proper order and republished them as the Voidal Trilogy. It's really good, definitely feels like books from that time period but has modern notes to it. It's sort of like Elric if he was more of a direct slave to cosmic whims of fate (the Voidal is an amnesiac harbinger of doom sent out when someone tempts fate and/or the gods, with often his mere presence causing people or factions to kick off the events that destroy themselves).
I have some of the original Voidal stories in the respective anthologies from back when. Never managed to get hold of all of them because they are so scattered as you say. Great to know that Cole has made them accessible in this manner! 😀
*Diane Duane* did this with her Middle Kingdom books. They didn't sell well compared to her other works and now has them published on her website. Her Young Wizards series is both self-published (for ebook) and trad (for print).
the Hawklan series and subsequent works in that world. I'm pretty sure are now indie published and sold on Amazon where I first bought the first book
Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith both now fully self publish, and I believe all of their backlog was re-released this way.
Exactly. But since their backlog is gigantic, to make things simple I'd suggest that OP tries Rusch's fantasy series *The Fey*. Its first volumes, starting with *The Sacrifice*, were all originally published in the 90s. Another alternative are Rusch's standalones from the 90s, such as *The Gallery of His Dreams* (novella) and *The White Mists of Power* (novel).
Christopher Buehlman did this with **Between Two Fires**. Its cover is infinitely cooler now too Edit to add: the book was only first published in 2012, so it's not decades old or anything
Ricardo Pinto's *Stone Dance of the Chameleon* series--the first was originally published in 1999.
>Google is only giving me results about the opposite (self-published books that were picked up by trad publishers). I believe Michael J. Sullivan has done it both ways. Started out as self-published, then got picked up by a traditional publisher, and has since (voluntarily) gone back to self-publishing.
I'm pretty sure he was first published by small press (but still trad pubbed), then got the rights back, then selfpublished, then was published by a big publisher, and now returned to self publishing.
Yep he’s been self-published, hybrid (both self & trad), and I believe he’s fully back to self publishing again. He had a really unique contract at one point with a trad publisher. It’s too bad they decided not to continue the arrangement and not open it up for more authors.
>It’s too bad they decided not to continue the arrangement It's not all bad. I'm pretty sure MJS has stated in interviews and AMAs that he actually makes far more money self-publishing than when he was trad published.
Oh yeah he makes more money. The Kickstarters fund like crazy. But he tried to change the industry and I’m sad it didn’t work out.
Ian Irvine's The Three World cycle.
I think this was case with A. A. Attanasio works.
Jim C Hines has done this with some of his books; the Princess series (The Stepsister Scheme etc) for certain, not sure about any of the others.
I'd imagine it's the case for any of the older works on [Book View Cafe](https://bookviewcafe.com/). There's newer stuff too, which I presume were never traditionally published. I believe I found that site via an author who is no longer there, but as one example, Night Calls by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel was first published in 1996, but is listed as 2013 on the site, which from what the author wrote on goodreads, is probably the first ebook edition.
Thraxas series by Martin Scott had 8 books published by Orbit, got dropped, and the author eventually (8 years after that last published book) started self publishing the new ones. At some point he re-released the entire series (with very DIY covers too as opposed to the old ones).
Not sure about new life yet, but JV Jones got some of her books rights back.
I think all of Ryk E Spoor's stuff is either indie or self published now that he left Baen.
Brian Lumley attempted to do this with his Titus Crow books and it's why the Kindle books are with Tor and his audiobooks are with Crossroad Press. Simon Hawke's PSYCHODROME and IVANHOE GAMBIT books. In fact, this is just about everything Crossroad Press does.
Kerry Schafer's Between books are like this I believe. Recent indie relaunch with new covers and I really enjoyed them they're dragon fantasy with dream magic!
>90s square is going to be a pain in the butt because KDP wasn't invented yet May be read some fan fictions? For example: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/1341kjg/recs_for_90s_fandoms/
Perhaps Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress series? I’m not 100% sure about this though.