Self-publishing isn’t just for that weird guy with a garage full of unsold manifestos anymore. Amazon and Smashwords have opened up the floodgates for anyone who wants to publish e-books—for free.

Established authors as well as a lot of newbies are diving in. Some say this has led to a “tsunami of swill,” torrent of tripe, yes, a lot of badly written ebooks.

But the Indie Ebook Revolution is good, very good, for readers.

Why?  Three reasons:

Price:

Hardcovers are hovering round $20, and E-books from traditional publishers at $8-$10. You can pickup an Indie E-book for $3 or so. Some authors even give away their books for free to get you hooked. Has Jonathan Franzen done that for you lately?

Availability:

Paper books have a short shelf life. If they don’t sell right away, they are pulled and pulped! E-books never die. What if your favorite author couldn’t get…