Major Literary Hits That Started As Self-Published Titles

Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he started writing about a farm boy who discovers a mysterious blue stone. The stone hatches, revealing the dragon Saphira and drawing Eragon into a much larger struggle involving magic, war, loyalty, and the lost order of the Dragon Riders. That familiar heroic structure made Eragon especially welcoming to younger readers who were curious about epic fantasy but not yet ready to navigate its most demanding corners. Paolini’s own path to publication became almost as memorable as the story.