PM> Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.OwinSelfHost

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Web.Http;

namespace WebApiSelfHostTests
{
    public class UsersController : ApiController
    {
        public IEnumerable<User> GetAllUsers()
        {
            return new[]
            {
                new User{ Id = 1, Name = "User 1", Type = UserType.Admin },
                new User{ Id = 2, Name = "User 2", Type = UserType.User }
            };
        }

        public async Task<HttpResponseMessage> Post(HttpRequestMessage request)
        {
            var jsonContent = await request.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
            Console.WriteLine("JsonContent (Server Side): {0}", jsonContent);
            return new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.Created);
        }
    }
}

namespace WebApiSelfHostTests
{
    public enum UserType
    {
        User,
        Admin,
        Writer
    }

    public class User
    {
        public int Id { set; get; }
        public string Name { set; get; }
        public UserType Type { set; get; }
    }
}

using System.Web.Http;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;
using Owin;

namespace WebApiSelfHostTests
{
    /// <summary>
    /// PM> Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.OwinSelfHost
    /// </summary>
    public class Startup
    {
        public void Configuration(IAppBuilder appBuilder)
        {
            var config = new HttpConfiguration();
            config.Routes.MapHttpRoute(
                name: "DefaultApi",
                routeTemplate: "api/{controller}/{id}",
                defaults: new { id = RouteParameter.Optional }
                );

            appBuilder.UseWebApi(config);
        }
    }
}

 var server = WebApp.Start<Startup>(url: BaseAddress);


Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to quit.");
Console.ReadLine();
server.Dispose();

 using (var client = new HttpClient())
{
   var response = client.GetAsync(BaseAddress + "api/users").Result;
   Console.WriteLine("Response: {0}", response);
   Console.WriteLine("JsonContent (Client Side): {0}", response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result);
}

 JsonContent (Client Side): [{"Id":1,"Name":"User 1","Type":1},{"Id":2,"Name":"User 2","Type":0}]

    public class Startup
    {
        public void Configuration(IAppBuilder appBuilder)
        {
            var config = new HttpConfiguration();
            config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings
            {
                Converters = { new StringEnumConverter() }
            };

 JsonContent (Client Side): [{"Id":1,"Name":"User 1","Type":"Admin"},{"Id":2,"Name":"User 2","Type":"User"}]

var user = new User
{
   Id = 1,
   Name = "User 1",
   Type = UserType.Writer
};

var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

var response = client.PostAsJsonAsync(BaseAddress + "api/users", user).Result;
Console.WriteLine("Response: {0}", response);

 JsonContent (Server Side): {"Id":1,"Name":"User 1","Type":2}

            var jsonMediaTypeFormatter = new JsonMediaTypeFormatter
            {
                SerializerSettings = new JsonSerializerSettings
                {
                    Converters = { new StringEnumConverter() }
                }
            };
            var response = client.PostAsync(BaseAddress + "api/users", user, jsonMediaTypeFormatter).Result;
            Console.WriteLine("Response: {0}", response);

 JsonContent (Server Side): {"Id":1,"Name":"User 1","Type":"Writer"}