I recently developed a connection with Amy Edelman of IndieReader.com. After studying the great things they are doing to connect Indie Authors with Indie Readers, I asked Amy to be a guest blogger. She has some thought-provoking things to say. -
by Amy Edelman
What if the only movies you could see were big Hollywood blockbusters? What if the only food you could eat was the stuff found at those big franchise places? And what if the only books you could read were those over-stuffed bestsellers pumped out by traditional publishers and pushed by the big-box bookstores (for $8.99 a pop)?
The fact is, there's nothing wrong with mass produced food or books or movies, but sometimes people want something different. Sometimes they want to see a movie or eat a meal or read a book that's unique. Something that will surprise them.
That's where indie (aka self-published) books come in. Books created like handmade goods and produced in small numbers. Books that are mostly Print On Demand, meaning no trees are killed until after the books are sold. Why is this so important? Because today more than ever, almost everything we make gets co-opted by corporate culture, turned into a business model, reformulated and churned out like soap to appeal to as many people as possible. In a world where almost everything is packaged by committee, indie books are written with a single voice: the writer's own.
It’s true—and frankly, unfair—that self-published authors have been considered less talented than their traditionally published counterparts. Their books are ignored or looked down upon, not carried by most bookstores and shunned by reviewers. But that is slowly changing. After all, if the work of indie musicians and indie filmmakers command respect, why not the work of indie writers (who, incidentally, published 1/2 million of their own books last year, alone)?
And these books are not just about vanity. More and more of them (Daemon, The Shack, The Lace Reader) are making it to the top of the national bestseller lists. It also helps that successful authors like Stephen King and Dave Eggers are giving self-publishing a go.
So, where does a book-lover go when they want to find something that's not already on everyone else's night table? IndieReader.com, where every book is reviewed prior to acceptance, guaranteeing that book-lovers find--from yummy cookbooks to gorgeous coffee table books, kids, self-help and fiction--the "cream-of-the-indie crop". In its simplest sense, IndieReader (like Sundance for writers) is a venue where consumers can find and purchase books published and produced by the people who wrote them. As opposed to other sites that cater to writers, IndieReader was created for the discriminating consumer (although writers will find tons of helpful information, too). Our monthly, online magazine, The Indie Reader, has featured contributions by designer Isaac Mizrahi, writers Joel Stein (Time magazine), Brunonia Barry (The Lace Reader), columnist Dan Savage and singer/songwriter Joshua Radin and more.
What if the only movies you could see were big Hollywood blockbusters? What if the only food you could eat was the stuff found at those big franchise places? And what if the only books you could read were those over-stuffed bestsellers pumped out by traditional publishers and pushed by the big-box bookstores (for $8.99 a pop)?
The fact is, there's nothing wrong with mass produced food or books or movies, but sometimes people want something different. Sometimes they want to see a movie or eat a meal or read a book that's unique. Something that will surprise them.
That's where indie (aka self-published) books come in. Books created like handmade goods and produced in small numbers. Books that are mostly Print On Demand, meaning no trees are killed until after the books are sold. Why is this so important? Because today more than ever, almost everything we make gets co-opted by corporate culture, turned into a business model, reformulated and churned out like soap to appeal to as many people as possible. In a world where almost everything is packaged by committee, indie books are written with a single voice: the writer's own.
It’s true—and frankly, unfair—that self-published authors have been considered less talented than their traditionally published counterparts. Their books are ignored or looked down upon, not carried by most bookstores and shunned by reviewers. But that is slowly changing. After all, if the work of indie musicians and indie filmmakers command respect, why not the work of indie writers (who, incidentally, published 1/2 million of their own books last year, alone)?
And these books are not just about vanity. More and more of them (Daemon, The Shack, The Lace Reader) are making it to the top of the national bestseller lists. It also helps that successful authors like Stephen King and Dave Eggers are giving self-publishing a go.
So, where does a book-lover go when they want to find something that's not already on everyone else's night table? IndieReader.com, where every book is reviewed prior to acceptance, guaranteeing that book-lovers find--from yummy cookbooks to gorgeous coffee table books, kids, self-help and fiction--the "cream-of-the-indie crop". In its simplest sense, IndieReader (like Sundance for writers) is a venue where consumers can find and purchase books published and produced by the people who wrote them. As opposed to other sites that cater to writers, IndieReader was created for the discriminating consumer (although writers will find tons of helpful information, too). Our monthly, online magazine, The Indie Reader, has featured contributions by designer Isaac Mizrahi, writers Joel Stein (Time magazine), Brunonia Barry (The Lace Reader), columnist Dan Savage and singer/songwriter Joshua Radin and more.
THanks for bring that to my attention. I would like to find books by authors that work hard on their craft but don't get noticed.
ReplyDeleteann
Cool! This was really interesting, and I love the analogy with indie musicians and movies
ReplyDeleteLove your spirit and attitude girl!
ReplyDeleteI´m a successful self published author (from Yorkshire in the UK) and I really go against the grain of fitting into the straitjacket of what is normal and mass. Self publishing is sexy. It´s about spirit, independence, talent and freedom. It´s about about sharing a powerful message that may otherwise have been denied the light of day simply because the traditional publishing beauty parade was too onerous a hill to climb.