Established in 2015, the Indie Author Project is a publishing community that connects public libraries, readers, and curators with independent authors and their books. As the indie book world evolves, IAP is garnering fresh insight and forging new pathways for writers to broaden their readership and engage with their communities.
In late 2023, the Indie Author Project and Ingram Library Services, part of Ingram Content Group, joined forces with Lyrasis for a new initiative. Hoping to gather data on the relationship between indie authors and public libraries, the collaborators conducted a survey of 320 library staff members, posing six questions regarding self-published books and barriers to circulating them within their collections.
The results of the survey are both eye-opening and uplifting. When asked about the importance of including indie publications in their library’s collection, 82% of respondents stated it was either extremely important, very important, or somewhat important. When asked how interested they would be in purchasing physical books from local indie authors, 94% of the surveyed library professionals stated they would be either extremely, very, or somewhat interested.
“This survey confirms what we hear when we meet with librarians and what we see in our sales data," says Carolyn Morris, VP of Ingram Library Services. "Library patrons are reading widely, and libraries play a key role in connecting readers to titles that may not be getting traditional media attention." She adds that, "Ingram is committed to working with libraries, Indie Author Project, small publishers, and authors to make these unique titles discoverable and easily accessible."
Nash Steele, an Indie Author Project representative and Senior Operations Coordinator for Lyrasis, sees the results as very good news. "Libraries are passionate about supporting independent authors and becoming an integral part of the creative economy in their communities," Steele says.
As the survey also shows, however, there are a number of factors preventing librarians from actively pursuing self-published books. Given the sheer number of indie books out there, it’s an enormous undertaking to identify the standout titles. In fact, 57% of survey participants reported that the biggest obstacle to acquiring self-published books is determining quality, particularly in the absence of professional reviews.
The Indie Author Project is addressing discoverability hurdles and taking the guesswork out of the equation. IAP now houses a collection of nearly 20,000 ebooks, which are available to libraries across the U.S. and Canada. The collection not only features a diverse array of titles submitted from self-published authors worldwide, but its lists are also curated by region, so librarians can connect with indie authors in their local areas to spotlight their books.
Additionally, for professionals seeking only the most exceptional of indie books, there's the Indie Author Project Select collection. It's an unlimited, simultaneous-use collection that has been curated based on professional reviews, recommendations, and other accolades, to provide libraries and patrons with the “best of the best” in indie ebooks. The collection is available on numerous third-party platforms, including BiblioBoard, The Palace Project, OverDrive, Boundless, and cloudLibrary. Rather than track down self-published books themselves, Steele says, librarians can simply promote a link to the collection to their patrons. Learn how your library can get involved here.
To date, the Indie Author Project has assisted more than 15,000 indie authors in getting their books into their local libraries, and they'll continue to streamline the acquisition process for librarians.
As the library survey has proven, library professionals value independently published books. While indie author advocates have long felt this intuitively, it's nice to see it reflected. "This is incredibly encouraging to indie authors," Steele says. "Libraries want to support them."
