Do You Like Indie Books?

(from electricliterature.com
by Michael Seidlinger)

The Great 2014 Indie Press Preview

This feature began as an idea sparked by the seemingly endless “most anticipated” and “best-of” lists swarming the publishing industry. Sure, these lists are popular and helpful, but since they tend to focus on mainstream books there’s little benefit for small publishers. Why wasn’t there a comprehensive gathering of what the indie community has to offer? Well, I posed that very same question to the indie press community and the reply, it was incredible. Over 70 publishers contacted me in excitement, delighted to reveal their publication schedules. If that weren’t enough, dozens of indie press acolytes were happy to talk about the upcoming books they are most looking forward to reading. I’ve scoured a dizzying array of indie press publication schedules and correspondence to compose the “The Great 2014 Indie Press Preview,” a compendium of some of the most exciting titles of this year and curated by more than a dozen indie press authorities—a companion piece, “The Great 2014 Indie Press Cheat Sheet,” is a comprehensive list of what indie press has to offer this will be published here soon.

I want to pause for a moment to further emphasize the size and caliber of the offering. It’s incredible—it really is—to see such an enthusiastic response. I believe this is another example of why this may very well be the “golden age” of the Indies. We are seeing a community becoming more and more dedicated to these renegade publishing brands. For me, the excitement was always there—the realization that the community was healthy and thriving—but it took something like this to put things into perspective. This is for all you book-lovers with bloodshot eyes, spending long hours in front of the computer in hopes of making a connection. It’s for all the literary citizens making sure to foster community around the act of writing, reading, and spreading the word. You all know who you are.

I’m proud to be one of you.

–Michael J Seidlinger is the author of a number of novels including The Laughter of Strangers, My Pet Serial Killer and The Sky Conducting. He serves as Electric Literature‘s Book Reviews Editor as well as Publisher-in-Chief of Civil Coping Mechanisms, an indie press specializing in unclassifiable/innovative fiction and poetry.

Click here to check out some of what are sure to be amazing books.

SUPPORT YOUR INDIE AUTHORS!!!