What is the Indie Reads Program?

I’ve had a number of questions about what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, why it would be beneficial for you as an indie author to join, and how to do so. So here is a comprehensive guide to the Circle of Origin’s Indie Reads program!

– What is Indie Reads? –

Indie Reads is a growing collection of independently published novels, how-to guides, art books, biographies, text books, and more. The collection has been instantiated on a dedicated portion of my author page, and can grow to an almost infinite size. As someone with the ability to spend a little extra money on my website, I have no qualms with sharing my space.

The Indie Reads page is designed in such a way as to allow seekers of great new books to sort the (eventually) massive list of books by author, genre, format, and an expansive assortment of content tags (like vampires, dragons, historical, steampunk, ect.). This puts the power to find a specific style of book in the reader’s hands, and makes them more likely to make a purchase.

– Why Am I Doing This? –

Every individual book landing page I design takes me at least 5 minutes to create if I’m focused, but as I’m often creating ten to twenty in a single sitting, I like to have a movie or something on in the background to make it feel less tedious. And while it costs me nothing but time to put this together, am I trying to get rich off of Amazon Associate links or what?

In short, no. In long….well, the average book purchase earns me somewhere between 10 and 11 cents. Independent book sales would have to seriously skyrocket in order for me to pull in any sort of living from this practice. Now, I HAVE discovered that any other item purchased from Amazon along with that book earns me a small commission as well, so that’s kinda cool.

No, I don’t plan on trying to live off the money that Indie Reads brings in, but I am hoping to use it to help keep the site up and running. Paying for the site tools and domain costs a good chunk of change, and I hope to offset that a bit.

The real reason I’m doing this is, as an indie author myself, I understand the struggles we all go through trying to find success for all our hard work. No one is marketing our books for us. No one is making our books easier to find. No one is going out of their way to bring us together to support and grow one another, so I thought….maybe that someone could be me?

I believe it is the responsibility of those of us who have a little extra to use that extra to help make life better for those around us. I have a little extra: time, money, drive. I’m willing to share some of that in a way that might help others find success, security, and fulfillment.

To be fair, I am not completely altruistic. Driving people to the Indie Reads section also drives people to my author site, and once my book is published, it will likely lead to more sales of that book, and I’m hoping that’s the case. But I’m a firm believer in giving back, and this community has already been so good to me. It’s only right that I do what I can to help.

– Why Should You Join? –

Retail stores know that proximity drives sales. This is why they put stacks and stacks of cheap candy next to the places where lines form. The know that the longer a person stands in that line, the more likely they are to reach out and add one of those items to their cart, even if they know they don’t need it.

Traditionally published authors get to take advantage of this strategy. Bookstores stuff shelves and shelves full of carefully curated titles, assembled according to genre and sorted by author and title. They know that, if you don’t like THIS book, you might just like THAT one next to it. And hey, since you liked THAT one, why not pick up THIS one as well?

Indie authors don’t have that benefit. We don’t have giant stores packed full of our books. If we are lucky and good at diplomacy, we might have a small corner of some local bookstore devoted to our books, but that’s nothing compared to the nation-spanning power of a Barnes and Noble.

The Indie Reads section groups indie novels together in a way that also exposes readers to similar books, just like big box stores, and as the list isn’t filled with traditionally published authors (who don’t need any more help), or even products that AREN’T books, an author’s novel has a harder time getting lost among the options.

Finally, it’s free. You can add as many books as you’d like to the growing collection, and all you have to spend is your time. Now, we do ask that you share a permanent link to the site with your community, as the only way to grow access to the Indie Reads program is if we go out of our way to get eyes on it. Remember: the more people that visit the Indie Reads page, the more likely YOUR book is to sell.

– So…How Do You Join? –

It’s actually really simple. At the top of this site, find the header link that says ‘Indie Reads’. Once there, you’ll see a block labeled ‘Application for Novel Addition’. Click that, then find and click the link within. This will open up a form. All you have to do is fill that out for each of your novels, and BOOM. As soon as I find the time, I’ll add you to the page.

And that’s it! Thank you for reading this drawn-out explanation of what I’m trying to accomplish. I hope you find value in the program as either reader or author, and I think together we can put some money back in the pockets of INDIVIDUALS, and not in the hands of some overpaid publishing CEO on his way to purchasing his third yacht!

Any further questions about the process? Any ideas how to make things better? Hit me up in the comments below, or click the ‘Contact’ link in the header to send me an email.