Special Guest Post: Hashtag Indieapril

#indieapril

#indieapril is an annual event on social media celebrating indie authors and their books. This year, Narratess has invited over seventy indie authors and a handful of indie presses to join in a large fantasy, science fiction, and horror sale. The sale will run from April 18th until the 22nd. We hope to connect authors and readers during that time!

Why #indieapril is important

Most indie authors and indie presses only have small budgets and limited connections to certain media outlets. So it’s hard to get the word out there about your book. A person has to see a name or image at least five times before they’ll consider a purchase. If you can’t even get one potential reader to see the cover of your book five times, how can you get them to buy it?

And there’s still the stigma that self-published books are of lesser quality than traditionally published books. While this may be true for some books, most self-published authors have learned and invested time in getting the quality of their books on par with traditionally published books. Authors even have more freedom to realise their vision of the book instead of creating a marketable product. That’s the strength of indie publishing.

Outside of the box

Indies don’t have to adhere to strict (marketing) boxes of brick-and-mortar shops or big publishers so they can tell the stories they want to tell, in their way. That’s how profitable subgenres are created, by indies writing what they wanted to read. Let’s not forget that novels like The Rage of Dragons and The Martian started out as self-published books. 

If there’s a trope you like to read, I’m sure there are indies who write it. You just have to find them. Sometimes you find books or a subgenre you never know existed. That’s why I love the indie space so much. The diversity and the inclusivity.

Let’s celebrate indies this month and buy some books!

Notable entries

BBNYA Finalists:

Wilthaven - Oli Jacobs

Spectre - Katie Jane Gallagher

Our Bloody Pearl - DN Bryn

May Day - Josie Jaffrey

Queer lit winner/Stabby Nominee: 

Children - Bjørn Larssen

Multiple award-winning/nominated: 

The Watcher of the Night Sky - Rachel Pudsey

SPSFC Finalist: 

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire - G.M. Nair

Tessa Hastjarjanto is an indie author and runs the blog Narratess.com. #indieapril is one of the initiatives she takes part in to grow the community of indie readers and authors. She’s also a panelist in the annual Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Awards, a contest just for indies. 

You can find her on her blog, as @endalia on twitter or as @tessa.hastjarjanto on Instagram.