Call for Action: Buy Indie Press

You may have heard that Egmont Publishing has recently announced it is folding. The last of its catalogue to release will be the Spring 2015 line up which means that we don’t know what will become of all of the wonderful Fall 2015 (and beyond) debuts that were coming from Egmont.

I’d like to think that Random House will find a way to release the Egmont titles that were set to release this year but I don’t know how all of that works so I’m going to stop the guessing game there and tell you about what brought you to this blog post in the first place.

Soon after the news broke, #BuyAnEgmontBook was created by the lovely Robin Talley (Lies We Tell Ourselves). At which point I realized while going through the feed that Myra McEntire (Hourglass) and Kasie West (Pivot Point) stood out to me as Egmont favorites among so many others. If you have yet to read their work, I’d put them at the top of your TBR list.

Later in the evening, I came across a tweet from E.C. Myers (The Silence of Six) which led to me being nosy and looking at the conversation thread where I found Katherine Locke (Second Position) proposing that we as a community come together to show our support for and shed the spotlight on one indie each month. I was so excited, that I decided to jump into the conversation at this point and umm take over the idea.

So here’s how it’s going to work.

The official hashtag for this is #BuyIndiePress.
Each month, I encourage you to put the spotlight on and support the small presses as detailed below while using the hashtag above. There will be four small presses for each month so there are many choices. By no means is this a comprehensive list of the small presses out there. Due to time constraints, I thought it fitting to cap it at four a month so as not to overwhelm. I’m not asking you to put the spotlight on all four but at least one would be wonderful.

Update: The list originally included imprints which I will be taking out to make this a more comprehensive list. I do appreciate any and all suggestions so feel free to email me melodysimpson @ hollywoodthewriteway . com. and this list will be updated accordingly. Sorry! This is my first time doing this, I think I overthought the inclusion/exclusion thing and was a bit too generous here, so sorry! My apologies. February will stay the same since I already tweeted it out. There’s room in other months now to add more small presses. Thanks for the suggestions!

The Schedule For the Year:
February:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Poppy (Hachette)
Razorbill
Tu Books

March:
Algonquin Young Readers
Carolrhoda Lab
Month 9 Books
Leap Books

April:
Bold Strokes
Curiosity Quills Press
Orca Book Publishers
Diversion Books

May:
Chronicle Books
Quirk Books
Graywolf Press
Candlemark & Gleam

June:
Carina Press
Flux
SOHO Teen
Spencer Hill Press

July:
Abrams Children’s
Candlewick Press
Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing
Entangled Teen

August:
Albert Whitman Teen
HarperTeen Impulse
Adaptive Books
Solaris Books

September:
Holt
Peachtree Publishers
Medallion Press

October:
Sky Pony Press
Zest Books
Annick Press
Clean Teen Press

November:
Running Press
Sourcebooks
Tanglewood Press

December:
Self Published Authors
How You Can Help:

1) Pre-order
Pre-order a book from the publisher featured that month for yourself or as a gift to someone else.

Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook, it doesn’t matter.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Target, The Book Depository (Ships Worldwide), Books A Million, Powells, Audible, your local independent book store, etc…

2) Buy in Store

If the book you plan to buy has already released, go into the store and ask where the book is even if you know where the book will be. The more buzz about the book, the better. Ask for the book if there are no more copies in store. Why? Read here.

3) Read the Book For Free Legally

Library
– Physical/E-book Copy (Ask a librarian to order the book if it is not there. If there is a copy available but it is out, reserve a copy. The more people who reserve copies, the more copies the library will get. Reserve backlist titles too as that increases the chances of front list titles to become available at that library. If you are unable to get to your local library, call and ask if they conduct home deliveries.) You can use the Overdrive app to access e-books from your library.

Join Audible
Get a FREE Audiobook on Audible.com for first time users. If you have an Amazon account, it’s easy to sign in!

4) Go to Events
Attend the release party or upcoming tour event in your area or request that the author come to your area. May I suggest you take one or two extra bookmarks at an event so you can pass them onto your friends who love to read to spark interest.

5) Spread the Word
– On Tumblr, tumble this very post and/or tag #BuyIndiePress, the author, the book, and the publisher when talking about the book.

– Take a picture of the appropriate book(s) of the month on the shelf at your local book store or library and tweet with the hashtag #BuyIndiePress.

– Read the book in public, in different places and spark their interest. Plant the image of the book in people’s minds.

– Add the book to your “To-Read” list on Goodreads.

– Add your favorite quotes of the book you choose to read to Goodreads.

– Review the book on Amazon, BN.com, Goodreads, YouTube, Tumblr, your blog, etc… and Pin your review.

– Pick a book to read during an upcoming Read-A-Thon or create a Read Along.

– If you’re a blogger, feature the book in a Top Ten Tuesday or Waiting on Wednesday post. Or dedicate a week each month to spotlight books from the publishers featured each month.

– Talk about the book in person, on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, etc… after you read it (and again when the paperback releases).

– Suggest a book for book club based on what’s being featured in the coming months.

– Like the Author Page on Facebook & Amazon. Follow the author on Twitter. Ask your family and friends who are fans of the author to do the same.

Aside from YA Runs A 5K, I haven’t run anything in the book community before so I hope this goes well and feel free to comment or @ me on Twitter with suggestions! Thanks so much for the support.

9 comments

  1. This is a great way to put a spotlight on selected publishers! But I'm curious about what "indie" or "independent" publisher means to you? Aren't some on your list actually imprints of bigger companies?

  2. Thanks for the support!

    Yes, as noted in the post, this will focus on small presses and imprints. Depending on how successful this venture is, I will continue this next year and an entire new list of small presses and imprints will be covered. Feel free to email me with suggestions for next year's list. All the best!

  3. Update:

    There were a number of reasons that went into including the imprints but if you don't feel comfortable pushing those, please send suggestions to melodysimpson @ hollywoodthewriteway . com. and this list will be updated tonight accordingly.

    Sorry! This is my first time doing this, I think I overthought the inclusion/exclusion thing and was a bit too generous here, so sorry! My apologies. No need to wait on this. Will get on it now.

    All the best!

  4. Never apologize for enthusiasm! And I appreciate the fact that you've acted on something you feel strongly about. 🙂

    I mean, some of those imprints don't necessarily have a huge budget just because they're associated with a bigger publisher, so I'm sure they appreciated the shoutout.

    But yes, it's the mid-size and smaller guys who really seem to face the challenges and can use the help. I'm with Spencer Hill Press and I was impressed with their books before I signed with them, but it often feels like the smaller presses get overlooked.

    So thank you for raising the profile!