Amy Edelman of IndieReader.com Interview
William P. Young Originally Self-Published ‘The Shack’Are you a self-published author looking to showcase your book to readers?
If so, you’ll want to check out IndieReader.com, a new startup from Amy Edelman.
I recently sat down with Amy to talk about her site, what it offers writers, and how it’s helping readers discover self-published and print-on-demand books they’ll want to read.
Amy Edelman: In addition to being in public relations for 20 years I am also a writer. I’ve been traditionally published twice and self-published once. I was sensing a change in the air with regards to self-published books. It always seemed unfair to me that the entire category of self-published books was looked upon as being inferior to traditionally published books.
It also seemed like there were some traditionally published writers who were looking into self-publishing like Stephen King and Noam Chomsky. There were also some books that were finding themselves on the best seller list like The Lace Reader and Still Alice and The Shack. Those are all self-published books. It seemed what self-published authors and books were lacking was a platform to showcase their books.
There wasn’t any place to go to find great self-published books. And one of the things that we are doing is you need to submit the book and the book goes through our editorial committee because part of the problem is that when people think of self-published books, they don’t necessarily think of the best. They think of the worst. So we’re looking for ones that really make the category shine, the best of the best.
Jordan McAuley: Is your site is geared to publishers, authors or consumers?
Amy Edelman: The site is geared to consumers. I know when you originally introduced us it was for self-published books and POD books and the people who love them. While that’s still true, the tag line that we’re using now is Read What You Want. That means not what the traditional publishers and the agents and the bookstores tell you that you want.
It’s being able to look at books that are off the beaten track to find books that you really like — not what other people are going to tell you that you should like. That said, we want to promote a strong community of writers as well to share resources and tips too.
Jordan McAuley: I’m sure the question that everybody is going to wonder is what sets your site apart from Amazon and other places like WeRead and LibraryThing?
Amy Edelman: The thing about Amazon is that people go to Amazon knowing what they want to buy. Nobody goes to Amazon to skim or to browse. If your book is on Amazon and everybody’s book is on Amazon, it doesn’t mean that somebody’s going to find it there unless they’re looking for it. Other sites that might be smaller than Amazon are still not geared specifically to the best self-published authors and books.
I guess the biggest difference is that our site will sell and promote books that have been selected and reviewed. It’s not going to be for everybody. We look for books that we believe are going to have an audience, and those are the ones that we feature on the site. The site is set up so if you like chick lit, there’s going to be scroll at the bottom that says if you like chick lit you’re going to love blah blah. If you like John Grisham you’re going to love this particular author. So you don’t need to know a name. If there’s a particular genre that you love then we’re going to introduce you to authors that you wouldn’t have heard of otherwise.
Once you know who they are, you could find the book but this is going to be a place for you to discover new authors that you haven’t heard about. And there is going to be another section as well called The IndieReader. It’s an online magazine that’s going to have original editorial content. We’re going to have columns and celebrities and that kind of thing as well. Again, to get the consumer to come back and check out what’s on the site.
Jordan McAuley: Oh wow, that’s going to be a really cool feature. That way you can have interviews and tons of different things on there that would really keep people coming back. Are you taking all different types of books or is there a certain genre you specialize in?
Amy Edelman: We’re looking at everything except for hardcore pornography. People say what’s hardcore pornography? Well you know the old line, you know it when you see it. But yeah, all genres — cooking, humor, fiction, non-fiction, niche topics that wouldn’t get picked up by a traditional publisher because you’re not necessarily going to sell thousands and thousands of copies.
It’s for special books. A lot of people are choosing to self-publish. It’s not the last resort anymore. They want a quicker turnaround time or they want control of their material. As traditional publishers get more and more stretched they’re offering less and less. So why not go and do it on your own?
Jordan McAuley: Right. It’s interesting you brought that up because everybody lately has been talking about how books are dying and publishers are dying but self-publishing and print on demand is exploding.
Amy Edelman: Yep.
Jordan McAuley: I think it’s more of the traditional publishers that are dying. And books are changing into electronic formats. Are you going to feature e-books or only print books?
Amy Edelman: We’re definitely going to do e-books. We’re not set up to do it right now because we had to start somewhere. We’re not doing e-books yet but we will definitely be doing e-books I would say in the near future.
Jordan McAuley: So your site is the place to go for quality self-published books that you can’t find anywhere else. Is that the goal?
Amy Edelman: It’s definitely the goal. It’s just the word quality is kind of hard because it suggests that the books we don’t take aren’t quality and we don’t necessarily believe that. There was also an article written recently on MediaBistro’s GalleyCat that called us the new gatekeepers. I don’t want people to think they’re exchanging one set of gatekeepers which are agents and traditional publishers with another set of gatekeepers.
We’re looking for books that we think there’s an audience for that have been overlooked by traditional publishers. I would love to say that means A, B, and C but it’s not that easy. That’s why we have an editorial board made up of editors and literary agents and just plain book lovers. If somebody loves a book then it’s included. If somebody doesn’t love a book then it’s passed along to somebody else just because it’s so subjective — what people like and what they don’t like — and we understand that. We take that part of it very seriously. So I wouldn’t necessarily say quality versus not quality — just books that we think that there’s an audience for.
Jordan McAuley: Right. That’s a good point. But in terms of things like spelling and grammar and maybe cover design, are those something you look at?
Amy Edelman: Those are definitely things that we take into consideration. The fact is that even traditional publishers sometimes let stuff get through. They spend less time on editing because there’s less time and less money. So although that’s important, it’s important that it looks like a quality book and that things are spelled right. I’m a huge stickler for that, but it’s more important that it’s a really good story, that it’s going to be something that is going to draw people in. That’s the primary goal.
Jordan McAuley: Right. I’ve both self-published and had a book with a New York publisher. It’s funny because the New York publisher kind of rushed the book out and there were a lot of errors in it. I was like if I could have done this myself, there would not have been all of these errors. I think people assume that because a book is published by a New York house that it’s going to be so much better and it’s not always. We saw that with Oprah and James Frey’s book A Million Little Pieces. They didn’t even check to make sure the facts were correct.
Amy Edelman: Right.
Jordan McAuley: There’s this huge — I don’t know the correct word for it — illusion maybe that like you said self-published books are not as good. And many times they’re better and the author puts a lot more work into them than books published at traditional publishing houses.
Amy Edelman: Yeah, because it’s their baby. The novel that I did that came out a couple of years ago, I spent three years on that book. Somebody else who is reading it that doesn’t have the closeness to it that you do isn’t necessarily going to take the time or have the care that you have. Which isn’t to say that every author or every writer needs an editor. But you can do that on your own or you can hire somebody to do that. You can hire somebody to do the cover design. And that way it becomes your decision.
I hated my cover of my last book which was traditionally published. I hated it. But you know they loved it and we went with it and in the end, who knows if it makes a difference. But I think that the gift that you have when you self-publish is you get to make those choices. It’s totally your own. That’s an important thing — it’s a great thing.
When somebody paints a beautiful picture you don’t have three other people come in and say well I think it should be more to the left and less red. This way you have control and the turnaround time is a lot quicker too with self-publishing which can be important depending on what your topic is.
Jordan McAuley: Right. And if people have dreams of having their books published by a New York publisher, a lot of times it’s easier to self-publish it yourself and then show that there’s a track record for sales. That’s what happened with our book. We self-published it and it sold really well and then a New York publisher bought it and kind of screwed up the whole thing. I mean everything, in terms of publicity, to the cover, to what was inside. You could not have messed it up any more, but at that point it’s of out of your hands. But someone can self-publish and still sell it to a publishing house later if they want. It’s not like because you self-publish it that’s the way it’s going to be forever.
Amy Edelman: Right. That’s true. I also want to say that a lot of people under the illusion that if you’re traditionally published you don’t have to do the work in terms of promoting it that you do if you’re self-published. And that is so wrong. I had a wonderful PR person for three months, but after three months she’s like bye! They need to be on to the next person. So the amount of work that you need to spend, whether it’s traditionally published or self-published is just about the same. You need to be in it to win it. You really do.
Jordan McAuley: Not only is it the same, but a lot of times if your book is published by a New York publishing house — you’re lucky to get any publicity efforts — but they kind of hold you back. Like with our book we were trying to have a book release party and they freaked out and put all these restrictions on us about what we could and couldn’t do at the party.
We’re were like, we’re trying to sell books here. They were telling us we couldn’t have gift bags and we couldn’t have alcohol and we couldn’t send written invitations with their logo to people that have already bought our previous book so they would probably come. It’s like they don’t understand the publicity anyway.
Amy Edelman: Right.
Jordan McAuley: Unless you’re a big celebrity, then I think they do help you get on the Today Show and all of that.
Amy Edelman: Yeah but if you’re a big celebrity, if they’ve just spent $2 million for Miley Cyrus’ autobiography, you don’t need that push. You’re going to get it anyway. So it’s true. I want to say too that we fully expect that there are going to agents and publishers coming to our site to shop because we’ve done the work for them by reviewing the books that get onto the site.
We’re also in conversations with an L.A. based production company for a first look deal. So they have first rights if they find something on the site that they want to develop into another medium, whether it’s a feature film or television program. We’re working on that right now but nothing’s been signed yet.
Jordan McAuley: Say there’s someone who’s reading or listening to this and they haven’t yet put their book together. Are you going to refer people to certain vendors or editors or cover designers or is that left to them?
Amy Edelman: We will have resources listed on the site. It’s not going to be a telephone book of resources. There are plenty of places where you can find that online. It’s going to be resources that we’ve worked with before and we whole-heartedly recommend. So yes, if the book isn’t put together yet and they’re looking for resources they can find them on the site. But that’s not part of what we’re going to be doing, at least initially. They need to come to us with a finished book. But there will be resources on the site.
Jordan McAuley: I know you said you’re not launching until September, but how can people who have a book submit it to you? And does it need to be a brand new book or can it be an older book?
Amy Edelman: It doesn’t need to be a brand new book at all. The site is up, it’s IndieReader.com. What’s up there right this second is information about the site, how it works, some of the press we’ve gotten, where they sign up and where to send their books. So they can do that now. And then as I said the site will be interactive, probably within the next few days. But until it’s perfect, until we’re really ready to go to the consumer and say hey, look what we have, we want to make sure all the bugs are worked out and all the content is up there. So that will be in September.
For anybody who signs up with us between now and September, the annual fee is $99.00 until we go live. We’re pretty much going to say $99.00 through September. But no matter when they sign up, if they sign up today, it won’t start until September because that’s when we are really going to the consumer media and let them know what we’re doing. Until then we’re talking to trade media because we want to get as many great writers on the site as we can.
Jordan McAuley: Cool. Before I let you go is there anything else you want to mention that I didn’t ask?
Amy Edelman: Well right now we have a strategic partnership set up with Blurb.com which is a book maker. Whereas if you’re an IndieReader.com member you get a discount on creating a book with Blurb. And if you’re a Blurb author you get a discount on IndieReader membership. So there’s that. And we’re looking at other strategic partnerships, like that L.A. based production company. Things that maximize what the authors get and the magazine which maximizes what the consumer sees when they come to the site. Otherwise we pretty much covered it.
Jordan McAuley: Cool. You said you have a partnership with Blurb and they have really cool tool where they can slurp content from blogs into a book. Of course that we still have to pass your approval process. But I suggest that if somebody doesn’t have a book but they have a blog with a lot of posts, Blurb can help you turn that blog into a book.
Amy Edelman: Yeah, it’s really amazing. They’re really, really good at what they do. The books are really beautiful.
Jordan McAuley: Well thanks for the taking the time to talk with me. We’ll keep in touch.
Amy Edelman: Thank you.
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Reader Comments (2)
The Hidden Dangers of Soy - listed on Amazon and published by Outskirts Press. Here is the latest review:
http://greatinfotips.com/the-hidden-dangers-of-soy-book-review/
It's very compelling and controversial.
Thanks.
Dianne Gregg
http://www.hiddensoy.com
P.S. I'm in the process of planning a blog book tour. Would Amy be interested?