IndieBooks

IndieBooks is a new online bookshop launched by Legend Press in December 2009. As well as selling fiction and non-fiction from a variety of independent publishers it offers event listings and provides background on the independent publishing industry.

SUPPORT THE SMALL PRESS

IndieBooks sells fifty books at a time. Each month the 25 lowest selling books are replaced with new titles. The books listed are therefore determined by a novel combination of editorial choice and customer feedback.

Part of this site's appeal is that it introduces readers to publishers that they may not have heard of. The likes of Tindal St Press, Oxygen Books and Alcemi require as much support as possible when competing against the big publishing houses. With the mainstream market dominated by Dan Brown and celebrity memoirists, IndieBooks will need to develop a reputation for choosing surprising and unexpected books. If it can do that, it might just attain heroic status.

IndieBooks has also set up the the Book Petition, which is encouraging users to say why they love books. When it has 5,000 names the site intends to approach the relevant authorities and push for greater support for the independent book industry.

THE PRICE

The initial problem for IndieBooks is the price of its titles, all of which are being sold at their recommended retail price. Given that you can buy most of these books at a discount from Amazon the main motivation for using the site is to support independent publishers. At a time when many readers bemoan the decline of the bookshop this website encourages them to put their money where their mouth is.

Despite the clumsy tagline "something fiction, something true, something classic and definitely something new" IndieBooks is an excellent attempt at making the experience of online book browsing a friendly one and deserves support.

10 February 2010