Indie Author Project

Winning Recognition: How to Submit Your Self-Published Book for Awards
2025-10-16 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual Event
Want to boost your book’s visibility and credibility? Winning a book award can help indie authors gain recognition, attract new readers, and enhance marketing efforts. Join Tiffany Duck, librarian and consultant, in this webinar where you’ll learn how to identify the right awards for your book, prepare a compelling submission, and avoid common pitfalls. Whether you’re a first-time author or a seasoned indie publisher, this session will equip you with the tools to navigate the world of book awards with confidence. Join us and take the next step toward gaining well-deserved recognition for your work!

About Tiffany Duck:
Tiffany Duck is a librarian and consultant, as well as the owner of LitDext LLC, a company specializing in literacy and information services. She has thirteen years of experience as a public library manager in various library systems. Tiffany has served as the Co-Chair of the BCALA Literacy Awards Committee for the past eight years and the Chair of the BCALA Self-publishing eBook Awards for the past seven years. As an Executive Team member, she built long-lasting relationships with community partners.
She also facilitated many innovative and diverse initiatives that expanded the library’s reach into the community. Tiffany played a pivotal role in enriching the library’s offerings through diverse collections that reflect the community’s varied voices, and actively supported self-published authors by providing programming opportunities for writers, poets, and local talent. Tiffany is an adjunct instructor in the Library and Information Science programs at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and the University of Alabama.

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How to Use the Fundamentals of Role-Playing Games like D&D to Write Your First Draft in Record Time
2025-12-11 15:00 - 16:00
Want to write a novel but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’ve written a few pages, only to be waylaid by frustration, distraction, or boredom? Fear not, intrepid hero, for there is another way. In this presentation, award-winning urban fantasy novelist S.G. Tasz explains how you can borrow concepts from role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons to help get words on the page in record time.

About S.G. Tasz:
S.G. Tasz is a multi-award-winning fantasy novelist from Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to her published novels, her work has appeared in anthologies for the Nevada Humanities and the Henderson Writers Group. When she’s not working on her next book, she’s running critique groups for the Sin City Writers, appearing at local venues as a member of the Coffee House Tours book signing organization, or cheering on her favorite sports teams, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Green Bay Packers. For more information on her latest publications, visit www.sgtasz.com.
Please note: our parent company, Lyrasis, hosts IAP Expert Sessions, and you may be asked to create an account with Lyrasis Learning to register for this free virtual event.
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Interested in sharing your expertise in a future IAP Expert Session? Fill out this form to be considered as a presenter.

Traditional-to-Indie Publishing
2026-01-22 15:00 - 16:00
While many indie authors dream of “being discovered” – i.e., taking an indie-to-traditional publishing path – for some authors, it goes in the other direction. What does it take for a traditionally published author to go indie? Whether you’ve been published traditionally, indie, or you’re not yet published, in this session, 2025 Indie Author of the Year, Cynthia Swanson, will explore what goes into the indie decision, the pros and cons of this publishing method, and the must-have attributes of a successful independently published book.

About Cynthia Swanson:
Cynthia Swanson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the psychological suspense novels The Bookseller, The Glass Forest, and Anyone But Her. In addition to being named 2025 Indie Author of the Year by the Indie Author Project, Cynthia has won the Indie Author Project contest in Mystery/Thriller, received the Colorado Book Award, the WILLA Literary Award, and been a finalist for the High Plains Book Award and the Colorado Authors League Award. She is also the editor of the Colorado Book Award-winning anthology Denver Noir. She lives with her family in Denver. Find Cynthia online at www.cynthiaswansonauthor.com and follow her on Bluesky (cynswanauthor) and Substack (The What If Journal).

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Interested in sharing your expertise in a future IAP Expert Session? Fill out this form to be considered as a presenter.

The Importance of Research for Novels and Memoirs
2026-03-26 15:00 - 16:00
Why is research important for writing novels and memoirs? What can it provide for the writer besides historical accuracy? What does it do for the reader? More importantly, what does research do for the writer? And what are the important kinds of research that a writer can do to make his story successful? Join Michael C. White, award-winning author and 2024 Indie Author Project Annual Contest Runner-Up, as he walks you through how to approach research in a way that enriches your writing and brings your story to life.

About Michael C. White:
Michael C. White is the author of seven novels, including Soul Catcher, A Brother’s Blood, a New York Times Book Review Notable Book; The Blind Side of the Heart, A Dream of Wolves and The Garden of Martyrs, which was made into an opera. His novel Beautiful Assassin won the 2011 Connecticut Book Award for Fiction. His last novel, Resting Places, was recently selected as a runner-up for the 2024 Indie Author Project General Fiction Award. A new novel, Skunktown, will be published by Regal House Publishing (2027). He was the founder and director of the Fairfield University MFA. Currently he works as a writing coach for novelists and memoirists.
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Interested in sharing your expertise in a future IAP Expert Session? Fill out this form to be considered as a presenter.

A Beginner’s Guide to the Indie Author Project
2026-05-21 15:00 - 16:00
Curious how the Indie Author Project (IAP) works, or how to get your ebook into libraries through IAP? In this introductory session, we’ll walk through the full IAP pathway, including how submissions work, how libraries access indie ebooks, how to potentially earn royalties, and how the annual contests fit into the program. We’ll also share tips for increasing your chances of being selected and leave plenty of time for live Q&A.

Register here for the event

About the Indie Author Project:
The Indie Author Project (IAP) is a publishing community that includes public libraries, authors, curators, and readers working together to connect library patrons with great indie-published books. IAP has helped hundreds of libraries engage their local creative community and assisted in getting over 25,000 indie ebooks into their local libraries.
Please note: our parent company, Lyrasis, hosts IAP Expert Sessions, and you may be asked to create an account with Lyrasis Learning to register for this free virtual event.

Interested in sharing your expertise in a future IAP Expert Session? Fill out this form to be considered as a presenter.
