One of the questions we get most often from authors is simple: what actually happens after I hit submit?

It’s a great question, and the answer is more exciting than you might think. It goes on a journey through a whole community of librarians, curators, and readers who are actively looking for books just like yours. Let’s walk through it together!

First, a quick introduction

If you’re new here, welcome! The Indie Author Project (IAP) is a publishing community made up of public libraries, authors, curators, and readers, all working toward the same goal: connecting library patrons with great indie-published books.

We started in 2015 as a partnership with Library Journal, and our community has grown tremendously since then. Today, IAP has helped hundreds of libraries engage their local creative communities and has gotten more than 30,000 indie ebooks into digital library collections across the U.S. and Canada. Fast forward to 2021, we became a part of Lyrasis—a nonprofit, member-driven organization that supports libraries and cultural heritage institutions— which has enabled us to expand this program even further.

Here’s the part we love telling authors: thanks to your local libraries, participation is completely free and the submission process only takes about five minutes. Just upload your ebook (EPUBs preferred but PDFs accepted), cover image, and some basic info about your book, and you can submit as many of your books as you’d like (as long as you retain the rights to the work). Once you get the confirmation email from us, the vetting process begins.

Ready? Here’s what happens.

Step 1: Our team takes a look

Every single book that comes through IAP gets vetted by a real person on our team. We make sure your file works beautifully for readers, your cover is in place, and everything is formatted so that a patron opening your book on their phone or computer has a great experience. We also do a quick content check to make sure everything is appropriate for public library collections (i.e. no hate speech or discriminatory content).

Step 2: Your book joins your regional collection

Once your book clears the vetting process, we add it to the Indie collection for your region (Indie Minnesota, Indie Virginia, Indie Ontario, and so on).

This is the exciting part. Every patron at a participating library in your region can now discover and read your book on BiblioBoard. And because BiblioBoard offers unlimited simultaneous-use access, there are no holds, waitlists, or checkout limits. If your whole book club wants to read your book at the same time, they can!

Two things authors always want to know:

Can people download my book? Nope! BiblioBoard is a secure reading platform. Patrons read your book right there on the platform. No downloading, no file sharing.

Does this tie up my rights? Not at all. IAP is nonexclusive, as long as your agreements with other entities allow it. Keep selling, marketing, and distributing your book wherever you like. Being part of IAP doesn’t take other distribution options off the table.

Step 3: Your book is considered for IAP Select

Here’s something many authors don’t realize: every book submitted to IAP is automatically considered for IAP Select as part of the overall process. 

Think of IAP Select as our ‘best of the best’ collection. When our team vets books, they’re looking for the total package—titles that really stand out. We’re looking for everything from award-winners and USA Today and New York Times bestsellers to books that are getting rave reviews from critics and readers alike.

If your book is chosen for the collection, you’ll receive an email from our team. Having your book chosen for IAP Select is a big deal. It expands your reach to participating libraries across the U.S. and Canada, giving you access to a much bigger audience discovering your work.

If your book isn’t chosen for IAP Select, it’s still available in your regional collection, ready for new readers to discover. Plus, you can always resubmit! Resubmitting starts the vetting process over again, so if your book has picked up an award, a strong review, or some press attention since you last submitted, send it our way. Curators love to see momentum!

One quick note: IAP Select doesn’t include poetry or nonfiction titles, though both are very welcome in our regional collections!

Step 4: An invitation to our Commercial Collections

If your book is selected for IAP Select, it also then becomes eligible for our Commercial Collections, which you can opt into during the next closest update period.

If you accept, your book then becomes available to libraries across other major ebook platforms like OverDrive (Libby), The Palace Project, and cloudLibrary. You also have the opportunity to earn royalties when libraries purchase your book through these collections. We’ll send you all the details when the invitation arrives so you can decide what’s right for you.

If at any point you need to remove your book from the Commercial Collections or the Indie Author Project in general, just send us a quick email, and we’ll be happy to help you out. We can also update your file if you have a new version, or handle any metadata corrections you may need. 

There’s a whole community here, too!

The collections are just the beginning of our Indie Author Project community. When you join, you have access to so many other resources, events, and contests!

IAP Expert Sessions: Free virtual sessions with authors and industry pros covering marketing, craft, publishing, and the business of being an author. Can’t attend live? Every session is archived on our website so you can rewatch anytime.

The IAP Annual Contest: Every year we celebrate the best indie-published ebooks across different genres. Winners and honorable mentions take home cash prizes, recognition from librarian judges, and a whole lot of visibility. Submissions open April 1 and close May 31.

Indie Author Day: A celebration held virtually and in person at libraries all across North America every November, where local writing communities come together and our contest winners are announced.

Why this is worth your five minutes

Libraries are one of the last great places where a reader will pick up a book by an author they’ve never heard of, just because it’s there and it looks good. And they don’t stop there. Library Journal research found that more than 50% of library users go on to buy books by an author they discovered at the library.

That’s the real opportunity: readers who find you, love your book, and start looking for whatever you write next. Recognition from librarians also builds real credibility in a crowded marketplace, and that’s something you can carry into everything else you do as an author.

Your local library is already looking for you. Let’s introduce you!

Ready to submit? Head to indieauthorproject.com to get started. Questions along the way? Check out our FAQ page or email us at authors@indieauthorproject.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!