Indie Book Club discussion

Okay, I was looking through phone apps for anything related to authors, specifically indie authors, and I didn’t see anything. So, I had a thought for an app, or a website, or maybe a combination of both. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or the skills to make it happen. So, I thought I’d toss it out here and see if anyone else thinks it might be a halfway decent idea, and if so, might want to run with it.

I thought about a place where indie authors could put 3,000-6,000 word excerpts of their books (a part they think would capture a reader’s interest). Readers could sign up, and at specified intervals (once a month, two weeks, weekly, whatever), the website/app would automatically email the reader a section of work from a random author, along with a link to purchase the entire book if the reader liked what they saw. This way the readers don’t have to go out looking for new indie authors to check out, and authors would be able to get their work in front of readers who otherwise might never see their stuff. Eventually, if enough authors put snippets of their work on the site, the readers could specify what genres they prefer.

Although it could be free, there could also be either 1) a minimal fee for the authors to list their work and the reader subscriptions are free, or 2) a small fee for the readers to subscribe and the authors submit their work for free. I know there are sites out there for indie authors, but I thought the idea of the snippets being sent to the readers without them having to do anything other than register might make it a little different. With the increase in indie authors sure to continue, something like this might be helpful to both authors and readers.

Of course, if there’s already something like that out there, please let me know so I can go check it out.
:-)

Hmmm, interesting. That wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm not aware of any apps out there, or website services that do that type of thing.

I'd be interested as well.

Not a bad idea with a filter on content so it doesn't overwhelm the reader. Like I would only get Scifi excepts.

Sounds good... I hate trawling for books because I am like a kid in a sweet shop, so having samples coming to me is definitely an option I would consider... Not got any skills in creating apps though, sorry !
Guess if you're stuck there's still the old mailing list !

Wyatt wrote: "Not a bad idea with a filter on content so it doesn't overwhelm the reader. Like I would only get Scifi excepts."

Yeah, the genre selection filter would probably have to wait, though, until you have a decent number of authors. If there were only three sci-fi books listed, you wouldn't want to get the same snippet over and over again. :-)

Alrighty then. Ran across this on Twitter:

http://www.indiesnippets.blogspot.com/

This site already does essentially what I proposed, except they do 200-word snippets. If you could subscribe by email, it would do the same thing, just with smaller bite-sized pieces.

Great link - thanks!
G. David wrote: "Alrighty then. Ran across this on Twitter:

http://www.indiesnippets.blogspot.com/

This site already does essentially what I proposed, except they do 200-word snippets. If you could subscribe ..."