Community engagement is at the heart of a vibrant book culture. The Indie Author Project (IAP) strives to amplify diverse, independent voices by connecting local libraries and indie authors. IAP is a platform and community that helps libraries meaningfully engage with indie authors and provide them with a trusted route to library distribution, while delivering quality, industry-vetted indie books to library patrons in the U.S., Canada, and beyond.

IAP was launched in 2015 by BiblioLabs, which was later acquired by Lyrasis in 2021. Lyrasis is a non-profit, member-driven organization that supports libraries and cultural heritage institutions. The program was formed to bridge the gap between independent authors, who often struggle to get their books into library collections, and librarians, who lacked an efficient, curated way to evaluate and acquire the best indie titles.

Since its founding, IAP has facilitated the inclusion of more than 25,000 indie ebooks in digital library collections. The service is a game-changer for librarians who need help navigating the growing self-publishing space. In the face of library budget cuts and restrictions, IAP provides libraries with a way to offer a wide range of voices to patrons, not just titles from major publishers, in a licensing model that is sustainable for libraries.

Libraries interested in diversifying their catalogues can subscribe to IAP, which provides the technology for local authors to submit their ebooks directly to a library, or they can license curated titles through the IAP Select Commercial Collections or the BookLife Elite collection on major library ebook lending platforms, such as The Palace Project, OverDrive, and more. In addition, authors with titles in the IAP Select Commercial Collections or BookLife Elite collection earn royalties on sales, meaning that libraries purchasing these collections ultimately have a direct impact on the local, creative economy.

“The IAP contest, along with the engagement it sparks among our patrons and staff, reminds us that our community is hungry for stories that reflect their lives, experiences, and identities,” explains Jenna Jaureguy at East Baton Rouge Parish Library in Louisiana. The annual contest, she notes, “also serves as a valuable platform for emerging local authors.”

For Amy Ackerman at Florida’s St. Johns County Public Library System, the Indie Author Project helps the numerous indie authors in her community feel “empowered,” and allows them to “celebrate their creative achievements.”

IAP also eliminates the guesswork of acquiring indie titles, enhancing how libraries engage with patrons and communities by providing them access to fresh works they might otherwise overlook.

“IAP helps shift the paradigm,” explains Nash Steele, Senior Operations Coordinator at Lyrasis. “Libraries are not just consumers of publisher catalogs, but active participants in local literary culture, bridging readers with voices they might never encounter otherwise."

Supporting authors is at the forefront of the Indie Author Project. In addition to hosting an annual contest for indie authors, the community also organizes events such as Indie Author Day, and facilitates networking opportunities to help connect writers, librarians, and curators, all while striving to keep libraries at the center of the conversation. “IAP helps libraries position themselves as anchors of the local creative ecosystem, thereby boosting their role in cultural and literary community development,” Steele adds.

For Melissa Bobe, librarian, independent author, and 2024 Indie Author of the Year, the IAP’s mission is something she has felt personally. “The Indie Author Project has made so many of my author dreams a reality,” she says. “It has also made me proud as a librarian to be celebrated by an organization that centers libraries as well as the freedom to create, read, and share stories.”