About Go Indie

Go Indie is dedicated to promoting independent publishers, authors, and bookstores. Help us spread the word about indie publishing and be among the first to discover the best indie publishing has to offer! In the recording industry, indie is in and the major labels are out. In the film industry, indie movies are some of the most celebrated and talked about. In the years to come, the same will be true for indie publishing. There will soon be over 100,000 indie authors, and their voices deserve a platform for success. We aim to provide a part of this platform for success, or at the very least a unique forum for indie voices.

Go Indie officially launched in May 2007 and the response was overwhelming. By the end of 2007, we received 4,827 submissions and 184 requests from those who want to be contributors to our project. This huge response was a welcome surprise and it reinforced our perception of the strong need for what we are developing.

As many indie authors, publishers and bookstore representatives know, many in the industry answered the call to help achieve improved synergy amongst independents. Everyone involved with Go Indie was deeply gratified to see the changes, and for some, to be a part of this process. The introduction of new indie programs is what everyone wanted. Certainly, the biggest change is the retooling of BookSense as IndieBound. With the launch of IndieBound and other indie-focused programs, much of what we at Go Indie hoped for became a reality.

 

A Note from Our Founder

September 6, 2010

Hello,

When there’s a need, the industry tends to fill it. Not necessarily in a timely manner or in a manner everyone agrees on. This happened with IndieBound, the indie books program that’s doing quite successfully what we’d’ve liked to do at Go Indie in our early days. After participating in the program for a few years and waiting for its evolution, some of our original members are coming back. Together we’re looking once more at the future. We believe there’s much work to be done beyond IndieBound. Why? Well, there’s a whole world of publishing beyond the mainstream corporate publishers that remain a primary focus of IndieBound.

Personally, I truly believe there’s a place in the marketplace for big, small, and indie publishing, and I’d like to see more indie and less corporate in IndieBound. It’s doubtful, however, that that will happen. The independent bookstores have their indie outlet in IndieBound, so I’m leading the Go Indie team back to our earliest beginnings and our plan for being a platform, a voice in the community, for independent authors, independent publishers, and independent books.

Once again, we’re exploring the idea of launching The Journal of Independent Authors, Publishers and Booksellers--an English-language publication supporting independent authors, publishers, and booksellers in North America. As ever, this would be an entirely non-profit endeavor. I don't know where this road will take us, but it will be a fun journey.
 

Sincerely,

William R. Stanek

August 1, 2008

Hello,

I ask all independents to lend support to IndieBound. IndieBound promises to create an indie community around indie publishers, authors, and bookstores. This fills the gaps and provides the previously missing links. IndieBound makes the following bold declaration:

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for individuals to denounce the corporate bands which threaten to homogenize our cities and our souls, we must celebrate the powers that make us unique and declare the causes which compel us to remain independent.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all stores are not created equal, that some are endowed by their owners, their staff, and their communities with certain incomparable heights, that among these are Personality, Purpose and Passion. The history of the present indies is a history of experiences and excitement, which we will continue to establish as we set our sights on a more unconstrained state. To prove this, let’s bring each other along and submit our own experiences to an unchained world.

We, therefore, the Kindred Spirits of IndieBound, in the name of our convictions, do publish and declare that these united minds are, and darn well ought to be, Free Thinkers and Independent Souls. That we are linked by the passions that differentiate us. That we seek out soul mates to share our excitement. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the strength of our identities, we respectively and mutually pledge to lead the way as we all declare that we are IndieBound!

My mission is to band together with like-minded folks across the country to celebrate our independent natures, our free-thinking retailers and our unique communities.

Personally, I can’t think of a better program for the indie community than IndieBound. I support it as do all other Go Indie contributors. I look forward to seeing IndieBound grow and hope you will support it as well.
 

Sincerely,

William R. Stanek

May 30, 2007

Hello,

   My name is William Robert Stanek. I am the author of 70 books for young people and adults. I helped found and provide the funding for Go Indie™ and the upcoming Robert Stanek Foundation™. Key goals of these initiatives are to provide resources for and support for independent publishers, independent authors, independent bookstores, and communities across North America.

   Through my various writings and charitable efforts over the past two decades, I have:

• Supported communities across North America.
• Supported schools and libraries across North America.
• Helped provide hope to struggling independents.
• Helped give indie publishers and authors voices in their communities.

    I hope you will help me build a better tomorrow by supporting my efforts to make a difference. I ask you to please join our contributor team or write to us to see how you can contribute in other ways. You can learn more about me by clicking this link.

   Sincerely,

William R. Stanek