Our thanks to author and creator of Indie Books Unleashed, Crystal Klimavicz, for this guest contribution.

It would be an understatement to say that a chasm may exist in our nation today. One that divides not only political parties, but genders, races, classes, and more. You can’t pick up a magazine, open a social media site, or go to the grocery store without seeing or hearing someone’s opinion on the matter.

Just this morning at the gym, I overheard this commentary: “I’ve lived through two Bush and two Obama administrations, and the only thing that changed was my healthcare. Beyond that, life has pretty much stayed the same.”

Regardless of the truth to this opinion, the reality is that the political arena is, for the most part, fought on a much larger scale than the individual worlds we live in. Yet in my little world, I saw a chasm equally as great which prompted me to do a little something to inspire change.

This is a chasm that exists between the world of traditional publishing and those of the self-published. Most people are probably aware that there are big traditional publishing houses and a number of other smaller publishers that have popped up to meet demand. All of these publishers may argue that there is an inherent gatekeeper to their system through the agents and editors — people who ensure a level of professionalism — within the process. Some would undoubtedly argue that self-published authors merely circumvent this gate, allowing books of unequal quality to go to print.

Yet the J.K. Rowlings, Margaret Atwoods, and Stephen Kings of the world make publishing a book look far too easy! Note that many of them received rejections on their work for years; Agatha Christie was rejected for five years before landing a publishing deal, and Louis L’Amour received 200 rejections letters before Bantam accepted him. So, what about those people who don’t make it that far?

Though this inherent gatekeeper system may weed out bad books from the good, I would argue that only sometimes is that true. For there are wonderful, life-changing, and inspiring books that are written by talented and gifted people who for whatever reason choose to self-publish their own books, whether it be because of their age, their goals, or perhaps even a belief in themselves. Sylvia Plath once wrote, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt,” and I daresay that we all know that to be true.

Fade in… Indie Books Unleashed, a shiny, new program with a simple, fun concept: Help authors get their books into new markets, into the hands of new readers, and get those coveted online book reviews that every author needs. This system circumvents those traditional methods of book distribution, allowing for more name recognition for the authors and the businesses who agree to ‘house’ their books.

So, if you are a lover of books and would like your shop, office, or café anywhere nationwide to be a participating location, inquire at info@IndieBooksUnleashed.com.

And if you write and have a book out that you have self-published, take a minute to check out www.IndieBooksUnleashed.com.

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