INDIES Month: This is Life on the Margins
Back in 2014, when we decided to start posting more than just book reviews on our website and comment on indie publishing as a phenomenon, I did what I usually do and made it all about me. I told a story about why writing about indie publishing has been the culmination of a lifelong quest. Last week, when I presented the INDIES Book of the Year Awards for nonfiction titles, I elaborated a little bit about my past lives as a reporter who purposely sought out stories from the margins. Who is going against the grain? What is the minority opinion? Who is refusing to follow the pack? Who is innovating?
Through my IndieVoices Podcasts and coverage of events, I’m always looking the opposite direction as the rest of the media pack. I can’t help it. And that is why I’m incredibly happy that we are able to recognize incredible work being done by the indie presses through our INDIES Book of the Year Awards and Publisher of the Year.
That’s why all this month, we’re going to focus on our INDIES winners in stories, interviews, and other features. Don’t worry. It’s definitely not all about me. But anybody who’s known me for more than a few days also knows that I am contrarian by nature. It can be an annoying trait, I realize, always responding, “Yeah, but …” to anything presented to me as fact. But it’s also a good way to think when you’re a journalist, as I have been for much of my career, and I think it’s carried well into my more-recent career as a book review editor.
So, this month, we present the “Yeah, buts …” the voices of those, like me, who care little for the mainstream and approach life and literature from the margins.
Howard Lovy is executive editor at Foreword Reviews. You can follow him on Twitter @Howard_Lovy
Howard Lovy
