The Indie Author Collective

I attended a book signing event in Springfield, Illinois last Saturday. It was one of my most successful, despite frigid conditions outside. I even sold out of two of my titles for the first time. It's a good problem for me to have, but I apologize to those readers who missed out on signed copies.

It helps that I now have a complete series to sell, rather than a couple of books and a promise that this unknown author is gonna finish this series, honest. I also cannot understate the impact of including multiple short story anthologies in my table display. Paranormal thriller/urban fantasy not your vibe, but a collection of dark fairy tales intrigues you? Here you go!

I found myself explaining over and over who this mysterious Indie Author Collective are and what these anthologies are all about. So I figured that would make a good topic for my next blog post!

By the way, I'm aware that there is more than one group using that or a similar title. Ours can be found at https://www.indieauthorcollective.net/ and @xindieauthorcollectivex on Instagram.

It began as a set of indie authors connected on Instagram who decided to publish an anthology of short stories following the same theme. Dark Fairytales for the Unloved Vol 1 emerged from those plans in the spring of 2025. There was so much interest, and such a range of darkness (and length lol) in the stories submitted, that a companion volume soon followed. We all loved the idea of sharing space with and celebrating fellow indie authors in the same book!

Writing the stories, as ever, was the easy part. How would we share royalties? Could those of us who wished retain rights to our stories, to publish them elsewhere too?

After much debate, we settled on a strategy. Each anthology would be live - the ebooks on KDP and print books from the usual sources - for six months after its release. After that, it would be dissolved and contributing authors would be free to do whatever they wished with their stories. Readers would only be able to purchase the anthology from an author who still retained a stock of print copies.

At this same six month cadence, the Collective publishes one or more new themed anthologies following the same strategy. Not every author contributes to every volume - time and inspiration are in limited supply. In October, we published three distinct anthologies and I only appeared once ("HIVE" in Paranormal Playground). More authors continue to join us, so there's no shortage of contributors and a revolving cast in each volume.

So how does this appeal to a potential reader? First, short story anthologies are a great way of introducing you to many new authors you may otherwise never have heard of. If you're interested in the theme, chances are you'll enjoy at least a few of the stories enough to explore their authors' back catalogs (either on our website or via the links provided in the books themselves). Then, you might be interested in some of the other anthologies, in which you'll recognize some names but read the works of others new to you. Soon, if we're successful, you grow the list of authors you follow, and check back twice a year for a chance to meet new ones.

This explanation inspired more than one conversation at my event table, usually resulting in a sale of either or both of the anthologies on display. I'm always humbled by readers who assert their support for indie authors, for those who practice their craft for the love of it, unconstrained by market expectations. There's a feral spirit to this Indie Author Collective that I'm proud to be part of.