In its simplest sense, IndieReader is a venue for you to find and purchase books published and produced by the people who wrote them. Think of these books like handmade goods, produced in small numbers, instead of the mass-marketed stuff you'd find at a super store. And every book on the IndieReader site is reviewed prior to acceptance, guaranteeing that you'll find the "cream-of-the-indie crop".

Why is this so important? Because today more than ever, almost everything we produce gets co-opted by corporate culture, turned into a business model, reformulated and churned out like soap with the simple intent to appeal to as many people as possible. In a world where almost everything is packaged by committee, IndieReader offers you books with a single voice: the writer's own.

With today's technology, writers are able to take back their ability to create – and share their creations – without getting someone else's permission. (Take note: there were more books self-published in 2008 than were traditionally published... an industry first). So while some folks may talk about how Indie books being the future, we have news for them: The future is happening now.

We know what you may be thinking... today's Indie books have a stigma attached, fostered by the belief that they have no merit, simply because they haven't been embraced by traditional publishers. Phooey. The truth is, there are a lot of great books that haven't made it into the "system" merely because they don't have a "platform". Or sometimes it's just because the writer wouldn't look good on the back of a book jacket. In reality, self-published books have a long and distinguished pedigree and include authors from Gertrude Stein and Zane Grey to Anais Nin and Edgar Allan Poe (and Upton Sinclair and Carl Sandburg and Virginia Woolf... well, you get the idea). And it's not just the oldies that are goodies. Contemporary self-published books include bestsellers like The Shack, The Lace Reader and Still Alice.

Buying Indie doesn't just give you the opportunity to show support for great writers, it also allows you to support the environment. Because unlike traditional publishers, whose over-stock languishes in dusty warehouses, most of the books featured on IndieReader are printed via Print On Demand technology, so they aren't made until after they are actually sold. Why kill all those trees before the book is even bought?

Don't get us wrong... we're not saying that Indie books are better than those that are traditionally published. We're just saying they're different. Let's face it... you pretty much know what you're getting when you pick up the latest Danielle Steele or James Patterson. And sometimes that's a good thing. But sometimes you just don't want to read the same old same old. Sometimes you want to read a book that's genuine, unique and outside the mainstream. A book that will surprise you. A book that isn't on the night table of every other person you know.

Here at IndieReader, we think that people can decide for themselves, and don't need the big publishing houses to tell them what they should like (hence our tagline: "Read What You Want"). These books are as singular as our readers, and all it takes is a read from you to prove it.

Are you an IndieReader? You'll never know till you try.