Highlights from Indie Author Day 2025
Indie Author Day in Buffalo at the Central Library was an incredible day filled with learning, excitement, and hope that everyone's ideas will make it to print. This year the event expanded into the afternoon and in addition to speakers all morning, they had small group chats in the afternoon and over 80 tables featuring local authors, editors, and experts.
Katelin: First Question! Which did you enjoy more, the morning session filled with speakers or the afternoon filled with small groups, local authors’ tables and networking?
Valerie: Ooh, hard question! I had such a fantastic day! I might have to pick the morning session, in part because I had such an amazing time doing the presentation on beta reading with you! I especially enjoyed hearing the crowd laugh at the funny parts! But, on the other hand, how can I not pick the afternoon session? It was such a joy to meet all the indie authors, check out what they’ve already published, and hear about their future book plans!
Katelin: It was very difficult not to buy a book at every author's table. I had given myself a limit to spend before I got there, which was a good idea. I think knowing I had limited myself made the moment when Rachel Simpson asked me if I wanted a free book that much sweeter. The fact that Dragon’s Calling an A’brent Story is fantastic makes it even better that I have a link to share with you! Check out https://rachelsimpsonwrites.com/books/ and Rachel will send you the prequel to her story for free! When I came home, it was fun to not only read the book, but to explore a little of the world online. I found that Rachal is holding a Kickstarter for the full novel A’Brent: The Last Dragon of Fa’Nay’Og and I raced to back the project. Valerie, did you get a chance to read the prequel yet?
Valerie: Yes, and I can’t wait for the whole book to come out now! I was so excited when she told us her inspiration for bringing teaser books to Indie Author Day as a giveaway. Her secret? They cost about the same to manufacture as a give away pen! And what better way to get a reader hooked than to give them part of the story in the form of a signed teaser book!
Katelin: I agree, I think this is a great picture of some good marketing. Get out at fairs early, give away a teaser book, get enthusiasm and support with a Kickstarter. It's all a recipe for a great book launch.
Valerie: I know you couldn’t resist buying more books (especially after the library greeted us at check in with beautiful Library-branded tote bags as a gift!)
Katelin: Yes! Those tote bags were longing to be filled! After making two rounds and resisting several books, I purchased Pheonixheart by Arthur Quill. I keep referring to it as the cowboy book because Arthur wears a cowboy hat all the time. Well, I assume all the time, he was wearing one at Indie Author Day and in his online picture for Amazon, his website, his Facebook, his newsletter. Oh, his newsletter! The first copy has a picture of his black toothless cat, and you're going to want to follow him to keep track of that adorable fur baby.
Valerie: I love me a little black cat! In the afternoon, there were so many choices; it was a surfeit of riches; there were at least four things to do at any one time, and I wanted to clone myself and see everything! I definitely enjoyed the session, “How to Get Away With (Writing) Murder” by Gary Earl Ross. He kept us on our toes by describing some classic murder mystery plots and quizzing us on what books they were from. And then we learned why some of them were faulty mystery solutions, because we now possess the scientific knowledge to prove it couldn’t have happened that way. No shade to the grand writers of the olden days; they couldn’t have known. But we learned that a good mystery writer stays current on scientific discoveries. Did you enjoy Horror: It’s Not Just Teens Getting Killed by Liam Burke, Rebecca Cuthbert, Pauline Chow, and Dr. Jack?
Katelin: They were amazing! My perspective on horror grew from listening to their panel discussion. All of them are successful horror authors, but in completely different ways. They started out explaining how horror is an umbrella and you can pair horror with nearly every other genre: romance horror, dark fantasy, splatter and slashers, supernatural horror the list goes on forever. This group did not do slashers and explained how they are working to elevate horror from what is traditionally thought of as low-brow entertainment. While they got into the why behind horror, I also appreciated their why behind writing. Liam Burke shared that every successful author he personally knows has a day job. I found this inspiring because knowing most of the books we read came from someone with a daily routine, a daily struggle that is much more than writing makes it that much more interesting to read what their creative side wrote. What did you think of Jenn? She was wearing that awesome green dress with the paper clip pattern.
Valerie: I loved hearing from Jenn of Schoolmarm Advisors in the morning session! You know how I feel about AI – it has it’s uses, but I’m always suspicious of its overall “intelligence.” Jenn took that suspicion further; she vowed to never use it at all. Her entire presentation was about the dangers we are already experiencing as writers and readers from AI use creeping into the art we consume, and how we must vigilantly guard against allowing ourselves to use it to create art or ever trust it for data.
Katelin: You know the phenomena of when you buy a blue car, and then all you see is blue cars? It's called a frequency illusion. Well, I think I am experiencing this since Jenn’s talk about AI! She gave such a clear presentation on the dangers of AI that ranged from ridiculous (someone really left AI notes in their published work!) to much more serious (hallucinated source material). Now I am noticing much more caution against AI. My favorite is the new term “That’s AI” used by the younger generation to say something is ridiculously unbelievable, fake and you don’t need to give the time of day.
Valerie: She definitely inspired me to take notice of AI use around me, although we needed no encouragement to avoid the use of AI in writing! We were already firm believers in not trusting The Robot with our work! I also loved hearing from H.R. Gordon of Gordon Publishing. I actually did not know the difference between all the types of publishing options available to indie authors! I was impressed with the variety of services and the different compensation models currently on the market.
Katelin: You know what was extra special about this Indie Author Day? It was the first that we had several past and current clients attend as well. It felt so good to hug everyone and grow along with them as we learned from speakers. Melissa Wild had a great table, one of the first ones you saw when you walked into the afternoon session. I think she showed off the back with Writer Island’s recommendation on it as much as she did the front cover!
Valerie: It was a thrill to see one of our successful, published clients sitting proudly behind a stack of books for sale! I certainly hope in future years to see more and more of our writer friends enjoying the fruits of their labors. I loved the table portion of the event; it was just like a Scholastic Book Fair from childhood – but for our adult selves to revel in!
Katelin: We were asked so many times during the day what books we read and I cracked up because in near unison we say: “We read everything! ”It’s likely a topic for another blog how we both find ourselves reading such a wide range of books. But tuff question for you. Did you see any books you wouldn’t have willingly dove into at the book fair?
Valerie: Well, um, no, I didn’t! I saw lots of thrilling fiction, spicy romance, enchanting fantasy, juicy history, and moving memoirs, and I think I did read most of the children’s picture books on the spot. Picture books are a weakness of mine; I often stop to read one at my library job it's amazing how an excellent picture book can have me in tears after a three-minute read. We are thankful to the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library for hosting this amazing free annual event, and we’re counting down to our 2026 visit! Hope to see you there!
