All MultiMind Works Are Now on Indie Story Geek!
All of my works are now available on Indie Story Geek. Including works like “Null (Void)”. For bloggers and reviewers, a review copy of “The Harlequin” is also available on Indie Story Geek.
I learned about Indie Story Geek through my time of working with the virtual writer’s conference Write Hive. Here is what it is:
Indie Story Geek is more similar to The Storygraph than GoodReads in that it allows reviewers to include content warnings, talk about the build of the story from worldbuilding to characters and storytelling, things like that. There are review bloggers on Indie Story Geek also, for those who want their works actively reviewed.
However, Indie Story Geek doesn’t have a star system but a radar chart:
From Indie Story Geek about their rating system:
How we started: S. Kaeth had a few conversations with other indie authors about visibility and the stigma of indie books as “bad quality”. In chatting with Kriti Khare, SK and Kriti discussed the subjectivity of the reading experience and the limitations of 5 star reviews, and fortunately Kriti had already come up with a system. SK’s husband went to work designing a database system, incorporating Kriti’s book experience scales, and creating a website to collect books and hopefully make it easy for readers to find their next great indie read!
It’s different for sure but it seems pretty ok. Their explanation is pretty thorough so I do like it. And it’s with readers in mind. You click on the radar chart and you find a selection of similar stories with similarly matching radar charts. Though it is not entirely easy to find what line of the chart corresponds with what judging meter. It’s explained on Armed With A Book, which is linked on Indie Story Geek but at a glance, you’re a bit lost unless you have the system memorized
On the author side, you’re able to upload your book, putting in all the data (that I despise to hunt for but that’s me) so your book is findable in the system but also someone can buy it if it piques their interest. You can put in up to five genres (and they’re super fleshed out, I really liked it!) as well as reader groups, which is fairly all inclusive. You submit and after a short while, it’s approved to be on the site. I also like how it can include works that might not or do not have a physical format, such as a web serial or podcast.
On the reader side, the search feature is one I like. It’s not as “we hand picked something for you” like The Storygraph but Indie Story Geek is way better than GoodReads if you want to read something that doesn’t look like it would make its way on a January 6 Reading List. They actually do let you look for diverse works, be it by race, neurodivergence, mental health, etc, as broad or narrow as you like. You can intersect it with genres like “fantasy/dark” and “horror” or “horror/psychological”. I like that I can find diverse reads very easily and within my preferred reading genres. They really took the fact not everyone wants to read Yet Another Asimov Redux seriously and you’re also still in the usual pile so someone can look for diverse works with a fine tooth comb – but they can’t avoid diverse works at all as they look in any genre, it’s all mixed in. That’s good.
Indie Story Geek isn’t as snazzy in looks as The Storygraph or GoodReads, nor does it come with an app component like those two, but it does seem to be pretty nifty in helping people determine their next indie read. I also do appreciate that they’re trying to combat the stigma that indie books automatically means “terribly made”. I recommend it for independent writers, from small presses to self-published, because the site does seem to be useful. I also recommend it for readers because it’s another way to find a book you may want to read.
