I Built the Thing I Wished Existed
There’s a specific kind of discouragement that can hit when you’re an indie author trying to get discovered.
It’s not dramatic. It doesn’t arrive all at once. It’s more like a slow drip — you publish your book, you set up your Goodreads page and/or website, you update your Amazon author profile, and then… you wait. You watch the algorithms. You try to figure out which version of yourself to optimize for a platform that wasn’t built for you. Goodreads was designed around the reading experience, not the author relationship. Amazon is a store. They’re both fine at what they do. But neither of them ever felt like home for an indie author trying to actually connect with people who love the same weird, specific, passionate corner of fiction that you do.
I kept thinking: somewhere between “spend way to much time screaming into the void of social media” and “pray the algorithm notices me” there has to be a better option.
So I built one.
What Indieguana Is
Indieguana is a discovery platform for indie books. That’s the whole pitch.
Authors get a profile page and book listings with full series support — because indie authors write series, and it matters that readers can follow a sequence without getting lost. They get visual, customizable editing of their listings. They can put whatever purchase links they want to guide new readers to their preferred sales channel.
But the part I’m most excited about is the updates system. Think of it like a devlog for your creative process. You can share where you are in a manuscript, what you’re figuring out, what’s been hard, what surprised you. It’s not a marketing blast — it’s a glimpse into the work. Readers who actually care about indie books want that. They want to feel like they’re alongside you, not just waiting for a release announcement.
Book’s already done? You can still post updates about new versions, adaptations, expanded lore, artwork…whatever! Your engagement helps fuel discovery, rather than your ad spend or a black box algorithm.
On the reader side, there’s a shelf and wishlist system so you can save books you want to read and actually remember that indie novel you stumbled across three weeks ago and meant to come back to. Discovery features help readers find books outside the usual algorithmic suggestions. Browse by vibe or mood. Use the wizard to help pick a book, or let the discovery queue learn your tastes over time.
Why an Iguana?
The iguana is scrappy. It doesn’t need our approval. It showed up, it’s here, and it’s not going anywhere.
That felt right.
(Don’t worry. I will get Tad Cooper, my bearded dragon, an iguana costume somewhere.)
What’s Missing (AKA What’s Coming)
There are no reviews yet. No reading status tracking. No reading challenges. Those things are coming — they’re on the roadmap — but I didn’t want to wait until everything was perfect before opening the doors. Partly because done is better than perfect, and partly because the community should shape what this becomes.
The long-term vision is real: a genuine alternative to Goodreads, built specifically for indie authors*, where the author-reader relationship is a first-class feature rather than an afterthought. But that’s a destination, not a day-one promise.
My goal is to keep this free for authors and readers forever. Yes, I’m developing this entirely on my own (so that helps the budget) but there have already been significant development costs, not counting what it will take to keep it running. The monetization idea I keep hearing from people (independently) is to add a section for author marketing/publishing services and charge for placement. I’m not against it, but again, I want you to help me decide what’s fair, what’s intrusive, and what NOT to do.
This Is a Soft Launch
Some things will be clunky. Some things will change. If you find something broken or something that just feels off — I genuinely want to hear about it. This is being built in the open. The official launch comes in May. I’ve already paid for advertising for a full year to an audience of over 10,000 indie authors and indie readers that will kick off then. If the site gets traction, I’ll spend more on ads.
Here’s What I’m Asking
If you’re an indie author — please go create a profile and list your books at indieguana.com. It’s free. It takes a few minutes. And right now, being an early presence on a platform like this has real value. (You also get a special FIRST EDITION badge on your profile if you sign up before the end of April!) Get in before the May advertising push and help me make sure nothing will break.
If you’re a reader — go explore what’s there. Add some books to your shelf. Follow some authors. The updates feed will be a genuinely different experience if you’ve ever wanted to feel more connected to the books you love.
Either way — thank you for being on this list. You’re the reason it exists.
— J
* If you know me at all, you know I’m no fan of the traditional publishing industry right now. I don’t want tradpub on this platform burying hard-working, creative indie authors with their junk books, so they’re not allowed.
