Hi GraceKrispy,
Wow, you certainly read a lot of indie authors! Your blog looks terrific. No, it's not exactly the experience I'm looking for, but the more ways I can find third-party representations of indie works the better!
I find that I don't really read reviews by people or groups that I am well-acquainted with unless I'm actually already contemplating looking at the book. I guess what makes me convinced to look for a book is (A) my trust in whoever is recommending the book to me, or (B) how well it fits with what I'm exactly looking for at the moment. (B) can only be satisfied with good search matches, but (A) is all about online community building.
I'm only part of one online community right now where I'd actually follow up some of the recommendations. It's a facebook group for Decoder Ring Theatre. I don't know anyone there, but I pay attention to the recommendations because I trust that the niche will recommend quality stuff that other people in the niche would approve of. Occasionally the writer himself would drop in and vet recommendations or make comments. Even though it's an indie podcast/OTR/pulp community, most of the recommendations and discussions have centered around classic pulp works (which makes sense, it's an OTR audience afterall), but no contemporary indie pulp. I guess what makes this niche appealing to me is that there's a good balance between specific interests with variety.
Hopefully my honest rambling will help out some of the indie promoters out there. I am an audience, and I want you to reach me! Please aggregate into vibrant online community-niches that I will want to check out and perhaps interact with on a weekly basis
