It Started in the Dark...
It was the beginning of 2023, and I was in a very dark depression. I could barely get out of bed, yet alone function and it was that way for weeks with every passing day growing darker. I couldn't find joy in anything no matter how badly I wanted to and then my birthday hit, and everything changed. For on this birthday, I received a gift. It wasn't anything crazy like the newest phone or the newest system, but it was a book, and that book meant everything to me. You see, after my ex destroyed everything, I owned in 2015 I was too busy trying to reset my life that I forgot about my deep love for books. I went from reading a book a day to nothing. No eBooks, physical books or even audiobooks; just fighting every single day to make it through so when I got this book after almost a decade of going without that escape from reality, I cried. Page by page I was pulled from the husk left on the bed and found my way back to me. I started getting books and living thousands of lives through them until I healed from the things I couldn't tell others...I had so many books, I made the joke "I have so many books it's like a bookshop" and the lightbulb clicked. It was then that Salient Books was born.
Now you're probably wondering why indie books
(books published by independent authors)?
That my darling is simple. As I started my journey researching everything about bookshops, I came across a very big problem. I found out that indie authors were often looked down on in the book world. Due to them not having a publishing house behind them they were looked at as a liability and many were struggling to get into any bookshop. I looked and looked and sure enough not a single bookshop carried only indie books so I made one myself. After all what is a bookshop without books? Who else would understand how hard it is doing everything without a team? It only made sense to use my dream to help others reach theirs in any way that I can. I started this journey from absolute zero and within just a few months of paving that path, I have found a community like no other. They’re supportive, helpful, and really understanding of the struggles I am facing. Some of these authors are like family to me now and I couldn’t imagine having the shop without them. Indie authors are so underappreciated, their creativity and problem solving is simply unmatched. Like their books, they’re unpredictable and unique. I absolutely love every second of running this shop for them and until the shop is forced to close down Salient Books will be All Indie, All the Time.
It has been a year, where are we now?
Even though we started from absolute zero without the help of friends and family we have grown into a wonderful community. 