I love indie music. There’s something special about finding an artist who’s relatively unknown and connecting with their message. Sure, sometimes it sounds a bit rough or unpolished, but that honesty and grittiness is what draws me to the genre in the first place. There’s no pretense because there’s no pressure from a big label to sell more records.

Indie books are much the same. Though they’re sometimes harder to spot, independently published books may look a little different from the mainstream titles. But their messages are just as poignant. Whatever the reason the author chose for publishing independently, usually it has something to do with creative control—of the design, the process, or the message.

But it’s hard going indie. Because while the creative freedom lies in the hands of the artist, so does all the risk of failure. And the burden of marketing, accounting, management, and content production falls on one person. It’s no wonder many aspiring writers shy away from breaking into the publishing industry. On one hand, a big name publisher needs to see that their investment is worth the risk, usually through an established online following. On the other hand, the author must absorb any and all costs and put in countless hours of time into something that doesn’t even pay the bills.

I’m not here to point fingers and say that one way is better than the other. Each project is unique and every method has its pitfalls. What I truly want to highlight is that maintaining the spirit of independence is hard when there’s such pressure to conform to the mainstream.

In the literary world, if your book has hot themes and popular ideas, it’s more likely to sell in the traditional way. It only makes sense. After all, publishers want to keep up with the demand from consumers. And by providing more of what readers want, they lower the risk that new content won’t sell.

But what if a book’s message and themes go against the grain? What if the characters aren’t the typical heroes of today’s world? What if the story ruffles a few feathers?

Those stories matter, too. 

There’s probably a market out there wanting to read that book. And discounting a work simply for going against the mainstream is ignorant at best. Each work deserves to be judged by its authentic message, whether that message is popular or not.

And this fact extends beyond entertainment.

Sometimes we come across ideas that challenge our convictions. We can choose to ignore those ideas, or we can choose to learn from them.

It can be so easy to hold to a belief because everyone else does. We can slip unnoticed by the masses, find like-minded people, stay comfortable. But is that really how we’re called to live?

Instead of blending into the white noise of society, we’re called to live lives of authenticity. That means being real, vulnerable, and open to truth. Even if that truth challenges what we currently believe. We must take the message at face value and glean what truth we can from it. 

But how do we measure truth? That’s a question big enough for whole societies to be built upon. Yet it’s also as simple as seeking the source of truth—the Word of God. If what we perceive as truth doesn’t measure up to the Word, it’s time to be open to a new message.

We must be authentic in our pursuit of truth. Sometimes the pursuit is messy. But that should never translate to being sloppy. In publishing or in worldview, being authentic doesn’t mean being unprofessional. Being authentic simply means being uncompromising in the right things. It’s a balancing act—we must hold tightly to truth while still being open to change. 

And once we’ve discovered our message, we need to share it. Even if we don’t feel ready, even if everyone pressures us to remain silent. Because our voice may be the only one fighting for truth against the forces of darkness gripping this world.

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