Hey bookworm friends! Leslie from Books Are The New Black and I invite you to our first ever Read Indie SFF Month! We wanted a month to devote to reading Indie books only and we hereby extend the invitation to any other Sci-Fi & Fantasy Indie readers to join in on the fun! It will be happening from May 1st 2026 to May 31 2026.

What Is Read Indie SFF Month?

The goal of this reading challenge is to appreciate indie stories and support indie authors according to your own ability. Fill out the entire bingo board, fill one line, or pick and choose whichever prompts speak to you; there is no one right way to participate! There will also be a StoryGraph Challenge to help us share recommendations for the prompts. In fact, for those that crave an interactive element in their reading challenges, two interconnected prompts rely on this feature.

What is an Indie Book?

For the purposes of this reading challenge, Indie books are published by independent publishing companies, as in not owned by the Big 5 (Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster). They can be self published, or from small presses—as long as they are not owned by the Big 5, they’re free game!

The Prompts

There are 12 Reading Prompts and 4 of what we’ll call action prompts, which are actionable ways to help indie authors aside from reading.

Actionable Prompts

These can be found on the inside of the board in a light blue colour.

1. Post A Review – On any social platform or blog.
2. Give a Rec on The StoryGraph Challenge – Go into the SG challenge to prompt #12 and give a rec there to create a pool of recs available for reading prompt #12.
3. Request Book at Your Local Library – If you’ve read an indie book you loved ask your library to buy it! You can do it through Libby or a lot of libraries have official channels to accept requests.
4. Post an Indie Bookish List – If you use socials, post a list of Indie Books. It can be your favs or ones you want to read, it can be themed in any way. Be creative and spread indie book love!

Reading Prompts

These can be found on the outside of the board in a white colour.

1. Published Within The Last Year – Since May is early in the year we’ll count from May 2025 to May 2026.
2. Middle Grade Fantasy or Sci-Fi.
3. Novella.
4. Book With Your Fav Trope – Pick a trope you love and find an indie book that includes it.
5. Cover Pick! Don’t Read Synopsis – What it says on the tin. Go in knowing as little as possible. With a caveat that if you need to look up content or trigger warnings, that’s fine. Mental health always comes first.
6. A Kissing Book: Romance is Present – Whether it’s the main focus or a subplot, it counts.
7. Set On A Ship. Ocean or Space, It’s Up to You – Or even an airship if you’re in more of a steampunk mood. Just give me a ship!
8. First In A Series – Ready to start a new series? I sure hope so!
9. Winner of an Award – Could be SPFBO, BBNYA, or any other award of your choice that honors indie books.
10. Books on the Cover – Take a look at the cover art, are any books anywhere on there? Excellent!
11. Written by an Author You Follow on Socials – Could be any social platform! If you’ve been wanting to support an author you follow, now is your chance!
12. Try A New-to-You Author from a Rec – This is where the StoryGraph challenge comes in. Head over to the #12 prompt and pick any recommendation that sound good to you. Or if you have an indie book rec from a friend that works just as well!

Lastly, we’ve included a one-time Optional Bonus: Buy An Indie Book to Automatically Complete Any One Prompt.

Graphic

Where to Find Us

If you choose to post for Read Indie SFF Month and you want us to give your post some love and share it in a wrap-up at the end, please tag us both and use #ReadIndieSFFMonth2026 .

You Can Also Find Us On:

• Goodreads
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Bluesky