#TXBookChat with Texas Author Project Program and Winners
Learn about the program and meet one of the 2021 winners.

Logo of the theTexas Author Project The Texas Author Project is part of the Indie Author Project (IAP), a larger effort focused on public libraries and dedicated to finding and elevating the best indie and self-published books across North America. Each year, Texas indie authors submit their work to be considered for this honor and work to bring attention to great wealth of Texas literature. The IAP is a collaborative publishing and curation community that includes Library Journal and the IAP regional indie book contests that are run across hundreds of North American libraries each year. IAP has helps libraries engage their local creative community and has assisted in getting more than 12,000 indie authors into their libraries. IAP curated collections make it easier for librarians to add award-winning content from local and indie authors to their print and digital collections.

A portrait photograph of Haleigh Wenger

Haleigh Wenger is an author as well as an avid romance reader. Her debut young adult novel, The Art of Falling in Love, was published in 2019. Her most recent novel, A Feeling Like Home, was released in August 2021. It is the recipient of the Texas Author Project Award for the same year. She is also a freelance writer for a popular romance app. When not writing or reading, Haleigh is chasing her five young kids or baking cookies.

A portrait photograph of Emily Gooding

Emily Gooding is the Community Engagement Manager with BiblioBoard and the Indie Author Project. In this role she helps develop programs geared towards strengthening and supporting the relationships between libraries, writers, and other indie creatives.