Exploring Life & Business with Jasmine Headley of Salient Books

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Headley.

Hi Jasmine, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Most people assume Salient Books began with a business plan.

It didn’t.

It began with a book.

But to explain that, I have to start somewhere much darker.

There was a time in my life when I couldn’t see a future for myself. Everything felt heavy, and I had convinced myself that the world would continue just fine without me in it. I attempted to end my life and failed. What followed wasn’t relief, gratitude, or some miraculous moment where everything suddenly became okay. It was anger. I spent weeks trapped in a depression so deep that I found myself angry that I had “failed” at dying. I couldn’t find joy in anything. I couldn’t find purpose. I couldn’t find a reason to care. Living felt exhausting. Existing felt pointless.

Then one day, Christopher (my boyfriend) did something that completely caught me off guard.

He bought me a book.

To most people, that probably doesn’t sound particularly significant. But it was. Years earlier, I had lost my entire personal library during an abusive relationship. Every book I had spent my childhood collecting was gone. After that happened, I stopped reading. Not intentionally; I just couldn’t bring myself to start again.

The book Christopher brought home wasn’t random. It was The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, a story that meant so much to me that years later I would name my first son, David, after its main character.
For several days, I simply stared at it sitting on my nightstand. I wasn’t ready to open it. I wasn’t ready to feel anything. But eventually I picked it up.

And when I did, something happened.

The same thing that happened the first time I read it.

I disappeared into the story.

For a little while, I wasn’t trapped in my own head. I wasn’t drowning. I wasn’t trying to survive. I was simply reading. It reminded me of something I had forgotten: books had always been my safe place. They had always been where I went when the world felt too heavy. That realization sent me spiraling down a very different path.

The funny thing is, the story of Salient actually starts years before that.

Back when I was a kid wandering through a Half Price Books store with a three-page-long wish list in my hands. I only got to go book shopping a couple of times a year, so I came prepared. List made. Allowance saved. Mission clear… Except that day, nothing on my list felt right that day. I remember wandering the aisles feeling disconnected from everything around me. Then I noticed a dusty purple spine wrapped in golden thorns. I pulled it from the shelf, read the blurb, and put it back. Then I walked away. A few minutes later, I came back. Then I came back again. And again. By the time my stepmother announced it was time to leave, that single book was the only thing I walked out with. That book was The Book of Lost Things.

At the time, I had no way of knowing that one impulsive decision would eventually change the course of my life.

Years later, after Christopher placed that same book on my nightstand, I read it again. Then another book. Then another. Then an entire series of fairy tale retellings. Then another series. And another. Soon books were piling up around me faster than I could organize them, and one day, I looked around and joked, “Well, I guess I own a bookstore now.”

And then something happened.

The joke stopped being a joke.

For the first time in a very long time, I felt excited about something. Not interested. Not distracted. Excited.

I have loved stories for as long as I can remember. Reading and creating have always been the two places where I felt most at home. Books helped me survive some of the hardest chapters of my life. Crafting helped me create something beautiful from the pieces. A bookstore felt like the perfect combination of both.

Not everyone agreed.

Christopher supported me immediately. My boys were excited. But many of the people around me didn’t understand. Some thought it wasn’t a real career. Some thought I should pursue something safer, more traditional, and more predictable.

At the time, those opinions hurt.

Looking back, I’m grateful they happened.

Because they forced me to ask myself a question:

“If nobody believes in this, do I still believe in it?”

The answer was yes.

As I researched the industry, I discovered an entire community of people doing exactly what I was doing: chasing dreams without a team, building something from nothing, and creating despite overwhelming odds.
Indie authors.

The more I learned, the more I realized they deserved more opportunities than they were being given. Even many independent bookstores carried very few indie books.

So I made a decision.

If I was going to build a bookstore, I would build one for them.

A place dedicated entirely to independent authors.

No exceptions.

No compromises.

All Indie, All the Time.

At the time, I couldn’t find another bookstore built exclusively around indie authors, so I decided to create the kind of place I wished existed.

What I didn’t expect was what happened next.

I thought I was building a bookstore.

Instead, I found a family.

And in many ways, that family helped save me too.

Today, Salient Books has grown far beyond what I ever imagined when it existed only as a joke in my living room.

What began with a single dream and absolutely no roadmap has grown into an award-winning indie bookstore representing more than 100 independent authors and offering more than 200 indie titles. Along the way, we’ve built a community of readers, writers, and creators who believe that stories matter and that independent voices deserve to be heard.

In 2025, I was honored to receive the Indieverse Award for Biggest Indie Cheerleader and was nominated for Most Reliable Indie Partner. In 2026, Salient Books was nominated for Favorite Spot to Find New Indie Books.

Those milestones mean a lot, but the moments I treasure most are often the quiet ones: helping a reader discover a new favorite author, celebrating an author’s first sale, or hearing that a story found exactly the person who needed it.

At its heart, Salient Books has never really been about selling books. It’s about creating the kind of place I needed when I was younger and the kind of community I needed when I felt lost.

A book helped save my life.

Now I spend my days helping stories find their way into the hands of someone else who might need them too.

I share this part of my story because I know what it feels like to believe there is no path forward. If someone had told me then that one day I would own an award-winning bookstore, work with more than 100 indie authors, and spend my days helping stories find readers, I never would have believed them. But sometimes the life waiting for us on the other side of our hardest chapters is more beautiful than anything we could have imagined.

You don’t have to wait for the perfect moment. You don’t need a degree, thousands of followers, a pile of money, or a team of people cheering you on. Sometimes all you need is the courage to believe in your dream before anyone else does and to keep choosing it, one step at a time, until it becomes real.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not.

In many ways, building the bookstore itself was the easy part. The harder challenge was overcoming the doubts that came with it.

When I started Salient Books, I didn’t have a business degree, investors, industry connections, or a roadmap showing me how to build an indie-only bookstore. I was a reader, creator, and dreamer trying to build something I believed should exist.

Not everyone understood the vision. Some people thought it wasn’t a real career. Others thought I should pursue something safer and more predictable. There were countless moments when it would have been easier to quit than to keep going.

Financially, there were challenges too. Like many small business owners, I started with limited resources and had to learn everything from inventory management and website design to shipping, marketing, and community building. As a sole proprietor, every success and every mistake ultimately landed on my shoulders.

One of the biggest ongoing challenges has been learning not to measure success solely by numbers. Social media followers, sales, and engagement are easy to track, but they don’t always reflect the impact you’re making. Some of my most meaningful moments have come from helping an author make their first sale, hearing from a reader who discovered a new favorite book, or watching indie creators support one another through difficult seasons.

Perhaps the greatest challenge, though, was learning to trust myself. Building something from nothing requires a level of faith that can feel impossible some days. There are always voices telling you why something won’t work. At some point, you have to decide whether those voices matter more than your own.

For me, the turning point came when I stopped asking for permission to chase my dream and simply started building it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Salient Books?
Salient Books is an award-winning online bookstore dedicated exclusively to independent authors. I started the shop because I have always believed in the power of stories and wanted to create a place where readers could discover books they might never have found otherwise. As I researched the industry, I fell in love with the creativity, resilience, and passion of the indie author community and realized those voices deserved a space built specifically for them.

Today, I work with more than 100 indie authors and offer over 200 titles spanning a wide variety of genres. My goal is not only to help readers discover incredible books they may never have found otherwise, but also to provide authors with meaningful support, visibility, and opportunities to connect with new audiences.

What sets Salient Books apart is my focus on relationships. I believe books are more than products on a shelf; they’re an author’s dream captured on pages. Every order is packed by hand and includes personalized touches designed to make readers feel valued and appreciated because if someone chooses to spend their hard-earned money on a book, they deserve more than a title tossed into a box. They deserve an experience. They deserve to see the impact their support has on the authors and small businesses they choose to champion. I also invest heavily in showcasing the authors behind the stories through interviews, spotlights, community events, and promotional opportunities so readers can connect with the people behind the books.

One of the things I am most proud of is the community that has formed around the shop. What began as a dream to support indie authors has grown into a network of readers, writers, and creators who genuinely celebrate one another’s successes.

At Salient Books, the motto is “All Indie, All the Time.” More than a tagline, it is a promise. Every decision I make is guided by a commitment to helping independent stories find the readers who need them most.

Beyond the bookstore itself, I’ve built an entire world around that mission. Readers can discover exclusive sprayed edges that I design and create by hand, bookish merchandise, author interviews, behind-the-scenes blogs, community spaces, and Inkhaven, a whimsical illustrated world that celebrates creativity, storytelling, and the magic of getting lost in a good book. My hope is that every visit to Salient Books feels less like shopping and more like stepping into a place where stories, creators, and readers truly belong.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
No business is built entirely alone, and Salient Books is no exception. Salient Books didn’t begin with a large audience, industry connections, or a proven track record. It began with people who chose to believe in the vision before there was evidence that it would succeed.

First and foremost, Christopher deserves a great deal of credit. Long before Salient Books existed, he believed in me when I struggled to believe in myself. He was the one who unknowingly helped reignite my love of reading by bringing home a copy of “The Book of Lost Things” during one of the darkest periods of my life. He has continued to support my often unconventional ideas ever since.

My children deserve far more credit than they probably realize. They have grown up alongside this business and have been some of my biggest cheerleaders, even on the bad days. Their excitement, encouragement, and belief in what I am building have carried me through some of the most difficult moments of this journey.

The indie author community has also played an enormous role in the success of Salient Books. When I first started, many authors took a chance on a brand-new bookstore with no proven track record. They trusted me with their books, supported my vision, and helped shape the community that exists today. Their creativity, resilience, and willingness to support one another continue to inspire me every day.

Some authors have gone above and beyond as cheerleaders for both me and the shop. Authors like Shai Lenore, J. Arens, Sybil Knight, and Elm Jed have consistently supported Salient Books by sharing the shop with their readers, mentioning it in newsletters, recommending it on social media, and encouraging others to discover indie books through the store. Their support has meant far more than they probably realize.

One person who will always hold a special place in Salient Books’ story is J. Arens. Over the years, she has been one of Salient Books’ most consistent champions. What began as sharing the shop with her readers grew into what she affectionately calls “Salient Saturday,” where she regularly highlights the shop and its mission. Week after week, she continues to show up, encourage others to discover indie books, and support the mission I am building. As a small business owner, it is difficult to put into words what that kind of consistent support means. Knowing someone believes in your vision enough to keep showing up long after the excitement of a launch has passed is a gift I never take for granted.

Another author who deserves special recognition is Shai Lenore. She was the very first author to join Salient Books and trusted the shop when it was little more than a website and a dream. At the time, her debut novel hadn’t even been released yet. Looking back, we were both standing at the beginning of our journeys, and her willingness to take a chance on me helped give me the confidence to keep building.

I am equally grateful to the readers who choose to support independent books and small businesses. Every order, review, recommendation, and social media share helps create opportunities for authors who might otherwise go undiscovered.

Finally, I have been fortunate to meet countless people throughout the indie community who have offered advice, encouragement, collaboration opportunities, and friendship along the way. While there are far too many to name individually, each person who believed in Salient Books, shared a post, placed an order, recommended an author, or simply cheered from the sidelines has played a part in helping the shop become what it is today.
Salient Books may have started as my dream, but it became a reality because an entire community chose to believe in it with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://salientbooks.shop/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SalientBooks
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalientBooks
• Twitter: https://x.com/SalientBooks
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@SalientBooks
• Other: https://www.threads.com/@salientbooks