Recently, BookVault—a company familiar to many of our U.S. and U.K. listeners—expanded its print-on-demand services to Australia. In this episode, ALLi’s nonfiction advisor Anna Featherstone speaks with Alex Smith, BookVault’s brand manager, to learn what the company offers, how it operates globally, and whether it might be a good fit for authors looking to diversify how they produce and distribute their books.

The aftermath of the ruling in the Epic Games against Apple case continues to play out. The essence of that ruling was that if a company’s app was available through the App Store, then it would now be possible for direct payments to be made to that company through the app without going through Apple’s in-app payment system. What that means in practice is that the days of Apple taking a large (27 percent, I believe) slice of any in-app payments would be over.

In an industry that often celebrates speed—quick drafts, rapid releases, and fast turnarounds—it’s easy to forget the long road to publication some books must take. A story might begin with a spark of inspiration, only to sit untouched for years. Life intervenes. Confidence wavers. Priorities shift. But for certain authors, the pull of the unfinished manuscript never fades.