This Week’s Self-publishing News

Dan Holloway, ALLi's new News Editor

So, here I am. Week 2 and already I have my feet under the table. And thinking that made me think about that table. And what a lovely table it is. Because, it could be, should I wish, a flat-packed thing slotted together from easy to assemble pieces, or it could be carved from reclaimed French oak by my own fair hand. Such is the diverse delight of being indie.

Dis-content and the Value of the Self  at Amazon

Amazon seems to be everywhere this week (and that's new?) so let's get them out of the way. Things kicked off with the news that books whose table of contents were at the back had started to be removed in order to stop scammers fooling the algorithms that calculate “pages read” (see here). A lot of writers were somewhat discombobulated by posts about this as they couldn’t recall Amazon having told *them*.

Selfie with Hugh Howey, Diego Marano and ALLi's Orna Ross, Debbie Young, and Jessica Bell

It turns out there was an announcement…in the kdp forum, here. I’ll leave the last word on this for now to one of the longest serving champions of indies, Selena Kitt, here. Still at Amazon, and still on security, looks like there are plans to secure 1-click payment with selfies (here). Think Mission Impossible meets Jersey Shore…

Would you like a coffee-related pun with that?

Shakespeare and Co bookstore in New York

An interesting article this week on Amazon's first bookstore (here). Some very interesting integration of physical and digital, and use of reviews. But bookstore news this week was topped by this rather exciting post about New York's Shakespeare and Co (no relation to the world's most famous bookstore, of similar title) and its integration of an espresso print on demand machine, which has been tried before of course, but now feels like the time might be spot on.

Shall I compare me…?

Before we leave Amazon behind, we have just seen the appointment of a new Chief Digital Officer at Barnes and Noble (details here).

Barnes & Noble

Fred Argir, who joins at a tricky time, spent his first big speech, at Digital Book World, reassuring himself the audience that he wasn't really worried about Amazon.

More indie prizes

Meanwhile, news of another indie-friendly prize here, with $2500 going to the winner of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction, with a closing deadline of March 31st.

And this time avoiding the shoe puns

Publishers Weekly makes a petition to tackle the US' Cuba trade embargo their cover

Very interesting pieces of news relating to Cuba this week from Porter Anderson. On the heels (doh, I said no puns) of news that Smashwords' Mark Coker was behind a petition to tackle the US trade embargo (details here), we have news of the expansion of self-publishing crowdfunding platform (ouch) Lantia to Cuba (full story here), potentially opening up a huge wealth of new literary talent.

Indie Author Fringe Newsflash

By Orna Ross

We're on a 4-week countdown … and we've just announced our speaker line up for our first Indie Author Fringe event of 2016, coming to an inbox near you on April 15th at 10am London Time.

Mark your diary for this unique event. 24 hours, 24 sessions, from the best self-publishing authors and advisors in the world.

Everything you could want to know about writing, producing and distributing your book, all in one place, together with access to speakers and sponsors, who are the backbone of the indie author movement. Oh, and some great prizes and giveaways too.

• Enter Our Competition:
  We're now accepting entries for our Opening Line Competition. It's FREE to enter and we have a Cash Prize lined up. Click here to visit our Submission Page.
• Vote in Our Competition:
  The 10 entries with the most votes at the close of the competition will be submitted to our competition sponsor to make the final decision. So make sure to check back often to cast your vote. Click here to visit our Voting Page.​​​​​​​

Upcoming Author Conferences & Event

MARCH 2016
Noted Festival: Mar 16 – 20 [Canberra, Australia] Paris Book Fair: Mar 17 – 20 [Paris, France] 2020: A Publishing Odyssey (SYP): Mar 18 [Edinburgh, Scotland] Alexandrina International Book Fair: Mar 24 – Apr 5 [Alexandria, Egypt] Tampa Writers Conference, Mar 25 [ Tampa, FL ] Fort Lauderdale Conference for Writers: Mar 26  [Ft. Lauderdale, FL]

APRIL 2016

Newcastle Writers Festival: Apr 1 – 3 [New South Wales, Australia] Bologna Childrens Book Fair: Apr 4 – 7 [Bologna, Italy] Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: 9 – 10 Apr [Los Angeles, USA] Okanagan Valley Writers’ Festival; 8 – 10 Apr [Penticton, BC, Canada] London Book Fair: 12 – 14 Apr [London, UK] Indie Author Fringe: Apr 15 [Online, Global] – brought to you by ALLi
Pikes Peak Writers’ Conference; Apr 15 – 17 [ Colorado Springs, Colorado] Story Circle Network Women’s Writing Conference; Apr 15 – 17 [ Austin, TX] Writer’s Institute; Apr 15 – 17 [Madison, Wisconsin] Jane Austen Festival Australia: Apr 15 – 17 [Canberra, Australia] 23rd Annual Budapest International Book Festival: Apr 21 – 24 [Budapest, Hungary] Buenos Aires Book Fair: Apr 21 – May 9 [Buenos Aires, Argentina] Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival: Apr 23 {Gloucesterhire, England}
Pow Wow Festival of Writing: Apr 24 [Birmingham, UK] Abu Dhabi International Book Fair: Apr 27 – May 1 [Abu Dhabi, UAE] Geneva Book & Press Fair: Apr 27 – May 1 [Geneva, Switzerland] Las Vegas Writers Conference; Apr 28 – 30 [ Las Vegas, Nevada]

MAY 2016

Teheran International Book Fair: May 5 – 15 [Teheran, Iran] The Self-publishing Conference: May 7 [Leicester, UK] Auckland Writers Festival: May 10 – 15 [New Zealand] Book Expo America: May 11 – 13 [Chicago, Illinois, USA] Franschhoek Literary Festival: May 13 – 15 [South Africa] Varena-Sydney Writers Festival: May 14 – 22 [New South Wales, Australia] Sydney Writers Festival: May 16 – 22 [New South Wales, Australia] Indie Author Fringe: May 14 [Online, Global] – brought to you by ALLi
Warsaw Book Fair: May 19 – 22 [Warsaw, Poland] Kingsmead College Book Fair: May 21 [Johannesburg, SA] International Literature Festival: May 21 – 29 [Dublin, Ireland] Australian Booksellers Association Conference & Trade Exhibition: May 29 – 30 [Melbourne, Australia]

JUNE 2016

Dublin Writers Conference:  June 24 – 26 [Dublin, Ireland] Seoul International Book Fair: June 15 – 19 [Seoul, Korea]

JULY 2016

Hong Kong Book Fair: July 20 – 26 [Hong Kong, China] South African Book Fair: July 29 – 31 [Johannesburg, South Africa]

(The above list may not include all the major events; please feel free to email us with any important ones we’ve missed out, or include in comments below.)