In this special episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Howard Lovy interviews Kayleigh Brindley, ALLi’s conference and communications manager, about what authors can expect from SelfPubCon26, taking place online October 17–18. Kayleigh discusses this year’s theme, “The Future of Self-Publishing: What’s Working Now & What’s Next,” and highlights sessions on AI, book marketing, crowdfunding, European markets, and building an author team. She also explains the conference’s expanded networking opportunities, this year’s prize draw, and the Indie Author Lab workshop with Orna Ross following the conference on October 19.
Listen to the Podcast: SelfPubCon26 Looks at What’s Working Now and What’s Next
Show Notes
- Register for SelfPubCon26
- Enter the SelfPubCon Prize Draw
- Purchase a SelfPubCon access pass — scroll to the bottom of the page
- Learn more about Orna Ross’s Indie Author Lab
- Join the Alliance of Independent Authors
About the Host
Author Howard Lovy has been a journalist for 40 years, and now amplifies the voices of independent author-publishers and works with authors as a developmental editor. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn and X.
About the Guest
Kayleigh Brindley is a virtual assistant who started Admin Angels UK in 2013 with the aim of helping small business owners and authors achieve a better work-life balance. Kayleigh joined the ALLi team in 2018 as a social media administrator. She now works on ALLi comms and the annual Self-Publishing Advice Conference. When she’s not working or spending time with her family, Kayleigh spends most of her time reading, running Dungeons and Dragons games, and writing stories about magic.
Read the Transcript
Howard Lovy: Hello, I'm Howard Lovy of the Alliance of Independent Authors and book editor at howardlovy.com, and welcome to the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast. Today, we're looking ahead to the 2026 Self-Publishing Advice Conference, or SelfPubCon26, taking place October 17 and 18. This year's theme is The Future of Self-Publishing: What's Working Now and What's Next?
The free two-day event brings together authors and publishing experts to explore new opportunities, emerging technologies, and strategies for building a successful indie author business. And joining me today is Kayleigh Brindley, ALLi's conference manager, who's here to give us a preview of this year's events, from the speakers and sessions to the networking opportunities, prizes, and a special workshop following the conference.
Kayleigh, welcome back to the podcast.
Kayleigh Brindley: Thank you for having me, Howard.
Howard Lovy: Well, before we begin, first let's remind everybody what you do at ALLi, and I know it's a great deal and we count on you to keep a great many things running smoothly.
Kayleigh Brindley: Thank you. I am ALLi's conference and communications manager. So ALLi members probably know me from the member hub, which is where I spend a lot of my time lurking behind the screen, and from member roundup emails. I've been managing SelfPubCon for a few years now. It's been so long I can't actually remember when I started, but it's such a wonderful event to be part of and I'm really, really excited for this year's conference.
Howard Lovy: Great. Yeah, somebody asked me once how long I've been doing these podcasts, and I don't even remember from prehistoric memory.
Two-Day Format Keeps the Team Awake
Howard Lovy: So when we spoke last year, SelfPubCon was moving from its traditional 24-hour marathon to a two-day format. How did that work out, and what lessons from last year's conference are you bringing to this year's event?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah, the response to the shift last year was really positive, both from attendees and the conference team.
So attendees were really happy to have more time and to not feel the pressure to stay up late or to get up early to attend sessions. And the conference team, myself included, were a lot more relaxed and, more importantly, awake.
Howard Lovy: Yeah.
Kayleigh Brindley: It takes a lot of caffeine to run a 24-hour conference.
Howard Lovy: Absolutely.
Kayleigh Brindley: So the two-day format just makes more sense. And with every session available in replay, no one really misses out.
Howard Lovy: So our friends in New Zealand and Australia don't have to get up at 2:00 a.m.
Kayleigh Brindley: Exactly. Having the 24 hours, the original intention was that there was a session at some point for everyone, but the reality of it meant that everyone felt like they were kind of missing out. So having it spread over the two days a little bit more just makes it easier for people to dip in and out when they want to.
And as I said, with everything in replay, they can just come back when they feel like it.
Theme Tracks Where Self-Publishing Is Heading
Howard Lovy: Right. Well, the theme this year is the future of self-publishing, what's working now and what's next. What inspired that theme, and how did it guide your planning?
Kayleigh Brindley: So last year our theme was focused on new trends in publishing, and it was probably one of our most well-received themes because at the end of the day indie authors want to stay up to date with the things that are working now and what might be coming around the corner.
So this year we're really expanding on that by looking specifically at where self-publishing is heading and how indie authors can implement what works now while preparing for what the future might hold. So whether that's changes in technology available to us, the changes in the ways that readers discover books, or even looking back at the timeless staples that never change and how to get those right the first time so that your books and your author career can better withstand those future changes.
Howard Lovy: Yeah. And it seems like there are new tools just about every day.
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah.
Jane Friedman Kicks Off a Lineup of Experts
Howard Lovy: So you've assembled an impressive lineup of speakers, including Jane Friedman, who's delivering the keynote address. How did you go about selecting the speakers and deciding which subjects to cover?
Kayleigh Brindley: So every year we put out a call to ALLi partner members primarily, and also to experts in the industry, asking them to submit session proposals for the conference that do fall in line with our theme. We had some really, really fantastic submissions this year, and then we also wanted to reach out to some of the people that we know are doing interesting things in the industry.
So Jane was an obvious choice as our keynote speaker because she has a finger on the pulse of the publishing industry. For those who might not be familiar with Jane, she is one of publishing's most respected analysts, and her publishing industry newsletter, The Bottom Line, is a fantastic resource for any indie publisher who wants to keep up to date with industry developments, things that actually matter and have an impact on an author's day-to-day business.
And hopefully we can include a link to that in the show notes.
Howard Lovy: Yes.
Kayleigh Brindley: So Jane is very kindly going to kick off the conference with an in-depth look at the trending opportunities and business models for authors today. She'll look at what's happening with things like bookstores, subscriptions, direct-to-reader sales, and just lots more to explain what's working now, where the market's heading, and how indie authors can keep up in an environment that's changing so quickly.
As you said, there's a new tool coming out every single day.
Howard Lovy: Yeah. And here's a little plug for Dan Holloway's twice-a-week or three-times-a-week blog and his weekly podcast, who keeps us up to date on all that.
Program Balances AI With the Human Touch
Howard Lovy: So you can't have a conference these days without the A word, artificial intelligence. And of course it's back on the agenda this year. So how do you approach putting together a program that reflects the different ways authors are responding to this technology?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah, this is a difficult subject, always is. We understand that authors are still trying to navigate how to adjust to a world where AI is now baked into everything.
We also understand that indie authors have different opinions and concerns when it comes to AI. So at no point during the conference are we suggesting that you have to use it or have to avoid it, and we strongly suggest that everyone reads ALLi's practical and ethical guidelines around AI. So that's the first thing I just wanted to say.
When developing this year's sessions, though, we approached them with the understanding that most attendees would likely fall into one of three categories: AI minimal or avoidant, AI assisted, and AI integrated. And so we wanted to try and make sure the conference program catered to everyone. So that's why sessions this year might touch on how to use AI to achieve certain things, particularly when looking at things like marketing.
But we also have sessions that focus primarily on doubling down on being human and authentic, like our session with Nicholas Kotar on how to write for humans in the age of AI and algorithms, which is a really, really great session. I've been looking forward to that. And then for authors who are actively using AI as part of the running of their business or looking to do that, we have a session from Chelle Honiker on running an AI-assisted publishing business, which will probably be of interest because it focuses on looking at what business or admin tasks are possible, while also keeping things human.
So we've tried to find that balance.
Howard Lovy: Yeah. It's a tough balance, and many authors are wary of it, but don't consider the business side of it and how much AI can help in terms of running a one-person business. I use it to help in my editing business.
It doesn't do any editing for me, but it helps me run the back end, the business side of what I do.
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah.
Sessions Tackle Marketing and Reader Reach
Howard Lovy: So marketing and reaching readers are always major concerns for indie authors. What kinds of sessions have you put together this year to address those challenges?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah. Marketing is always our most requested topic, no matter what we do here at ALLi, whether it's our webinars that we run on the forum or the conference or blog posts, everything, as you well know, Howard.
So we do have a few different offerings for attendees this year. Now, some of our listeners might know that earlier this year ALLi released its latest guidebook, Sell More Books, which was our definitive guide to book promotion. That guidebook was so well-received that this year we're bringing a session built around the guide that looks at the indie author's marketing journey.
Now that session will feature Ross and Tayo, who are the duo behind ALLi's YouTube channel, as they look at what's changing in book marketing, what's working for indie authors now, and how proven principles in book marketing can help authors at the start of their journey build a resilient business for what comes next.
So that'll be a really great one for authors who are just starting out, but also authors who have already started but maybe feel like there are things that they might have missed in their marketing, things that they want to embed now to get it right as they move forward. So that's definitely going to be a good one.
We also have Penny Sansevieri joining us to chat about local marketing, something that's long been dismissed as small scale or old-fashioned, but that's actually emerging as one of the most significant trends in book marketing. So she's going to be chatting to us all about how to implement that, how to use that.
And then ALLi director Orna Ross will be talking to attendees all about the new rules of reader reach, looking specifically at creativity, building community, and direct selling to help indie authors know where readership relationships are heading. How long do you have, Howard? We have quite a few on marketing.
Howard Lovy: Oh, yeah. Well, I'm glad to hear that you have a session on local marketing. I interview quite a few authors for my Inspirational Indie Authors podcast, and the one thing they all tell me that works best is local. They go to local book fairs. They go to local events. They get the local newspaper or news channel to cover them.
They always tell me how welcoming the local community is, the fact that there's an author in their midst.
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah. I almost feel like it's a little bit old hat now referring back to COVID-19, but I do feel like local took a big change since then, and people appreciate it a lot more now.
Speakers Revisit European Markets and Crowdfunding
Howard Lovy: Can you highlight maybe some of the subjects that haven't received as much attention at previous conferences, like crowdfunding and European markets and author podcasts?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah, so this one's a bit tricky because we have covered many of these topics before at past conferences. But because the industry, the technology, the reader behavior is always changing, what we're aiming to do this year is to bring the latest developments in these areas, and then help authors to cut through what actually is and isn't worth their time.
So we do have Michail from PublishMe, who's an ALLi partner, who'll be chatting to authors about entering European markets and looking specifically at things like the patterns, the pitfalls, and the practical strategies for indie authors who want to enter German, French, Spanish, and Italian markets. As I said, this isn't a new trend, but it's about getting the groundwork right to ensure long-term success moving forwards.
I know you specifically asked about crowdfunding, so we have Oriana Leckert, who is the head of publishing at Kickstarter. She is going to be leading a panel that talks about the new trends in reader-powered publishing. So I think many of us know that crowdfunding is now a frontline publishing strategy for many authors, with some authors launching their books on Kickstarter first before anywhere else.
And so Oriana is going to share what's new on the platform and the fresh tools and trends shaping campaigns right now, particularly looking at things like community building and crowdfunding. So our aim with these sessions is that attendees will leave prepared to move forward, either into avenues that they might not have explored yet, or with additional knowledge that's needed to help them improve on what they're already doing.
Authors Build a Team Around Their Books
Howard Lovy: Well, one session that caught my attention is “Who's on Your Team?” We call it self-publishing, but obviously you don't always do it by yourself. Can you tell me a little bit more about how this topic fits into the overall program?
Kayleigh Brindley: Absolutely. I don't know any indie author who could do it all completely by themselves.
So this is a bonus session from our wonderful silver sponsors, Gatekeeper Press. Luis Javier, who is the director of marketing and business development at Gatekeeper Press, is joined by an award-winning author, Grace Sammon, and they are going to be looking at what the latest industry data shows us about author-publishers who hire out and build a team for their business.
So they're going to work through each stage of the author journey, from those just starting out with a really minimal budget to authors trying to choose between building a team and buying a package. So what we want with this session is that authors will leave with a practical way to audit their own publishing business to see where they stand, what help they need, when they should get that help, and just how much they should be paying for it.
They will also look at what's changing in this area. We've already discussed how AI is changing things, so they will look at that. We'll look at direct sales and rights licensing and how they are shifting how authors feel about doing things yourself or buying it in.
Howard Lovy: Maybe I'll get some complaints about this, but do not use AI to edit your manuscript. Hire a real person. That's my two cents.
Kayleigh Brindley: No, I agree.
Networking Breaks Bring the Pub Online
Howard Lovy: Well, one of the things that we discussed before is that SelfPubCon is more than just watching presentations. It's also an opportunity for authors to connect with one another. What will that experience look like this year?
Kayleigh Brindley: So as an online conference it can be really difficult to deliver on that in-person conference feel, but each year we do try and make it a bit better. So this year we are really trying our best to give that feeling to attendees. So we've added more live sessions to the conference lineup than we've ever had before, so attendees can tune in and ask their questions then and there via the live chat.
On recorded sessions and replays there will also be the opportunity to chat about the session, ask follow-up questions, and get support in the comments. And then a brand new thing that we've added this year are our networking breaks. So on Friday the 16th of October, which is the day before the conference, we'll be running a live conference orientation to help attendees find their bearings before the conference begins.
Then we will open the networking space for an orientation meet and greet. This is a text chat space where attendees can introduce themselves, meet other authors, and generally just get excited about the upcoming conference, as you would meeting at a pub the night before a conference.
Howard Lovy: With virtual drinks too, right?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yes, exactly. Bring your own. Then as we move into day one of the conference on the 17th of October, we'll have a networking/goal-setting session half an hour before Jane's keynote. So this, again, will be a text chat space where attendees will be able to share their goals for the day, make connections, ask any questions they have about getting the most from the conference, and buddy up if they want to with an accountability partner.
And these networking breaks will then occur regularly throughout the conference between sessions so that authors can take a break, share thoughts and ideas, and generally just, like I said, get that in-person connection that can often be missing from an online conference.
Howard Lovy: Will that be moderated in any way, or just…
Kayleigh Brindley: Yes, it will. I will be lurking in there throughout the entire weekend, as will other members of the conference team and the ALLi team. So it'll be a fun place to hang out, and if you do have questions about how to navigate, how to find things, you'll be able to get all of your answers in there as well.
Attendees Plan Their Two Days
Howard Lovy: Okay. Well, it sounds like there's a little bit for everybody, authors and publishers. And I'm sure you've tried to make sure that there's something for everybody. What advice would you give attendees about planning their two days?
Kayleigh Brindley: Okay, so all of our sessions are designed with ALLi's membership levels in mind, so just to touch on that first.
So whether that's associate members who are authors getting ready to publish their first book, authors who might already have self-published at least one book, and authorpreneurs who already are making a full-time living from their books. So some of the sessions, like the one we discussed on European markets, are clearly aimed at those who already have books published.
But most of our sessions will offer something for everyone at all stages and across all genres. That's really important to us. So whether you write fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, we do want to ensure that there's something there for everyone. In terms of planning your two days, we will very soon have a fully released agenda.
It might even be out by the time this airs. And alongside that, we generally have some goal-setting downloads for you as well so that you can pick out what your big top things are, challenges that you want to achieve from the day, and then focus on those sessions and plan what you want to achieve that way.
So hopefully that will help.
Prize Draw Rewards Every Registration
Howard Lovy: Yeah. And there's also good old-fashioned bribery. I know you wanted to highlight this year's prize draw, which includes a number of fabulous prizes. Can you tell us about some of those and how it works?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yes, of course, because bribery always helps.
So every year we do run a competition alongside SelfPubCon. In the past we've had things like the first line competition or the best blurb competition, but this year we did want to open the competition up to more prizes and just to keep it a bit simpler to enter. So this time we are running a prize draw.
So everyone who registers for the conference this year will be automatically entered into the prize draw, and there are so many prizes up for grabs. I think we were at over $4,000 worth of prizes the last time I counted, and we are adding more each week as well, so that's just growing. It's a huge, huge pot of prizes.
So our grand prize has been kindly donated by Kobo Writing Life, who are our competition sponsor. They are very generously giving away a Kobo Clara Colour eReader to one winner. I mean, who doesn't want to load their books onto a brand new eReader? I want it, but sadly cannot enter. But we do have lots of other prizes as well.
These have been kindly donated by ALLi partner members across each of the stages of publishing, from things like full editorial assessments of manuscripts to brand new websites, publishing credits, an audiobook production and distribution package from Canopy Audiobooks. There are so many things in there.
And on top of that, there are discounts on services, access to courses, free entry into awards, and so much more. So the link to the full list of prizes is quite a mouthful, so we'll leave a link in the show notes.
Howard Lovy: Yes.
Kayleigh Brindley: But it is definitely another reason to register for the conference.
And all winners will be announced after the conference ends in late October.
Orna Ross Leads a Post-Conference Lab
Howard Lovy: Okay. Well, speaking of incentive, there's also our fearless leader, Orna Ross, and this year we're adding an Indie Author Lab workshop with Orna on October 19th, the day after the conference. What prompted that addition, and what will that involve?
Kayleigh Brindley: So some of the people who are listening to this podcast might remember that we initially ran the very first Indie Author Lab alongside London Book Fair back in March this year. It was a really fun, just full-out day packed with informative sessions, all backed by Orna's Indie Author Lab workbook. The feedback that we got from that event was that attendees actually wanted more guidance to work through the workbook and to help them implement the things that they'd learned from the sessions.
So that's exactly what we're doing here. This exclusive workshop with Orna is for ALLi members and conference access pass holders only, to help you filter the information from the conference and turn it into actionable next steps that work for your books and your publishing business. So for anyone who'd like to find out more about the Indie Author Lab process, Orna does run this as a year-round online creative development program for indie authors through her Substack, which is ideal if you come to the workshop itself or SelfPubCon and then feel like you would like more regular support.
So you'll find that at selfpublishingadvice.org/indieauthorlab. And we'll also be running an Indie Author Lab at Author Nation in Las Vegas in November.
Howard Lovy: Ooh, Vegas. Okay. Well, let me see if I can get Orna to fly me out there too.
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah, I don't think I will actually be there myself, but I know that we are organizing one.
Authors Register for Free Weekend Access
Howard Lovy: Right. Well, finally, let's go over some of the practical details. When does it take place, how can authors register for free, and how long will the sessions be available afterward?
Kayleigh Brindley: Yeah, so the conference takes place on the 17th and 18th of October.
The pre-conference events, like the live orientation that I mentioned, happen on Friday the 16th of October, and then the Indie Author Lab workshop takes place on the 19th of October. So again, we've really stretched out that 24 hours that we used to have just to make it a little bit more accessible for everyone.
As I said, we'll have a full agenda available very soon so that everyone can see timings and plan their weekend. But registration for the conference is open now, so simply head to selfpublishingadviceconference.com. You'll see a very big orange Register Now button, so just click that. You'll be taken to our conference platform, and all you need to do is enter your email address and create a password, and that's it.
You're registered for free weekend access. This will also enter you automatically into the prize draw. The sessions will be available freely for the weekend, with free access closing before the Indie Author Lab workshop begins on the 19th of October. If you would like to regain access after that period and attend the Indie Author Lab workshop, there are two options.
The first would be to join ALLi, which we will always recommend. This gives you access to not just this year's conference, but the entire conference archive in replay. Plus so many more benefits that I think we'd need a whole podcast just to list them, Howard.
Howard Lovy: Right.
Kayleigh Brindley: But to find out more, go to allianceindependentauthors.org.
The other option then is to purchase an access pass for the conference itself. So this would give you access to the conference archive, which I believe is around 100-plus hours of expert sessions from previous conferences as well as this year's conference. So you'll find access pass details at selfpublishingadviceconference.com if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.
Kayleigh Thanks Sponsors, Speakers, and Authors
Howard Lovy: Well, it sounds like this is going to be a very rich conference. I get questions all the time, how do I do this, how do I do that, and this is a wonderful place to start. Is there anything else that you want to add, Kayleigh, about the conference?
Kayleigh Brindley: If I can, I'd just like to very quickly thank our fantastic conference sponsors, Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Gatekeeper Press, Damonza Design, Bowker, and Kobo Writing Life, whose support just enables us to make the conference freely available to all for the weekend.
I would also like to thank our wonderful speakers for donating their time and expertise, and our ALLi partners for donating their services to our prize draw. And then finally, I would like to thank all of the indie authors who come along, take part in the conversations, and offer support to others, and generally just make the conference such a nice and exciting event each year, one that we really do all look forward to here at ALLi.
Howard Lovy: Yes. I'm blocking out my calendar now, making sure I attend. Well, thank you, Kayleigh. I appreciate you dropping by, virtually anyway, to tell us about SelfPubCon26.
Kayleigh Brindley: Thank you very much for having me, Howard.
Howard Lovy: Okay. Bye.
Kayleigh Brindley: Bye.
