How To Make Your Books Discoverable By AI

How to Make Your Books Discoverable by AI, with Orna Ross and Rob Prime

Artificial intelligence is changing how readers discover books, and few people have a broader view of that shift than Rob Prime. An indie author, founder of Publishing.co.uk, co-owner of LoveReading, and head of an Amazon marketing agency, Prime joins Orna Ross on the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast to explain how AI-powered search is reshaping book discoverability. They discuss Amazon’s evolving search tools, AI-friendly metadata, author websites, direct sales, and the practical steps authors can take to make their books easier for both readers and AI to find.
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BISG Launches 2026 AI Survey

News Summary: BISG Launches 2026 AI Survey; 250 UK Publishers Join Collective AI Licensing Scheme

It's been a while since there was an opportunity to get involved in a good old survey. This week, we start a mini roundup of AI-related news with an invitation (to some of you, at least) to get involved in a survey from BISG (Book Industry Study Group) and BookNet Canada. The survey is on "AI Use Across the North American Book Industry 2026," and the call is for anyone involved in the publishing industry in North America (by which they mean Canada and the US).
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Suspected AI Content

News Summary: Kobo CEO Reveals 45% of Self-Published Submissions Rejected for Suspected AI Content

I missed this story when it first came out a fortnight ago (I think because the title of the article by Rakuten Kobo's Russ Tamblyn is decidedly oblique, so I just moved on). Fortunately the substantive content has generated several more helpfully titled spinout columns since then, so I'm circling back to the original. A single sentence is at the heart of this piece, and it contains a figure that provides additional context for much of the recent debate over AI-generated content. Tamblyn is speaking in his capacity as president and CEO at Rakuten Kobo.
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BookFunnel Launches WooCommerce Plugin

News Podcast: BookFunnel Launches WooCommerce Plugin; Substack Opens Sponsorships; New Book Carbon Calculator; Kindle’s Story So Far Goes Live

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway covers a week dominated by new tools for authors and readers alike. He reports on BookFunnel's new WooCommerce plugin for self-hosted WordPress sites, Substack's rollout of paid sponsorships for writers with 100 or more paid subscribers, and the launch of the Book Carbon Calculator, which lets print-focused authors generate a certified carbon footprint for their titles. He closes with the long-awaited launch of Kindle's Story So Far feature, an AI-generated recap tool that raises familiar questions about training data and copyright.
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Green Book Alliance Launches Book Carbon Calculator

News Summary: Green Book Alliance Launches Book Carbon Calculator for Publishers and Authors

The news for the past week or so seems to have been primarily about useful tools for writers. We've had decreased friction from BookFunnel and increased revenue opportunities from Substack. Now we have a tool that really helps to connect creators with their audience's values. It won't, of course, be for everyone or all audiences. But for some it may be incredibly valuable as "proof of value." The Green Book Alliance has just launched the Book Carbon Calculator.
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Pop-Up Books

Pop-Up Books: The Production Reality Behind Books That Move, Fold, and Function, with Anna Featherstone and Kelli Anderson

Most indie authors know print-on-demand. Pop-up and movable books inhabit a very different world — one of hand-assembly, specialist printers, and minimum print runs that make the economics unlike anything in standard publishing. In this episode, Anna Featherstone talks with Kelli Anderson, paper engineer and author of Alphabet in Motion, about what it actually takes to bring a movable book to life. They cover the manufacturing process, working with printers, using Kickstarter to fund a 25,000-copy print run, and where a curious author might begin if this form is calling to them.
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Tim Ferriss Warns AI Is Killing Nonfiction Sales

News Summary: Tim Ferriss Warns AI Is Killing Nonfiction Sales; Substack Launches Creator Sponsorship Program

Before I get to Substack, I'll start with another story signposted by Jane Friedman this week. Be patient, it's relevant. Tim Ferriss is one of those "public thinkers" most of us will know from somewhere, whether that's the game-changing and hugely successful book The 4-Hour Workweek (and subsequent "Four Hour" titles) whose wisdoms many of us have spent so many more than four hours a week trying to implement in our lives, or his equally influential productivity and lifestyle podcast. If anyone is going to make a success of self-help writing, it's Tim.
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Inspirational Indie Author Interview: Annabel Youens

Inspirational Indie Author Interview: Annabel Youens on Midlife Reinvention and Creative Independence

My ALLi author guest this episode is Annabel Youens, a novelist who left a long career in tech to return to her first love: writing fiction. Her work explores midlife reinvention, creativity, nature, and the courage it takes to stop putting off the life you meant to live. She also brings a business founder’s discipline to indie publishing, treating authorship not just as a creative act but as a serious enterprise. 
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