ALLi Blog

Should I Copyright My Book? Your Indie Author Copyright Questions Answered

In this Alliance of Independent Authors post we'll explore some common indie author copyright questions. From whether copyrighting your work is even necessary, to whether using a trademarked name in your book is possible. If these FAQs get you thinking, you’ll find more information about ALLi’s book 150 Self-Publishing Questions Answered at the end of this post.

Inspirational Indie Author Interview: Anna Sayburn Lane. Writer Finds Her Fans in Write-To-Market Crime Fiction

My guest this episode is Anna Sayburn Lane, who began her career as a journalist until she decided she had enough of writing content for other people and became a novelist. Anna's entry into indie publishing was rocky until, just recently, she decided to pivot and write to market. Now, her crime fiction is seeing fantastic sales as she works toward becoming a full-time novelist.

Diversity Grows for Book Award Categories: Book Award Update May 2024

As an independent author, it is vital to stay on top of the latest developments impacting the book publishing industry. One major positive shift is the increasing diversity represented in book award categories. In this Alliance of Independent Authors post, we'll take a look at how the literary world is becoming more diverse and how this is changing the book awards landscape. Welcome to the Book Award Update May 2024 with Hannah Jacobson from Book Award Pro.

May 18, 2024
AskALLi Team
Process 3 & 4: Production & Distribution
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Self-Publishing News: Nonfiction Sales Struggle as Romantasy Goes from Strength to Strength

It’s been a while since I ran a story on publishing figures, but I couldn’t resist this one. The reason is that next Thursday I publish my next nonfiction book about creative thinking. What better time to do so than when there’s a headline in Publishers Weekly announcing that nonfiction sales are struggling?

OpenAI’s GPT-4o Demo Features Emotional Reading of a Love Story About Robots: The Self-Publishing News Podcast with Dan Holloway

On this week’s Self-Publishing News, Dan Holloway dives into OpenAI's recent demo of GPT-4o, a new iteration of their ChatGPT technology. The demo showcased impressive real-time processing capabilities and emotional storytelling, hinting at a future where AI-narrated audiobooks might rival human voice actors. Dan also touches on the concerns raised by the UK Publishers Association regarding copyright protection in the face of rapid AI advancements and critiques Apple’s latest iPad Pro advert for its misguided metaphor on creativity.

Self-Publishing News: OpenAI Unveils New Features for ChatGPT-4 and UK Publishers Take on Government Over AI

This week’s big AI news is OpenAI’s demonstration of new features for its ChatGPT-4 platform, which the company emphasized does not yet amount to ChatGPT-5. The announcement of GPT-4o, available to all users, including free users, and as a desktop app, was particularly notable.

Inside the Audiobook Boom: Kevin Stillwell of Lantern Audio Talks Production on the Creating Better Books Podcast with Howard Lovy

In the latest episode of the Creating Better Books podcast, ALLi News and Podcast Producer Howard Lovy interviews Kevin Stillwell, indie publishing producer for Lantern Audio. They explore the evolving landscape of audiobook creation, examining the options indie authors have, the costs involved, and how technology is reshaping the industry. Kevin shares expert insights on the essential decisions authors must navigate in audiobook production.

Self-Publishing News: Booksellers Pile on Amazon, Everyone Piles on Apple

It won’t have escaped your notice that Amazon is currently, as it regularly is, subject to an antitrust complaint from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The complaint, as it stands, alleges that Amazon uses its giant market share to squeeze out competition, damaging the business ecosystem and preventing rivals from competing with it through price manipulation. There is also an interesting allegation that its own price-cutting damages sellers by reducing their margins to wafer thin.

AI for Indie Authors: Practical Guidelines from the Alliance of Independent Authors

The Alliance of Independent Authors has been following closely ongoing developments regarding AI and authorship in recent months. We know just how important it is for all of us as authors to understand how to keep our work safe, and how to work alongside AI as it develops. So, in today's post we share five practical steps to stay safe and stay ahead, based on our AI guidance for authors.

Boosting Author Incomes with Self-Pub 3: ALLi Campaigns Podcast with Orna Ross and Matty Dalrymple

On this month’s Campaigns Podcast from the Alliance of Independent Authors, ALLi Director Orna Ross and Campaigns Manager Matty Dalrymple discuss ALLi's ongoing campaigns, such as the Big Indie Author Data Drop and the Self-Pub 3 campaign, which focus on improving author incomes through business practices. They also explain how ALLi aims to increase accessibility and inclusivity in publishing through the Self-Publishing for All campaign.

Self-Publishing News: UK Online Safety Act’s Impact on Content and ByteDance’s Challenge to US Legislation

So far this month, we have seen developments in two stories I’ve covered before that sit together under the heading, “Laying Down the Law for Tech Platforms.” I’ll start close to home here in the UK with the latest in the ongoing saga of the Online Safety Act. This is the UK’s legislation that seeks to protect vulnerable people, especially children, while they are online, by stopping them from encountering material that is “legal but harmful.” The recently implemented act required technology firms to take steps to ensure children were better protected online than adults.

Exploring OpenAI’s Game Theory Model for Fair Author Compensation: The Self-Publishing News Podcast with Dan Holloway

In this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway discusses a new proposal from OpenAI that introduces cooperative game theory to determine compensation for authors whose works help train AI. This approach aims to calculate the specific contributions of individual creators to AI outputs and allocate earnings accordingly, similar to determining the mix of colors in a paint blend. Dan examines the potential of this system to fairly reward creators and its computational feasibility in revolutionizing how authors are compensated for their contributions to AI.