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TikTok Ban

TikTok Ban Faces Uncertainty as President-Elect Seeks Delay: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

One of 2024’s stories with the greatest potential to disrupt our lives was the impending ban of TikTok in the United States. The importance of BookTok was everywhere. From the rise of Romantasy to the increasing popularity of bookstores and owning physical books, the social media platform was repeatedly cited as a driving force keeping our fragile world afloat. This meant that the ban on the platform in the U.S., due to take effect on January 19, had potentially devastating consequences.
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Top 10 Inspirational Indie Authors Podcast Episodes From 2024

Top 10 Inspirational Indie Authors Podcast Episodes from 2024

Every two weeks, I host the Inspirational Indie Authors Podcast for the Alliance of Independent Authors, where I interview ALLi members to discover what inspires them and how they serve as inspiration to others. These conversations are a highlight of my month, as I get to talk to authors from diverse ages, backgrounds, and life stories. It’s always difficult to narrow down a top-ten list, as each interview is unique, but here are some of my favorite episodes from 2024.
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AI And Copyright

UK Consultation on AI and Copyright Sparks Debate Over Creative Rights: The Self-Publishing News Podcast with Dan Holloway

On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway discusses the UK government’s public consultation on balancing AI and copyright, including options for licensing and rights reservations. He also covers new guidelines from audiobook publishers on labeling AI-narrated audiobooks, with recommendations for metadata and transparency.
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Favorite Stories Of The Year

Favorite Stories of the Year: Author Spending, Marketing Trends, and More in Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

For those of you who celebrated yesterday, today might be a day for nursing a sated belly, enjoying leftovers, and picking up parcels from outlying acquaintances. It’s also the perfect context for reflecting on my favorite stories of the year. Here, while you look for something light to mix into your post-celebration haze, is the first of three interconnected stories that brought me joy this year. Stay tuned for the other two next time.
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Structuring A Novel

Structuring a Novel to Meet Reader Expectations: The Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast Featuring Matty Dalrymple

This week on the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Campaigns Manager Matty Dalrymple talks with USA Today bestselling mystery thriller author Pamela Fagan Hutchins. Pamela shares strategies for structuring novels to meet reader expectations, including the importance of a strong midpoint to maintain engagement. She discusses how indie authors can leverage flexibility to adjust content based on reader feedback, connect directly with fans, and plan future books in a series while balancing continuity and adaptability.
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AI Narration

AI Narration Guidelines Introduced for Audiobooks as YouTube Tests AI Voice Tools: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

It’s the time of year when new news starts to dry up, especially in an industry like ours that shifts focus to best-of lists, stocking fillers, and resolutions. However, the ever-present shadow of AI remains, this time with significant developments in AI narration. A few days ago, the audiobook industry introduced new guidelines to label AI-narrated audiobooks, following similar steps taken by the advertising and food industries to provide greater transparency to consumers.
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Inspirational Indie Author Interview: Kevin G. Chapman

Inspirational Indie Author Interview: Kevin G. Chapman. Attorney-Turned-Author Finds Success with Patience, Planning, and Award-Winning Thrillers

My ALLi author guest this episode is Kevin G. Chapman, an attorney and independent author who has released a book a year for the last eight years. He explains how patience, planning, and a passion for storytelling have helped him balance a demanding career with writing award-winning mysteries and thrillers. Kevin also talks about his approach to plotting intricate stories and why taking your time can make all the difference. 
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Brain Rot

UK Government Seeks Responses to AI Consultation; ‘Brain Rot’ is Word of the Year: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Is it just me, or have there been more “words of the year” than usual this year? Maybe I’ve just noticed them more. If so, that could be a result of “brain rot,” which is the word of the year for the Oxford English Dictionary. It refers to the gradual degeneration of cognitive powers in the face of social media pablum—which, of course, you will never find here! I was absolutely delighted to see that the shortlist contained one of the words I’ve used most this year: “Romantasy,” whose popularity the OED specifically attributed to the BookTok community.
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Romantasy Trends

How Romantasy Is Shaping Reader Trends and Why Google’s AI Moves Matter: The Self-Publishing News Podcast with Dan Holloway

On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway explores Oxford’s Word of the Year shortlist, highlighting trends like "romantasy" and "lore," which reflect shifting reader and writer habits. He also covers Tumblr’s new community feature for creators, TikTok’s legal battle over its U.S. ban, and Harvard’s AI training dataset project, which raises questions about Google Books’ involvement and public domain use.
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AI Training

Harvard and Google Release AI Training Dataset with Public Domain Books, Raising Copyright Questions: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Any process that improves by being trained on a set of materials will only ever get as good as the materials it’s trained on will allow. That’s as true of machine learning algorithms as it is of human beings. This week’s news that Harvard will release a dataset of 1 million volumes for AI training highlights efforts to address inequities caused by the need for high-quality training data.
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