Podcast Archives — The Self-Publishing Advice Center

News Podcast: EU Adds Tariff on Book Imports; The Economist Charts AI Publishing Surge; Pocket Books Returns for Indies

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway covers four stories: a new EU tariff that will affect authors shipping books directly to European readers; The Economist's striking data showing book publishing volumes have doubled since ChatGPT launched in 2022; the Commonwealth Short Story Prize awarding its top prize to the very story accused of AI authorship; and the relaunch of Simon and Schuster's Pocket Books imprint, which is specifically targeting successful indie and hybrid authors for a romance-first print list launching in January 2027.

Author Business Q&A: Profit, Pricing, and Publishing Strategy with Michael La Ronn and Joe Solari

In this member-first Q&A on the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, host Michael La Ronn talks with Alliance of Independent Authors Business Adviser Joe Solari about how indie authors can think more clearly about the business side of writing. Joe explains why authors should focus less on revenue and more on profit, how to approach pricing without undervaluing their work, when going wide makes sense, and why intellectual property and audience are the real foundations of an author business. He also offers practical advice on print distribution, direct sales, and when it may—or may not—make sense to form an LLC.

Inspirational Indie Author Interview: Diane Hatz on Turning Music Industry Chaos into Fiction

My ALLi author guest this episode is Diane Hatz. Diane spent years in the music industry, working at major and indie record companies, managing a band, and co-founding a fanzine on The Who that ended up in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Years later, she drew on those surreal experiences and turned them into fiction. After decades of putting off her dream of being an author, she published a four-book series in five years.

News Podcast: Rakuten Kobo Took a ‘Book Community First’ Approach to AI — and Rejected 45 Percent of Submissions

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports on a revealing piece by Rakuten Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn, who explains why Kobo rejected 45 percent of self-published submissions in 2025 — most of them suspected AI-generated — and frames the decision as a "book community first" choice over a "readers first" approach. Dan also returns to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize controversy, where organizers have taken a strikingly different and very human approach to AI detection: gathering notes, drafts, and timestamped evidence from authors rather than relying on AI detection tools. He closes with news of a BISG and BookNet Canada survey on AI in publishing that indie authors in the US and Canada are encouraged to take part in.

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.

Using Real People’s Names in Nonfiction, Pricing an Edit, and Making the Most of a BookBub Deal: Member Q&A with Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss whether it is legal to use real people's names in nonfiction, including the limits around copyright, defamation, and writing about deceased public figures.

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.

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.

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.

June 21, 2026
Howard Lovy
Podcast
0 Comments

News Podcast: Audiobook Growth Returns to Double Digits; Title Glut Shrinks Author Slices; How Many Readers Actually Pay?

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports that audiobook sales grew 9 percent in the US and 10 percent in the UK in 2025 — a return to double-digit growth — but cautions that active titles grew even faster, meaning many individual authors are getting a smaller slice of a bigger pie. He also questions a suspiciously low 0.03 percent figure for AI-narrated audiobook sales, and examines an Authors Guild survey finding that only a quarter of readers paid for the book they were reading last month, with library lending and "other sources," including piracy, making up much of the rest.

Audio Interview: Writing and Editing Books for Young Readers with Howard Lovy and Amelia Ross

On the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, host Howard Lovy talks to Amelia Ross, a developmental editor and children’s librarian who specializes in KidLit, about what authors need to know when writing for young readers. Amelia explains the differences between board books, picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, and YA, and why age categories matter. She also discusses authentic voice, age-appropriate content, the role of illustrations, and why children’s books work best when lessons emerge naturally through story and character.

June 17, 2026
Howard Lovy
Podcast
0 Comments

Self-Publishing a Book in German, with Orna Ross and Skye MacKinnon

Germany is the third-largest book market in the world, and unlike the English-language market, it is not yet saturated. Skye MacKinnon has turned her second publishing language into her bestselling one across three pen names and more than seventy translated titles. In this conversation about the newly released second edition of her book, Self-Publishing in German, she tells indie authors how to decide which of their books to translate first, where AI earns its keep and where it quietly ruins things, and how on earth you market a book in a language you don't speak.