The Self-Publishing Advice Center

PODCAST DROP: Inspirational Indie Authors Interview
2025-10-26 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-09 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-23 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-21 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
Dive deep into personal stories of indie authors, understanding their pathways to success, challenges faced, and lessons learned.

LIVE PARTNER WEBINAR: Reaching Readers with Kobo Writing Life
2025-10-30 19:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | SellfPubConnect
For indie authors, Rakuten Kobo plays a vital role in digital book sales worldwide.
This session will give you insights into Kobo’s non-exclusive subscription program, Kobo Plus, and find out how subscriptions are tapping into a new readership and increasing author earnings.
Plus, learn about the marketing strategies that work and find out what promotional opportunities are available to authors publishing through Kobo Writing Life.
Don't miss this Member exclusive engaging and highly informative session with Tara Cremin, Director of Rakuten Kobo.

PODCAST DROP: Latest Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway
2025-10-31 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-14 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-21 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-28 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-05 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-12 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-19 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) and 2 more dates | ALLi Podcast
A breakdown of the week's most significant self-publishing news, providing insights, implications, and in-depth analyses.
The Self-Publishing News Podcast stream is proudly sponsored by PublishMe—helping indie authors succeed globally with expert translation, tailored marketing, and publishing support. From first draft to international launch, PublishMe ensures your book reaches readers everywhere. Visit publishme.me.

PODCAST DROP: Finding the Right Publishing Mentor and How to Navigate Reviews, Translations, and Book Pricing - ALLi's Member Q&A
2025-11-02 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss how an author can find a reliable publishing mentor, when to seek paid help, and low-cost community options to avoid overspending.
Other questions include:

Does ALLi maintain a vetted list of book contests, and where can members find it?
Can you change your Amazon list price without matching the printed barcode price?
Which review routes are worth it—editorial reviews vs. reader-review services?
How should authors handle translations and run ads in languages they don’t speak?
Can you include color photo inserts with print on demand and still distribute on Amazon?
How much lead time should ARC readers get, and do launch-day reviews matter?

And more!

Author Nation 2025, Las Vegas
2025-11-03 - 2025-11-07 | Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, United States
Join us at Author Nation in Las Vegas! Successful authors aren’t born—they’re built. Join Author Nation, where community support helps authors earn more and reach profitability faster. Your tribe awaits.

LIVE: Author Nation, Reach More Readers: Human-Centred Marketing in an AI World
2025-11-04 14:15 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Horseshoe Las Vegas, Las Vegas, United States
Orna Ross revisits evergreen book marketing methods and shows how to upgrade for current challenges—including content glut, email spam, algorithm volatility, shrinking organic reach, rising ad costs, and concern about reader trust.
Drawing on the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) guidebook Reach More Readers and ALLi's Ethical AI policy, the session emphasises a human, sustainable approach, looking at how the old reliables are meeting the new realities.
You’ll leave with more clarity about your values as an author and publisher and the upgrades needed to market you and your books in the age of AI.

LIVE WEBINAR: Plan, Position, Profit: A Modern Author's Guide to Marketing with ManuscriptReport
2025-11-04 19:00 - 20:00 (Europe/London) | SellfPubConnect
Book marketing can feel overwhelming: blurbs, categories, comps, keywords, social media, blog posts… the list is long, and most authors would rather be writing. However, much of your marketing lies within your manuscript itself, waiting for you to discover it.
This session will give you many brainstorming ideas that will help you utilize AI responsibly, ethically, and creatively in your marketing to uncover those hidden assets.
Join Florin, founder of ManuscriptReport.com, as he shares practical ways to mine your manuscripts for marketing gold using the power of AI. You’ll learn how to transform your book into a complete, launch-ready toolkit and gain the confidence to connect with readers more effectively.
You’ll see how a single manuscript can be transformed into:

Professional metadata that capture attention and algorithm's attention
Comparable titles and finding the right categories to improve discoverability
Reusable content and images for social media and blogs, saving weeks of brainstorming
A “Book Bible” that keeps track of plots, characters, and themes for long-term consistency
Confidence-building insights that give authors the push to publish sooner

Beyond a single tool, this session is about a new mindset for marketing. Florin will also share valuable strategies you can implement immediately such as effective prompts and techniques for using free AI tools, a simple framework for analyzing your own manuscript to uncover core themes and audience profiles, ethical considerations and best practices for using AI in your author business.
Whether you’re preparing your first launch or refreshing your backlist, you’ll walk away with a practical roadmap and new tools for making your book impossible to ignore.

PODCAST DROP: Editing Short Stories for Contest Submissions
2025-11-05 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
Author and podcaster Polly Campbell joins Matty Dalrymple to explore how writing contests can sharpen a writer’s editorial skills.
Polly discusses the fast-paced revision process required for short fiction contests, how to make every word count, and why tight deadlines can lead to more focused, confident writing.
She also shares practical strategies for structuring quick edits, choosing impactful details, and balancing creativity with polish—all lessons that can strengthen any writer’s craft.

PODCAST DROP: Part 1: How Literary Worlds Become Playable as RPGs: Producing Books, Cards and Collaborative Stories
2025-11-12 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
How do you turn a literary world into a collaborative storytelling experience?
In this episode, Anna Featherstone chats with Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon—the award-winning duo behind Storybrewers Roleplaying—about producing their book- and card-based role-playing games, including Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game and My Late Father’s Correspondence.
Together they explore how indie creators can merge writing, design, and ethics to craft imaginative, inclusive, immersive books.

PODCAST DROP: Creative Self-Publishing with Orna Ross
2025-11-16 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
A step-by-step guide to creative planning, setting inspiring intentions and realistic goals for writing and publishing, while keeping the creative juices flowing.

PODCAST DROP: Creative Self-Publishing with Orna Ross & Joanna Penn
2025-11-19 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast

PODCAST DROP: Inside Author Nation: Joe Solari and Orna Ross on Trends, Tools, and What’s Next for Indies
2025-11-26 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
In this episode of Publish for Profit, Joe Solari sits down with ALLi Director, Orna Ross, to reflect on the Author Nation conference, the growth of vendor partnerships, changes in author tools including AI, and why community events matter for indie writers.
They also outline plans for expanding into Reader Nation and how authors can adapt to a shifting industry.

PODCAST DROP: The Hidden Craft of Ghostwritten Fiction
2025-12-03 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Matty Dalrymple talks with author and ghostwriter Jon McGoran about the craft and business of ghostwriting fiction.
Jon shares how he began ghostwriting through an agency, the differences between ghostwriting fiction and nonfiction, and what it’s like to write in someone else’s creative world.
He and Matty discuss the challenges of collaboration, setting clear contracts and milestones, balancing client vision with storytelling instincts, and how ghostwriting can become a meaningful and steady income stream for authors.

PODCAST DROP: Part 2: How Literary RPGs Find Their Audience: Distributing Books, Games and Creative Experiences
2025-12-10 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
How do indie creators reach global audiences while staying true to their values?
In this second conversation, Anna Featherstone continues her chat with Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon about distribution, community, and marketing in the world of literary-inspired role-playing games.
From Kickstarter to conventions and creative commons licensing, they share smart, strategies for connecting stories with players worldwide.

PODCAST DROP: Business Postal Addresses, Government Shutdown Delays, and Michael and Sacha's Business War Stories - ALLi's Member Q&A
2025-12-14 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss…

My newsletter requires a physical address in the footer of my emails, but I don't want to use my personal address. Help!
Due to the government shutdown in the US, the Library of Congress is delayed in issuing control numbers. Help!
Michael and Sacha will share current business struggles and success they have recently dealt with.

And more!

PODCAST DROP: Advice: Branding, Marketing, & Promotion
2025-12-17 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
Join host Orna Ross as she interviews the brightest minds, experts, and insiders in the writing and self-publishing business. Get actionable insights to help you level up your author brand and reach more readers.
The Self-Publishing With ALLi Branding, Marketing & Promotion Podcast Stream is proudly sponsored by Bookfunnel. Do you have reader magnets, ARCs, and direct digital sales? Want to join multi-author promotions? Thousands of authors trust BookFunnel for seamless delivery and real human support. Visit BookFunnel.com.

PODCAST DROP: Creative Self-Publishing
2025-12-28 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | ALLi Podcast
The final Creative Self-Publishing podcast of the year sees host Orna Ross take a reflective look back at the second half of 2025 and cast an eye forward to what’s ahead in 2026.
As always, the episode draws on our signature step-by-step approach to creative planning and intention-setting, helping indie authors stay inspired while setting realistic goals for their writing and publishing. It’s a gentle wrap-up to the year and a motivating springboard into the next.
