All of us at ALLi wish you, our members, friends and the wider author community, a very happy, creative and prosperous year in 2016.
Happy New Year
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News Summary: Simon and Schuster Relaunches Pocket Books as Imprint for Successful Indie Authors
It's a tale as old as, well, the early days of Kindle if not "time." For some indie authors it's a dream come true. For some, it's a patronizing/cynical gesture. For yet others, it's an invaluable extra string to a business bow that they can flex perfectly autonomously. And for publishers, it's a cash cow, on paper (pun intended) at least.
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.
I don’t see any reference to Dorrence Publishing on your score sheet. What do you recommend in regards to this company?
I don’t see any reference to Dorrence Publishing. How would this company rate on your score sheet?
I must say that I was really pleased to come across the friendly people at The Alliance of Independent Authors, and have sedulously followed each and every contribution by Members.
As I am still recovering from a long endured trial at the fingertips of a formatter, and have therefore not submitted a manuscript for print, I hope that in 2016 there will also be an article on formatters qualified in grammar, punctuation – and not prey to the first part of the adage “Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.”
Meanwhile, please accept my sincere wishes for 2016. May you all experience good health and peace as well as individual success in authorship.
Hi Betty and Happy New Year to you. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with a formatter – how frustrating (and expensive!) The best way to find someone dependable to help you is to check out ALLi’s partner members, which includes formatters – you’ll find them all listed in the Partners Directory, which you can access via the membership website. Go to the Publications tab and you’ll find a drop-down menu for “Services Guide”, where you’ll be able to download the latest edition. Partner members are vetted before joining so we know they will offer you a dependable, effective and value for money service.