How To Use Your Distributor to Market Your Books : Dan Wood

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. 

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.

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.