On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway looks at a new study of American media habits that reveals strong daily audiobook listening—despite slowing growth driven by low uptake among readers over fifty. He also reports on OverDrive’s trademark lawsuit against OpenAI over the name Sora, and shares findings from a research paper showing that poetic prompts can bypass AI guardrails far more effectively than standard requests.
Listen to the Podcast: Audiobook Habits Shift
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About the Host
Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet, and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines, He competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle.
Podcast Summary by Kayleigh Brindley
In this Self-Publishing News podcast, Dan Holloway highlights potential gaps in the audiobook market for indie authors to exploit, reveals how humans have the upper hand when it comes to poetry, and shares the latest on another AI-related legal battle.
Audiobook Market Insights
First up, and the item likely to be of the most interest, is a new study of American media habits that reveals:
- 5% of Americans listen to an audiobook daily
- 10–20 million daily listeners
- Over-50s show low audiobook engagement
Maybe the answer here is more audiobooks for older readers, or new ways to draw over-50s readers to the audiobook format.
No surprises, as Spotify remain the most widely-used audio streaming platform, and great to see that audiobooks account for over 10% of overall streaming – a clear demand if you’re still on the fence about creating an audiobook version of your book.
AI, Legal Disputes, and Trademarks
Moving onto the ever-present topic of AI, Dan delves into the legal dispute between OverDrive (the platform that distributes eBooks to schools and libraries) and OpenAI over the use of the name ‘Sora’.
OverDrive is requesting that OpenAI remove all references to the name.
Another important reminder for indie authors to always be aware of existing trademarks when choosing your book titles and imprints.
Humans vs. AI: Poetry Wins
Dan finishes up with a surprising AI study highlighting the disruptive nature of poetry. Researchers found that human-crafted poetry can bypass AI guardrails 62% of the time, compared to any other written prompt.
In other words, humans still hold the power over AI, so long as we write in verse.
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If you’d like a transcript of this podcast episode, please reach out to [email protected]
