indie authors Archives

Spotify Ends Findaway Voices; INaudio Takes Over Wide Audiobook Distribution: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Spotify has been in the news a lot recently, and this week they are back thanks to big changes to audiobook distribution platform Findaway Voices.

Oscars Open to AI-Assisted Films; Reading Habits Hold Steady; Linktree Adds eBook Sales: Self-Publishing with ALLi featuring Dan Holloway

On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway reports that the Oscars will allow AI-assisted films starting next year. He also discusses new surveys showing that reading habits remain stable despite headlines, and highlights Linktree’s new feature allowing authors to sell eBooks directly from their bio pages.

Spotify Recognized for Audiobook Innovation: Self-Publishing with ALLi featuring Dan Holloway

On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway reports on Spotify receiving the BISG Industry Innovator Award for its audiobook efforts, including new tools for indie authors. He also highlights Patreon’s launch of unlimited in-platform livestreaming, a move that supports creators building subscription-based communities. Finally, Dan explores a growing trend in book subscription services: curating and now publishing original content tailored to their audiences.

Patreon Livestreaming and Book Box Publishers Highlight Creator-Led Trends: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

An increasing number of my favorite online creatives are moving more of their content behind a paywall, and new tools like Patreon livestreaming are helping them do it. This applies to YouTube channels, and it also applies to writers and bloggers. Creators are increasingly discovering that the OG of internet art, the 1,000 true fans model, is still a viable way to avoid the twin perils of the algorithm and changing payment models that come with relying on ad revenue, general fee pools, and other forms of reliance on wider platforms.

April 24, 2025
Dan Holloway
News
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How Zines Can Boost Creativity and Build Reader Connections: The Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast Featuring Anna Featherstone

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast, Anna Featherstone speaks with Rebekah Lambert, a poet, playwright, content strategist, and founder of the Freelance Jungle, about how authors can produce and distribute zines. They discuss how zines give writers permission not to be perfect, offer a low-pressure way to spark creativity, and help both fiction and nonfiction authors deepen connections with readers.

Spotify Audiobooks for Authors Earn Industry Innovator Award: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

It won’t have escaped your notice that Spotify audiobooks for authors have become a growing focus lately. Having started their audiobook journey quietly, they are now not only making audiobooks central to their listening offer, they are building more and more tools for authors to work with them directly.

How Indie Authors Are Embracing Short-Form Audio

Short-form audio is becoming a meaningful new outlet for authors. As listening habits shift—and as tools for production become more accessible through human and AI narration—short audiobooks are gaining ground with both readers and platforms. From Spotify’s recent launch of a short-form program for independent authors to new experiments among ALLi members, this format is quickly finding its place in the indie publishing toolkit.

April 21, 2025
ALLi Editorial
Process 3 & 4: Production & Distribution
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Ingram Mediascout Offers Film Rights Exposure for Indie Authors: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

In my day job in higher education, I am, like many others, winding down for the holiday season. But in the book world, we seem to have stumbled into a particularly busy time for news. So expect more than one story from each column this week. I begin with particularly exciting news for indie authors looking to extract the maximum return from all of the rights they own in their work. Ingram has just gone live with its Mediascout program.

Canva Unveils AI Tools, Including Image Generation; Law Professors Challenge Meta’s Copyright Use: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

This week’s AI news focuses on two issues of great interest to indie authors. I will start with Canva. In part because I haven’t talked about them for a while. And partly because this news picks up from the last time I did talk about them. Which was last year, when they made a lot of people unhappy by increasing the price of its Pro offering from a flat $120 per year for a team license to $10 a month per team member.

How Trump’s Tariffs Affect Indie Authors and Self-Publishers: A US and Global Perspective

Are Trump’s new tariffs going to raise your book printing costs? Here’s what self-publishing authors around the world need to know about how Trump-era and future US tariffs impact indie authors and book printing. Learn about current exemptions for books, global risks for self-publishers, and ALLi's advice for protecting your publishing business.

How AI in Publishing Is Changing Audiobooks and Author Opportunities: Self-Publishing with ALLi Featuring Orna Ross and Joanna Penn

On the Creative Self-Publishing stream of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast, Orna Ross and Joanna Penn discuss their latest creative projects, insights from the London Book Fair, and the evolving role of AI in publishing. Orna shares her thoughts on how the fair is shifting away from being author-centric, while Joanna explores AI narration and its growing impact on audiobooks, including new developments from ElevenLabs and Amazon’s Audible Virtual Voice.

ALLi Condemns Meta’s Use of Indie Authors’ Books to Train AI Without Permission, Calls for Clarity and Compensation

The work of Orna Ross, founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors, and thousands of other independent authors and ALLi members have been identified as part of the vast collection of books used—without permission or payment—to train Meta’s AI models.