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News: Frankfurt and SelfPubCon Preview, TikTok Ban Averted, Apple Faces New AI Lawsuit, Study Says AI Shapes Language
On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway previews October’s conferences, including Frankfurt and ALLi’s Self-Publishing Advice Conference, with themes from page-to-screen rights to BookTok trends. He reports that TikTok is set to avoid a U.S. ban, a new class action targets Apple over use of the Books3 dataset, and a study suggests AI is changing language by spreading common buzzwords. Sponsor Self-Publishing News 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. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. 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.
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10:20
Interview: Updating, Rebranding, and Managing Your Books With Anna Featherstone and Catherine Bilson
ALLi nonfiction adviser Anna Featherstone interviews Catherine Bilson, who writes in multiple genres across four pen names, about the practicalities of updating and rebranding books. With more than 60 titles published and hundreds of translations under her belt, Catherine explains how indie authors can approach everything from refreshing blurbs and covers to managing keywords, metadata, and back matter. She also shares how to avoid common pitfalls, keep files organized, and treat updates as part of an author’s long-term business strategy. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-Publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. Sponsor This podcast is proudly sponsored by Gatekeeper Press—your partner in independent publishing. Empowering authors with expert guidance, 100 percent rights, 100 percent royalties, global distribution, and all-inclusive services—from editing to marketing. Gatekeeper Press: Where Authors Are Family. About the Host Anna Featherstone is ALLi’s nonfiction adviser and an author advocate and mentor. A judge of The Australian Business Book Awards and Australian Society of Travel Writers awards, she’s also the founder of Bold Authors and presents author marketing and self-publishing workshops for organizations, including Byron Writers Festival. Anna has authored books including how-to and memoirs and her book Look-It’s Your Book! about writing, publishing, marketing, and leveraging nonfiction is on the Australian Society of Authors recommended reading list. When she’s not being bookish, Anna’s into bees, beings, and the big issues of our time. About the Guest RUBY-award–winning author Catherine Bilson writes in multiple genres across four pen names and also co-authors books with Ebony Oaten. Born and raised in the UK, she was once a rocket scientist before falling in love with an Australian and moving halfway around the world. Still married to her Aussie husband, she now lives in sunny southeast Queensland with their two teenage romance-heroes-in-training and two rescue cats.
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Inspirational Indie Author Interview #192: Mo Fanning Blends Humor, Heartbreak, and the Search for Belonging
My guest this episode is Mo Fanning, a novelist whose work blends humor, heartbreak, and hope while exploring themes of identity, loss, and chosen family. His stories often center LGBTQ+ lives but treat them with the same depth and complexity as any other. He also creates original music to accompany his books. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of 2,000+ blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. We invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. About the Host Howard Lovy has been a journalist for 40 years and now amplifies the voices of independent author-publishers and works with authors as a developmental editor. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn, and X. About the Guest Mo Fanning writes darkly comic LGBTQ+ fiction that tackles serious themes with heart and humour. His novel Husbands won the 2025 IndieReader Discovery Award, while The Armchair Bride was nominated for Arts Council Book of the Year. He has featured as a finalist in both 2024 and 2025 in the Page Turner Awards.
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27:40
News: ALLi Launches Author Income Survey, Judge Rejects Anthropic Deal, Patterson Awards $50K
On this episode of the Self-Publishing News Podcast, Dan Holloway highlights the launch of ALLi’s Author Income Survey, a vital tool to track how indie writers earn from their work and strengthen industry advocacy. He also reports on the judge’s rejection of the proposed Anthropic settlement, which had offered $3,000 per pirated title, and notes that James Patterson has awarded $50,000 each to 12 authors to support their writing. ALLi Author Income Survey 2025 Sponsors Self-Publishing News 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. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven’t already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally. 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.
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Interview: An Editor’s Perspective on Picture Books with Matty Dalrymple and Gale Winskill
ALLi Campaigns Manager Matty Dalrymple talks with editor Gale Winskill about the craft of editing children’s books and picture books. Winskill discusses age-appropriate language and content, the author–illustrator collaboration, structural and developmental editing, marketing considerations, and the role of beta readers, while emphasizing the importance of challenging young readers and creating stories that appeal to both children and adults. bout the Host Matty Dalrymple podcasts, writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage as The Indy Author. She has written books on the business of short fiction and podcasting for authors, and her articles have appeared in Writer’s Digest magazine. She serves as the campaigns manager for the Alliance of Independent Authors. Matty is also the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with Rock Paper Scissors; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with The Sense of Death; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts, including Close These Eyes. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. About the Guest Gale Winskill is an editor at Winskill Editorial with more than thirty years of in-house and freelance experience in the UK and abroad, working across both adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction. She provides a full range of editing services, book coaching, and some ghostwriting, and she works with both traditionally published and self-published authors. Her writers have won or been shortlisted for a variety of prizes. Winskill also creates and delivers training for several publishing bodies and teaches the fiction stream of the HarperCollins Author Academy. She believes the editor’s role is to empower authors through constructive advice, collaboration, and a good sense of humor. She can be found on her website and on LinkedIn.
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30:19
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30:19