In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss the challenges of hiring a book publicist, including how to vet them, what questions to ask, and whether most indie authors even need one.

Other questions include:

• What are the implications for self-published authors with the introduction of GPSR in the EU?
• How can authors handle print-on-demand page limits if their book exceeds the maximum page count?
• Do authors need to file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report in the United States?
• Where can authors find quality Canva tutorials for designing marketing materials?
• What are the best ways for new ALLi members to make the most of their membership?
• Is there a recommended way to update copyright notices to address AI-related concerns?

And More!

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

The Member Q&A podcast is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

About the Hosts

Michael La Ronn is ALLi’s Outreach Manager. He is the author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and even attending law school classes in the evenings (now graduated!). You can find his fiction at www.michaellaronn.com and his videos and books for writers at www.authorlevelup.com.

Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, speaker and casual rule breaker. She writes fiction under a secret pen name and other books about the art of writing. When Sacha isn't writing, she runs ALLi's blog. She lives in England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. You can find her on her website, her podcast, and on Instagram.

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway examines major developments in AI-generated audiobooks. Eleven Labs has launched direct audiobook publishing, offering authors new distribution options and competitive royalties. The company has also expanded its speech-to-text services, allowing authors to transcribe and produce audiobooks seamlessly. Meanwhile, OpenAI's video-generation tool Sora is now available in the UK and EU, and Twitch has expanded monetization features, creating new opportunities for authors to engage with audiences.

Sponsors

Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

Self-Publishing News is also sponsored by book cover design company Miblart. They offer unlimited revisions, take no deposit to start work and you pay only when you love the final result. Get a book cover that will become your number-one marketing tool.

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.

Becoming a profitable writer requires more than just productivity, but consistently completing projects is essential for success in self-publishing. ALLi's Crowdfunding Adviser, USA Today bestselling author, and author-publishing expert Russell Nohelty shares strategies to help authors increase their writing output and turn finished projects into profitable ventures. This session offers practical insights to help indie authors make each year more productive and financially rewarding.

This session is proudly sponsored by Publish Authority.

This is a post from SelfPubCon (The Self-Publishing Advice Conference), an online author event run free twice yearly in association with the Alliance of Independent Authors.

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. You can do that at http://allianceindependentauthors.org.

My guest this episode is Sharon Hague, a lawyer and Egyptologist who writes speculative historical fiction about ancient Egypt. Growing up at sea and traveling the world shaped her imagination, leading her to blend history and fiction in her award-winning Ancient Egypt series. We’ll talk about how she balances fact and fiction.

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.

Sponsor

Inspirational Indie Authors is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

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

Sharon Janet Hague is a British-New Zealand author of speculative fiction – primarily historical fiction. She is the author of Moses and Akhenaten: A Child’s Tale, The Tutankhamen Friendship, and The Queen Who Became King. The series has won several awards. In 2024, bestseller status was achieved in the USA with Moses and Akhenaten: A Child’s Tale, and The Queen Who Became Kingm which reached number one. Sharon is a lawyer who also holds a master’s degree in Egyptology from the University of Manchester, England. She has visited Egypt multiple times since childhood, and pens articles on ancient Egypt for various publications.­­ Sharon currently lives in New Zealand with her family, and twin cats, who mysteriously involve themselves in her novels. You can find her on her website, and on Facebook.

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway reports on Meta’s internal discussions about AI training, revealing that the company considered using pirated books to train its language models. Court documents show Meta abandoned licensing talks with publishers after realizing they didn’t have the rights to AI training data. Meanwhile, Kindle’s recent policy change regarding USB book transfers continues to stir debate, and World of Books expands into the US resale market.

Sponsors

Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

Self-Publishing News is also sponsored by book cover design company Miblart. They offer unlimited revisions, take no deposit to start work and you pay only when you love the final result. Get a book cover that will become your number-one marketing tool.

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.

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, host Dale L. Roberts chats with branding expert Dan Blank about building authentic connections, balancing creativity with marketing, and the key role of branding in an author’s success. Dan shares tips on audience growth, cost-effective strategies, avoiding pitfalls, and staying true to your voice while adapting to trends.

Sponsor

This podcast is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

About the Host

Dale L. Roberts is a self-publishing advocate, award-winning author, and video content creator. Dale’s inherent passion for life fuels his self-publishing advocacy both in print and online. After publishing over 50 titles and becoming an international bestselling author on Amazon, Dale started his YouTube channel, Self-Publishing with Dale. Selected by Feedspot and LA Weekly as one of the best sources in self-publishing of 2022, Dale cemented his position as the indie-author community's go-to authority. You can find Dale on his website or YouTube.

About the Guest

Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrow Media and helps writers develop a human-centered approach to marketing and reaching their readers. He believes writers have a unique ability to create stories that inspire and connect people. For over a decade, he has worked full-time with thousands of writers and creators, helping them build meaningful connections with their audiences.

In this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss whether authors should release print, e-book, and audiobook formats at the same time or stagger them to maximize visibility and sales.

Other questions include:

• What are some affordable alternatives to NetGalley for getting book reviews?
• What should I do if someone is copying my work and publishing it as their own?
• How can I approach a museum gift shop to carry my book?
• Is it better to market a book’s availability on IngramSpark, or should I focus on general book promotion?
• How can I distribute my free audiobook codes most effectively?
• What are the best strategies for marketing books without relying on social media?

And More!

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

The Member Q&A podcast is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

About the Hosts

Michael La Ronn is ALLi’s Outreach Manager. He is the author of over 80 science fiction & fantasy books and self-help books for writers. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has managed to write while raising a family, working a full-time job, and even attending law school classes in the evenings (now graduated!). You can find his fiction at www.michaellaronn.com and his videos and books for writers at www.authorlevelup.com.

Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, speaker and casual rule breaker. She writes fiction under a secret pen name and other books about the art of writing. When Sacha isn't writing, she runs ALLi's blog. She lives in England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son. You can find her on her website, her podcast, and on Instagram.

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway explores Spotify’s new $10,000 mental health fiction award, the fallout from the Paris AI Summit, and surprising revelations about Meta’s stalled AI licensing talks with publishers. He also looks at the latest Kindle policy change that limits how readers can back up their e-books, raising concerns about digital ownership.

Sponsors

Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by Bookvault. Sell high-quality, print-on-demand books directly to readers worldwide and earn maximum royalties selling directly. Automate fulfillment and create stunning special editions with BookvaultBespoke. Visit Bookvault.app today for an instant quote.

Self-Publishing News is also sponsored by book cover design company Miblart. They offer unlimited revisions, take no deposit to start work and you pay only when you love the final result. Get a book cover that will become your number-one marketing tool.

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.