Self-Publishing with ALLi

Most indie authors know print-on-demand. Pop-up and movable books inhabit a very different world — one of hand-assembly, specialist printers, and minimum print runs that make the economics unlike anything in standard publishing. In this episode, Anna Featherstone talks with Kelli Anderson, paper engineer and author of Alphabet in Motion, about what it actually takes to bring a movable book to life. They cover the manufacturing process, working with printers, using Kickstarter to fund a 25,000-copy print run, and where a curious author might begin if this form is calling to them. 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 premium independent publishing. Empowering authors with expert guidance, 100% rights, 100% royalties, and global distribution. From editing to marketing, their all-inclusive services help you publish professionally and confidently. Gatekeeper Press — Where Authors Are Family. Show Notes Movable Book Society Alphabet in Motion Kickstarter 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 books 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 Kelli Anderson uses handheld revelations to reconnect people with the depth and possibility of their world. Her books force readers to touch grass paper. She created This Book is a Camera (MoMA)—which transforms into a working camera—and This Book is a Planetarium (Chronicle)—which houses paper devices (including a planetarium) and has sold more than 100,000 copies. Alphabet in Motion, an interactive book about typography and technology, was published to wide acclaim in the Fall of 2025. The Washington Post book editor writes that "the work of literature that delighted me most this year is this pop-up book." Other projects include a viral paper record player and—with The Yes Men—a utopian counterfeited New York Times, which won the Ars Electronica Prix. Doctors without Borders have used the award-winning Tinybop Human Body app she illustrated to communicate illness and treatment nonverbally to their patients in remote areas. Clients include NPR, The New Yorker, The Guggenheim, MoMA, Apple, and the New York Times. She has been nominated for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award twice and teaches at NYU, SVA, and Cooper Union. You can find Kelli on her website and on Instagram.

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports that audiobook sales grew 9 percent in the US and 10 percent in the UK in 2025 — a return to double-digit growth — but cautions that active titles grew even faster, meaning many individual authors are getting a smaller slice of a bigger pie. He also questions a suspiciously low 0.03 percent figure for AI-narrated audiobook sales, and examines an Authors Guild survey finding that only a quarter of readers paid for the book they were reading last month, with library lending and "other sources," including piracy, making up much of the rest. 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. 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.

Germany is the third-largest book market in the world, and unlike the English-language market, it is not yet saturated. Skye MacKinnon has turned her second publishing language into her bestselling one across three pen names and more than seventy translated titles. In this conversation about the newly released second edition of her book, Self-Publishing in German, she tells indie authors how to decide which of their books to translate first, where AI earns its keep and where it quietly ruins things, and how on earth you market a book in a language you don't speak. Show Notes Skye MacKinnon's store Skye's author resources page Sponsor Our Creative Self-Publishing stream is brought to you by Orna Ross's Go Creative! program—helping authors harness the power of creative flow in writing and publishing. About the Host Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website. About the Guest Skye MacKinnon is a USA Today bestselling author, self-publishing educator, and translation expert who has published more than ninety books across multiple pen names and genres. A former journalist and science communicator, she is known throughout the indie author community for her work on wide publishing, foreign-language translations, and international book marketing. Through her books, coaching, and leadership in the Wide for the Win community, she helps authors expand their reach beyond the English-language market, drawing on her own experience publishing more than seventy translated titles in German.

In this member-first Q&A on the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, ALLi nonfiction adviser Anna Featherstone walks authors through how to write, publish, and promote nonfiction that sells—covering how to test market demand, what makes a book stand out, and the most common pricing and production mistakes. She shares practical, low-cost marketing tactics, from direct outreach and library events to writing ready-made stories that overstretched newsrooms welcome. 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.

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports on Spotify's investor day, where the company credited its Page Match feature for a 60 percent rise in audiobook listening hours, notes ElevenLabs' quiet expansion as a listening platform in its own right, and examines a troubling trend in AI copyright class actions — where increasingly narrow eligibility requirements around ISBN registration and Copyright Office filings are leaving many indie and overseas authors out of the picture. 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. 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 Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss how to successfully pivot from one nonfiction topic to another, including whether you need a new pen name and how to manage existing backlist titles. Other questions include: What are the most effective low-budget marketing strategies for a nonfiction book about technology and society What options exist when series covers are inconsistent and how important is it to obtain source files from designers Should an urban fantasy series be focused on a tabloid rather than a single protagonist, or is that a strategic mistake How should UK authors operating as limited companies complete KDP tax forms, particularly the limitation of benefits section How can authors troubleshoot A+ content on Amazon when it refuses to populate despite entering all required information And more! Show Notes Lessons Learned from Starting a New Pen Name (Sacha Black podcast) 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 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 the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, host Anna Featherstone speaks with indie author-illustrator Mike Barry about the production and distribution decisions behind his children's graphic novel trilogy Action Tank, from reverse-engineering Marvel's print specifications to building a loyal school and library audience. Barry reflects on Kickstarter, the realities of international distribution, and his publishing adventures. Whether you write for children or not, the conversation offers insight into finishing what you start, finding your market, and letting one opportunity lead to the next. 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 premium independent publishing. Empowering authors with expert guidance, 100% rights, 100% royalties, and global distribution. From editing to marketing, their all-inclusive services help you publish professionally and confidently. 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 Mike Barry is the writer, artist and singular creative force behind Action Tank, his graphic novel trilogy for kids about intergalactic adventure and spaghetti carbonara. He won a Comic Arts Award of Australia for Action Tank in 2021, when he was also nominated for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, The Russell Prize for Humour Writing for Young People, and the Aurealis Awards. Action Tank was also included in the American Library Association's 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Children Reading List. He lives with his wife and sons near the beach in Sydney, Australia, which is even better than it sounds. You can find Mike Barry on Instagram.

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway opens with an urgent warning from Writer Beware's Victoria Strauss about two new AI-generated scams targeting authors — one involving fake radio show invitations, one involving fraudulent book fair representation — and explains the telltale signs that give them away. He then reports on Audible's StoryHouse, a pop-up audiobook store in New York's Bowery modeled on a vinyl record shop, and closes with an update on the Anthropic settlement fairness hearing, including concerns about the $3,000 per-title payout and the US copyright registration requirement that overseas authors say is unfair to them. Show Notes Book Festival Scams, Interview Fakes: Two New AI-Driven Impersonation Scams to Avoid 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. 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.

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Orna Ross and Joanna Penn explore the concept of friction in the author business — the stuff that stops readers from buying and stops authors from acting. They examine reader friction including decision fatigue, pricing signals, platform fragmentation, and the challenge of buying direct; author friction including tech overload, identity resistance, and fear of judgment; and the counterintuitive idea that some friction — a signed limited edition, a serialized novel released chapter by chapter, a live human conversation — is actually worth keeping, because it creates connection, commitment, and differentiation in an age of one-click AI convenience. Show Notes Bones of the Deep. A Thriller: Kickstarter ALLi's Indie Author Bookstore About the Hosts Joanna Penn writes nonfiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F.Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website.

On the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Joe Solari draws a lesson from Jeff Bezos's early years at Amazon — when Wall Street was calling it amazon.bomb and Bezos kept building anyway — to make a case for why indie authors need to stop watching their competitors and start watching their readers. Using the philosopher René Girard's concept of mimetic desire, Joe explains how author communities, for all their value, can quietly install somebody else's North Star in your publishing business without you even noticing. He offers two practical tools to counter this: a one-page North Star document that anchors your publishing vision before you open any dashboard or social media group, and a one-week information audit that helps you identify how much of what you're consuming is signal and how much is just other people's noise. Sponsor The Publishing for Profit podcast is proudly sponsored by Tertulia for Authors. Build a beautiful author storefront in minutes, showcase your books, send newsletters, and sell direct. Get started at tertulia.com/alli. 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 Joe Solari assists authors in developing successful businesses as the managing partner of Author Ventures LLC. In his role as a business manager, he supports his private clients, who collectively achieved gross royalties of twenty-two million in 2023, with an average pre-tax profit of 44%. This remarkable success results from implementing disciplined business strategies and maintaining an unwavering dedication to enhancing the customer experience.

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway breaks down Audible's decision to retire its legacy royalty model by the end of 2026, explaining what the new model means for audiobook authors and the separate decision about whether to enter the All You Can Listen pool. He also reports on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' new Oscar eligibility rules requiring human actors and writers, and examines a Book Industry Study Group survey showing that concern about AI-generated books in the marketplace has now entered the top four worries for publishing industry professionals. Show Notes Audible's New Royalty Model 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. 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 Member Q&A podcast, hosts Michael La Ronn and Sacha Black discuss whether authors of memoir and creative nonfiction should invest in a legal review before publication. Other questions include: Should you agree to a publishing services contract that assigns your ISBN to the company? When is the right stage to add references in a nonfiction manuscript? Are Goodreads giveaways worth the cost compared to other marketing options? What is the simplest way to build a functional author website with email capture and reader magnets? Should you revise and republish a bestselling book with low reviews or focus on new work? What should you do if you are about to miss an Amazon pre-order deadline? 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. 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.