Apr 29, 2022
Today on Self-Publishing News: Indie publishing is a great news story! I've given ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway the month off while I focus on the 10th anniversary of the Alliance of Independent Authors. I recently flew from my hometown of Traverse City, Michigan, to London to attend the London Book Fair, where my colleagues at ALLi were celebrating a decade since our founder, Orna Ross, launched the self-publishing group at 2012's book fair.
I come from a journalism background, so I did what I enjoy doing at events like this. I interviewed people. And, today, I'll feature many of their voices about where indie publishing has been, where it is today, and where it's going.
Above all, I think of indie publishing as a great news story, and one that I'm happy to be covering both as a member of ALLi and as a journalist. For me, the rise of indie publishing suits my personality. In my days as a business and technology reporter, if the rest of the media pack were headed one way, I’d head the opposite. That’s where the interesting stories were. Who is going against the grain? Who is innovating?
The old system of publishing is based on outdated technology and assumptions. But technology has progressed to the point where authors need not play by established rules. Independent-minded authors, or those who wish to retain control over their own work and ability to earn from it, can choose not to play the old game.
And that's where we'll begin, with ALLi cofounder and director Orna Ross, who talked about this shift in author attitudes that she's witnessed over the past decade.
Find more author advice, tips and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center: https://selfpublishingadvice.org, 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.
About the Hosts
Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines Earlier this year he competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle.
Howard Lovy has been a journalist for more than 30 years, and has spent the last eight years amplifying the voices of independent publishers and authors. He works with authors as a book editor to prepare their work to be published. Howard is also a freelance writer specializing in Jewish issues whose work appears regularly in Publishers Weekly, the Jewish Daily Forward, and Longreads. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.