There’s a lot going on in the indie author space right now. That’s probably been a true statement since our corner of the industry was created, but 2026 already seems determined to outdo every year prior. New platform partnerships, industry shifts around artificial intelligence, authors expanding their businesses into new territory, direct sales movements and conversations about “building on your own land”—the year has only just started, but it’s already emphasizing the importance of thinking creatively, broadly, and boldly.
The year has started out at a sprint for Indie Author Magazine and our sister sites as well. You can read about upcoming changes and exciting plans in Chelle Honiker’s latest letter from the publisher.
Chelle Honiker
This Week's Indie Author Magazine Articles
Audiobooks are becoming increasingly popular among readers, but hiring professional narrators can be costly. This week’s feature points out how indie authors can produce audiobook formats for their titles, including DIY options that can make production more affordable and accessible for authors with a tighter budget or a smaller audience.
Jenn Lessmann
The latest installment of Susan Odev’s yearlong series in her “Author Inklings” column, about launching a new pen name in a year, dives into author branding—specifically, what it promises your readers. Just as your book’s genre makes a promise about your stories tropes and trajectories, your author brand makes a promise about the kinds of stories you’ll tell. Odev’s column helps you determine whether the promises you're making are the right ones.
Susan Odev
Did you know? IAM is now on Substack! Find us at https://indieauthormagazine.substack.com/publish/home.
Teachings from Indie Author Training This Week
Webinar: “Edit smarter, not harder: how AI can reveal what your story is really doing”
Alessandra Torre and J.D. Lasica, co-founders of authors.ai, joined our webinar this week to share how their rights-safe AI, Marlowe, can prove an in-depth analysis of your story. The live demo of Marlowe showed how it can analyze narrative elements like pacing, character dynamics, conflict, and structure to surface patterns that are often invisible during self-edits. Instead of replacing editors or creative judgment, this technology provides authors with intelligent insights to guide more confident revisions. Authors.ai are giving webinar attendees a 25% discount. Full details are in the replay which you can access here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/edit-smarter-not-harder-how-ai-can-reveal-what-your-story-is-really-doing/
Product Tour: BeYourCover
BeYourCover is the AI cover studio built for indie authors by indie authors. Turn your blurb into bookstore-ready, on-genre designs in minutes. Generate variations on a theme for social media and marketing graphics. Smart AI pairs with pro layouts and typography so you can explore multiple concepts, tweak titles, colors, and imagery, and land on a look that fits your brand and genre expectations—without the guesswork.
See it in action—watch the video tour to go from concept to cover in a few clicks here: https://tools.indieauthortraining.com/talks/beyourcover/
Note: Indie Author Magazine, Indie Author Training, and our other sister sites maintain a neutral stance on artificial intelligence. In our coverage, we seek to provide an objective, informative take on the technology, and we encourage authors to make decisions about whether to use AI platforms based on their personal values and what’s best for their business.
Let us know if there's a product or tool you'd like to see in action before you hit the “buy” button, and we'll do our best to feature it.
More Indie Publishing News
Here’s a look beyond our pages at the latest headlines and happenings in the publishing world.
- Publishers Weekly, “Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks” (published December 12, 2025)
- The Authors Guild, “Bartz v. Anthropic Settlement: What Authors Need to Know” (updated February 18, 2026)
Anything we’ve missed that you think we should cover? Any topics or questions you’d like our team to explore? Let us know at feedback@indieauthormagazine.com. Your suggestion may just make it into an upcoming article.
