With ALLi’s SelfPubCon26 this weekend, Author Nation less than a month away, and countless virtual events and local book festivals taking place in the next few weeks, author education season is here. And Indie Author Training is joining in on the excitement.
Indie Author Training’s next virtual summit takes place November 20 and 21, covering AI technology options available to help authors in every stage of their publishing business. Day 1 is free to attend and explores a variety of AI tools, "from an assistant that handles the business side of publishing to tools for drafting and audio,” according to the website—plus, see where each tool may fall short for some users. Day 2 tickets are $499 and provide access to workshops and walk-throughs for implementing tools discussed in each session.
Each session is recorded and available for replay for a minimum of thirty days after the event. Those interested can sign up at https://summits.indieauthortraining.com/ai-tech, or explore our full list of upcoming summit topics at https://indieauthortraining.com/#summit-season.
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.
Speaking of summits, if you missed last weekend’s Wide for the Win Summit, session replays are available now at https://summit.wideforthewin.com/replays. (Scroll down to access free replays from day 1 of the summit.) All replays include captions and will be available for a minimum of thirty days after the summit ends; day 2 attendees can watch replays for up to one year after the event.
This Week’s Indie Author Magazine Articles
Your book’s main character guides readers through your story—and no matter how interesting your world-building or plot may be, if readers don’t care about your character, they won’t want to keep reading. So what’s the key to keeping your audience invested? In this installment of her Ask a Book Coach guest series, book coach Rona Gofstein explores how authors can ensure their readers care enough about their characters to keep turning the page.
Rona Gofstein
Plenty of authors attend in-person events to sell their books and connect with readers, but far fewer can say they host their own. Yet Katie Cross is one of those few. For the YA Fantasy, Romantasy, and Romance author, independent publishing began as a passion and a job that could travel with her when her husband’s career with the US Army required they move. Now, Cross’s business has grown to support three pen names, more than one hundred titles published, and a host of in-person events with readers, including her own “Katie Cons.” This week, read how she’s found success in her author business, her advice for authors, and what she has planned next in her “forever career.”
Grace Snoke
As part of a new interview series on getting to know the people shaping the businesses authors use daily, IAM publisher Chelle Honiker spoke with Phil Marshall, the founder and CEO of Spoken, an ethical AI audiobook company. Learn how Marshall built Spoken with the goal of protecting voice artists while helping authors, and about the many people involved in producing the finished audio. Marshall also shares more about how he builds his team around his strengths as a product developer. Read the article at the link below, and watch the full video interview on IAM’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@indieauthormagazine.
Chelle Honiker
New on YouTube: IAM’s CEO Series spotlights Evan Gow, the founder of StoryOrigin
IAM’s leadership series offers authors a chance to get to know the CEOs behind the publishing-focused companies they use daily. This week, IAM publisher Chelle Honiker sits down with Evan Gow, the founder, CEO, and one-man show behind StoryOrigin. Gow explains how the platform got its start and how he’s built out its features since then, all with the goal of simplifying authors’ workflow. He also shares his advice for authors looking to grow their audience through their newsletters—and how that same advice has helped StoryOrigin find its footing in the industry. Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP98_Z5dGqM.
Teachings from Indie Author Training
Webinar: “Dictate Your Novel This November: The DRAFT Method for Speaking Your Story”
Fifty thousand words in thirty days is a big ask of two hands and a keyboard. It is a very reasonable ask of your voice. In this session, fiction author and writing instructor Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer walks through her DRAFT framework for dictating fiction, the five-step path she teaches authors who want to speak their stories instead of typing them. Built for authors planning a Novel November run, for anyone whose hands or schedule have made drafting painful, and for the author who tried dictation once and gave up, you'll leave with a setup you can use that day and a plan for the thirty days ahead.
Watch the replay here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/dictate-your-novel-this-november-the-draft-method-for-speaking-your-story.
Upcoming Webinars
October 21, 12 p.m. ET: “From 7,113 Unread Emails to an Actionable Inbox: Using AI to Triage Your Author Business” with Skye MacKinnon
Sign up at https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/from-7113-unread-emails-to-an-actionable-inbox-using-ai-to-triage-your-author-business.
November 4, 12 p.m. ET: “Tarot for Writing: Using Tarot to Write Your Stories” with Karen Guyler
Sign up at https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/tarot-for-writing-using-tarot-to-write-your-stories.
Indie Author Tools Directory
Have you visited Indie Author Tools lately? Our tools and services directory rounds up essential resources for indie authors at every stage of the publication process, from outlining to marketing and everything in between. Check out our listings in the following categories, or let us know which tools we’re missing at https://www.indieauthortools.com.
- Cover artists: https://indieauthortools.com/cover-artists
- Editors, from developmental through proofreading: https://indieauthortools.com/editors
- Marketing tools: https://indieauthortools.com/marketing-tools
- Audiobook production and narration: https://indieauthortools.com/sound-audio-books
More Indie Publishing News
Here’s a look beyond our pages at the latest headlines and happenings in the publishing world.
- ALLi’s annual Self-Publishing Advice Conference, SelfPubCon26, kicked off today and lasts through the weekend, with an additional workshop available for ALLi members and pass holders Monday. The event is hosted virtually and free to attend, and will include a mix of live and pre-recorded sessions, as well as networking opportunities, giveaways, and more. Be sure to tune in Sunday at 2 p.m. ET for IAM publisher Chelle Honiker’s session on running an AI-assisted publishing business, moderated by Sarah Begley. Learn more and sign up at https://selfpublishingadvice.org/selfpubcon2026.
- Every author has faced an influx of AI-generated scam emails in their inboxes over the past few years. Over time, these emails have gotten more personalized and harder to spot. This week, Writer Beware explored how these emails are created and the template many of them use to trick authors, so you can feel more confident about recognizing them. Read the article here: https://writerbeware.blog/2026/09/25/how-those-personalized-generative-ai-scam-emails-are-built.
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.
