As the final day of the Self Publishing Show Live! comes to a close for 2026, authors are set to return from the London event this year with notebooks full of ideas and inspiration. The largest indie author conference in Europe encompassed two days of panels, informational sessions, and conversations with other authors, plus a celebratory boat ride to close out this year’s conference.
Of course, the work—and learning—doesn’t stop once you’re home. After the excitement and exhaustion has worn off, there are notes to review, connections to foster, and questions to explore in order to ensure you’ve made the most of any author conference or event. In our August 2025 issue, IAM staff writer Eryka Parker broke down strategies for putting new strategies, tools, and inspiration to use once an event has wrapped. Her article was featured in the Indie Author Magazine special print edition for SPS Live!, but you can also read it here.
Eryka Parker
Whether you attended SPS Live! or stayed home, there are plenty more educational opportunities to explore this summer, including weekly webinars and product tours at Indie Author Training. This week’s webinar, hosted by IAM publisher and Author Automations founder Chelle Honiker, explores how to use Claude Cowork to manage your Facebook Ads. Catch the live-streamed event Tuesday, June 16, at 2 p.m.—learn more about the event and register here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/let-claude-cowork-manage-your-facebook-ads/. (Please note, this is a paid webinar.)
Then, read on for more webinar replays, IAM articles, and other publishing news from this week.
This Week's Indie Author Magazine Articles
Almost everyone who is part of the indie author community understands there’s no script to follow for finding success in the industry. Ask former screenwriter turned author Deborah Wilde, who started her publishing journey writing YA Rom-Coms under the pen name Tellulah Darling. When she decided she wanted to try something different, she switched genres to Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Women’s Fiction. Later, she shifted again, from publishing with KDP Select to building out her direct sales storefront and driving her readers to purchase her books there instead. Each change has been a reflection of Wilde’s personality—and that authenticity has kept her readers coming back for more.
Jenn Lessmann
Authors have long romanticized sacrificing sleep for their stories. But those late-night writing sprints, endless cups of coffee, and long hours staring at screens before bed may be hurting your work more than they’re helping. Studies show sleep health is a vital part of the creative process. Read how setting your work aside to rest may boost your productivity in the long run, plus steps you can use to make sleep easier—and maybe make writing easier the next day.
Wendy Van Camp
Teachings from Indie Author Training
Webinar: “Using Claude Cowork to build your Wordpress site”
Do you need to update and stay on top of trends on your website? Maybe you want a whole new redesign or a brand-new site for a new pen name. If so, this session will save you all the time, money, and angst you associate with doing anything with websites. This breakthrough session shows you, step by step, how to leverage Claude Cowork to do it for you. It also includes those all-important, tried-and-tested prompts, so you can follow along and get your site up in no time.
Please note this is a paid session, but it's not too late to register and watch the replay here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/let-claude-cowork-build-your-wordpress-site/
Webinar: “How to Publish, Print, and Prosper with Lulu”
We've all heard the name Lulu in the indie author space and know of the company as a print-on-demand specialist. Chelsea Bennett, education and community manager for Lulu.com and host of Lulu’s YouTube series, Lulu University, joins Indie Author Training to show us how easy it can be to get started. She also shares how you can ramp up once you've created your free account to make your printed words work for you.
You can watch the replay here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/replays/
More Indie Publishing News
Here’s a look beyond our pages at the latest headlines and happenings in the publishing world.
- A study published by the Authors Guild Tuesday revealed that readers are more likely to turn to libraries and other low- or non-royalty-generating channels for their books, with only 25 percent of ebook and print book readers in the last month buying their books new or via a subscription service. Instead, the study found readers are more often turning to libraries, personal collections, or other free sources for books, or they are purchasing books used. The article sharing the findings generated some controversy in authors’ groups, as it concluded that this trend was to blame for a decline in authors’ earnings since 2009. You can read the article and view the survey’s findings here: https://authorsguild.org/news/new-authors-guild-study-only-25-percent-of-readers-paid-for-a-new-copy-of-a-book-or-audiobook/.
- Joanna Penn’s May 25 episode of The Creative Penn featured guest speaker Jeff Adams, co-author of Content for Everyone. The book serves as a guide for creative entrepreneurs to create more accessible and user-friendly content. In the episode, Penn and Adam spoke about the state of accessibility in the indie author industry and how AI can be used as an accessibility tool in parts of an indie author’s business. You can listen to the podcast episode here: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2026/05/25/accessibility-and-ai-how-new-tools-are-opening-doors-for-indie-authors-with-jeff-adams/. For more on making your author business more accessible, IAM staff writer Jennifer Mitchell explored how indie authors can utilize alt text and other resources to produce more accessible ebooks in January of this year.
Jennifer Mitchell
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.
