Ten days into April feels a little late to say we’re nearing events season. Several big-name conferences—the London Book Fair and Ireland’s Publishing Show (now called “Indie Network Ireland”)—are already well behind us, and the Toronto Indie Author Conference is only a week away. This weekend, the BookFest Spring 2026 will take place virtually, with free live streams available on its website.
But as the weather warms up and summer draws closer, readers will be venturing out for bookish events as well—great news for authors who enjoy selling books in person.
For those interested in exploring reader conferences and other in-person book events, Beyond Publishing has a list of book fairs, festivals, and conferences to explore in 2026: https://beyondpublishing.net/2026-book-fairs-festivals-conferences. But don’t feel confined to book fairs, either. IAM’s Angie Martin shares ideas for local venues and events where you can sell your books, from farmers’ markets to libraries, in her article on preparing for your first author signing event.
Angie Martin
This Week's Indie Author Magazine Articles
Paranormal Cozy author Annabel Chase has published more than 150 books, has around 313,000 Goodreads reviews across all her titles, and has even seen one of her books displayed on a billboard in Times Square. Later this month, she'll head to BookCon 2026 alongside authors like Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. And she’s managed it all without ever putting her face on camera. In this week’s Monday Close-Up, IAM publisher Chelle Honiker explored what makes Chase’s strategy so successful, how the author built her business’s foundations—first in an entirely different genre—and the structure that supports it all now.
Chelle Honiker
Disclosing AI use has never been a requirement in the publishing industry, but many authors still choose to label their works for readers. Last month, the Authors Guild announced the expansion of a program they hope will make that easier. The “Human Authored” certification program is a collaboration between the Guild and the Society of Authors in the UK, allowing authors to label their books as human written and include their titles in a database of other certified books. This week, learn more about how the Guild hopes this tool will help authors and readers and how your book can be part of the program.
Nicole Schroeder
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.
Did you know Indie Author Magazine has a podcast? Episodes are designed to give you the latest news and stories from IAM in a bite-size format—and this week, we officially passed 10,000 streams and downloads! You can listen in at IndieAuthorMagazine.com/podcast or on any major podcast channel; new episodes air twice weekly.
Teachings from Indie Author Training This Week
Webinar: “Print matters. Learn how to leverage print to grow sales.”
You’ve nailed the craft, cover, and copy—now make the book-as-object irresistible. Most authors default to basic POD and leave money, margin, and reader wow on the table. This punchy session shows you how smart printing and packaging can boost perceived value, cut unit costs, and unlock premium editions and new sales channels. It also shows you what is possible in the printing world—spoiler alert, it's pretty much as varied as your imagination!
You can access the replay here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/print-matters-learn-how-to-leverage-print-to-grow-sales.
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.
- The Indie Author Project Annual Contest began accepting submissions earlier this month. The Indie Author Project aims to foster connections among independent authors, librarians, and readers. Its annual contest offers winners up to $2,500, honors at the 2027 Indie Author Day reception, and more, but authors who submit will also have the opportunity to make their ebooks available to participating libraries in their state or province. Learn more and sign up at https://indieauthorproject.librariesshare.com/iap. Submissions close May 31.
- If you use a Kindle, you may want to check your device before next month. Earlier this week, Amazon announced it is ending support for devices that were released before 2012 as of May 20. Affected devices will no longer be able to connect to the Kindle store or third-party apps like Libby and OverDrive, and if users try to perform a factory reset on the device after this date, it will become unusable. You can read more about the affected devices and your options if you own one of them here: https://www.polygon.com/amazon-old-kindle-obsolescence-may.
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.
