In 2023, Indie Author Magazine published a special issue focused entirely on one of the largest conversations happening in the industry at the time: how generative AI would affect authors and publishers.
Three years later, both that conversation and the technology at the center of it have grown considerably. As IAM publisher Chelle Honiker wrote earlier this week, agentic AI—AI tools that connect specifically with certain accounts and tools to perform tasks—have broadened authors’ ability to automate parts of their business and brought about new possibilities, and new challenges, for those using the platforms.
To dive into the ways in which these tools have evolved more recently and the ways authors can use them ethically, Honiker is hosting an Indie Author Training virtual summit, “AI for your Author Business,” April 21 and 22. You can read more about agentic AI and the virtual summit, including how to sign up, in the article below.
Chelle Honiker
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.
This Week's Indie Author Magazine Articles
A solid reader base ensures your books will always have an audience, but building that fanbase through constant engagement can lead to burnout. In this week’s Monday Close-Up, IAM staff writer David Viergutz explores how you can adjust your strategies—and your mindset—to find and feed your superfans without running out of creative fuel for yourself.
David Viergutz
For authors who prefer to work and write with background noise, MyNoise.net's library of ambient sound mixes and background music is curated to help with focus, creativity, and stress relief. IAM’s Jackie Dana explores the website’s features and uses for authors, including settings made for those with hearing loss or tinnitus, or soundscapes for those with ADHD.
Jackie Dana
This week, we also upgraded our site’s search feature, so you can search the full text of every article we’ve published on indieauthormagazine.com and find exactly the information you need. Give it a try!
Teachings from Indie Author Training This Week
Webinar: “Five Foreshadowing Tips Every Author Should Know”
We’ve all had that moment as a reader where a plot twist hits and everything suddenly clicks. That sense of satisfaction comes from intentional foreshadowing, and Bekah Brinkmeier from AutoCrit joined our webinar this week to share the five foreshadowing tips every author should know.
These five practical techniques will help you master the craft of the "plant" and the "payoff." She showed us how to hide clues in plain sight, using casual dialogue to hint at the resolution and creating the kind of endings that turn casual readers into loyal fans.
You can access the replay here: https://webinars.indieauthortraining.com/talks/five-foreshadowing-tips-every-author-should-know. Be sure to grab your checklist on the right side of the replay page to ensure your foreshadowing hits every time.
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.
- Earlier this year, the American Booksellers Association and the Independent Publishing Caucus joined forces to launch the Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers. You can read the press release announcing the list here, and find this week’s titles at https://www.indiepubs.org/top40. The list is updated every Thursday.
- AI marketing scams are targeting authors’ inboxes in every corner of the publishing world, including that New York Times writer and memoirist Dan Barry. He explored the threat these fraudulent marketing offers pose earlier this week: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/books/review/publishing-scams.html.
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.
