Shows / Self Publishing Insiders
Self Publishing Insiders
Brought to you from the indie author experts at Draft2Digital! Each week, Self Publishing Insiders features an interview with a new guest, covering self-publishing topics from writing and craft to marketing and promoting your books, and anything that can help you build and grow your author career. Learn about new tools, new software, new markets—and of course, all the inside information that D2D can provide! This show features interviews taken from our live D2D Spotlight, available on YouTube…
Episodes
- Self Publishing Insiders
300th Episodes of SPI! Ask Us Anything!
The Draft2Digital Team is here to answer author questions about D2D, publishing, and best author practices! //Draft2Digital is where you grow your Indie Author…
- Self Publishing Insiders
The Self-Publishing Blueprint
Daniel Willcocks is an international bestselling author, a podcaster, an international speaker, and a coach who has helped dozens of authors turn their…
- Self Publishing Insiders
So You Injured Your Character. What Now?
M.T. Zimny is a young adult author in the Pacific Northwest, putting her knowledge of human physiology to use in her fantasy novels. M.T. enhances her larger…
- Self Publishing Insiders
First Draft Fall: Your New Writing Challenge
Dianna Gunn decided she wanted to be a writer at eight years old. Her writing accelerated when she participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time and unlocked…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Setting Up an Author Newsletter
In the current attention economy, it's important to be on your readers' radars. Keeping in touch with your readers by offering them content between releases…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Author Training in the Age of AI
Publisher of Indie Author Magazine and Founder of Indie Author Training, Chelle Honiker's a passionate advocate for the success of Indie Authors. She's taking…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Developing Iconic Character Dynamics
Claire Taylor is a humor and mystery author and the mind behind The Liberated Writer. As a certified Enneagram practitioner and a long-time editor and story…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Earning Five Figures as a Debut Author — Without KU!
Ashli O’Connell is the author of the historical novel Emmaline. As a debut author, she earned five figures of royalties in ten weeks— all without having her…
- Self Publishing Insiders
YouTube for Authors with Dale L. Roberts
Dale L. Roberts is an accomplished indie author and host of Self-Publishing with Dale on YouTube. His specialties include book publishing, video production…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Serialization Before Publication: Building an Author-Reader Journey
Before a novel hits shelves, some authors are inviting readers into the process—one chapter at a time. This episode explores pre-publication serialization with…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Ask Us Anything: Mythbusting Author Questions
Tara from Author Support joins the D2D Team to answer author questions and bust common myths about publishing with Draft2Digital. //Draft2Digital is where you…
- Self Publishing Insiders
AI Narration vs. Human Narration
In this episode, we delve into new data from Edison Research that found U.S. fiction audiobook listeners prefer Spoken’s multi-cast AI narration to that of…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Outlining for Novelists Who Don't Outline
Sometimes discovery writing leads to dead ends, character inconsistency, or stories that wander off track. USA TODAY Bestselling Author Paul Austin Ardoin…
- Self Publishing Insiders
The Author Nation Community
Author Nation is the world’s largest indie author conference, built around a simple belief: successful authors are built through community, strategy, and…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Substack for Indie Authors
Substack for indie authors: where to start, what to post, and how to grow. Sinem Günel of Write • Build • Scale joins the D2D Self Publishing Insiders podcast…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Ask Us Anything: The Smashwords Sale
The Draft2Digital team discusses the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale and how authors can get the most out of our Smashwords Sales as marketing opportunities…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Pivoting Your Career: Finding What Works for You
Tikiri Herath is the award-winning author who went from working in federal intelligence to writing her own worlds of suspenseful thrillers. Changing careers…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Connecting with Fans: Building the Author - Reader Relationship
Amy Award is a spicy romance author who believes that all bodies are beautiful and deserve their own love stories with Happy Ever Afters. This week, she joins…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Get to Know Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America® (RWA) has a long history of advancing the common interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by…
- Self Publishing Insiders
3 Areas Where Authors Should Focus
NYT Bestselling Author Alessandra Torre and co-founder of Inkers Con joins us to discuss opportunities authors should be considering in 2026. In this episode…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Optimizing for Joy and Making Money Doing It
As authors, we strive for success, but without the right mindset, it can be impossible to build a sustainable author career. Russell Nohelty of Hapitalist…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Ask Us Anything: Marketing, Merchandising, and Author Success
Lexi, Nick, and Mark from the Draft2Digital Team is here to answer author questions about publishing, best practices, and distributing your books with…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Scammers are Coming for You!
Scams targeting authors are nothing new. Yet scammers using AI tools are driving a level of volume, and sophistication, never seen. In this episode, Dale…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Writers of the Future: The Value of Short Stories, Sci-Fi, and Community
Emily Goodwin is the VP of Public Affairs for Author Services, Inc and runs Galaxy Press. For the past 40 years, their Writers of the Future program has…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Writing Fear: How Inner Conflict Crafts Compelling Characters
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and best-selling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and other resources for writers. Becca joins us to…
- Self Publishing Insiders
The Importance of Print-On-Demand
Jo Wildsmith helps authors turn their manuscripts into something truly exceptional - polished, professional, and ready to make an impact - using print on…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Mastery Through Missteps: Demystifying the Quit the Day Job Dream
Matilda Swift and Sam Cummings of the Pen to Paycheck podcast work together as mastermind partners to achieve the "how to quit my day job" dream. You'll hear…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Indie Bookstore Day with Bookshop.org!
Indie Bookstore Day was April 25th. In this episode we sit down with Ami Greko of Bookshop.org to understand how authors help celebrate the day by encouraging…
- Self Publishing Insiders
How to Build Your Author Business with Support
Kate Tilton has been helping authors since 2010 as a business manager and publishing consultant. She has worked with bestsellers and new authors, supporting…
- Self Publishing Insiders
How Translation Helps Indies Expand into New Markets
Skye B. MacKinnon has lived in various countries before settling in Scotland, so she has a unique international perspective on publishing. In this episode Skye…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Ask Us Anything: Insights from Author Support
Tara has led the Draft2Digital Support Team since the early days of D2D. This week, she joins the Self Publishing Insiders team to answer author questions. In…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Structuring Your Series Before You Start Writing
In this week’s episode we discuss how to structure a series before you start writing. Our guide on this journey is Kristina Stanley, bestselling author and CEO…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Graduate-Level Publishing Lessons with Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is a #1 international bestselling author best known for his traditional publishing in the Dune and Star Wars universes, and he has also been…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Automating TikToks that Drive Readers to Your Book
Marvin brings over 10 years of experience in book publishing and growth marketing. Now, with his new company AuthorScale, he and his team are developing…
- Self Publishing Insiders
LitRPGs and Building Your Publishing Team
Aaron Renfroe is an author and the owner and operator of Pivot Press. Pivot Press is an organization built to optimize publishing books and audio in the LitRPG…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Building Your Author Brand: Share Your Books with the World
Former publicist to the stars, Isabelle Knight is the founder of Build Your Author Brand, an online consultancy helping fiction and non-fiction authors…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Jane Friedman's 2025 Retrospective & 2026 Publishing Predictions
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Reflecting on 2025 and Looking Ahead to 2026 with D2D CEO Kris Austin
D2D's CEO Kris Austin joins the D2D team to reflect on our 2025 and another year in publishing, and to look ahead to what is on the horizon in 2026…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Connecting Indie Authors with Indie Bookstores with Bookshops.org
It's official! Draft2Digital and Bookshop.org have announced our partnership to bring indie ebooks to Bookshop.org! Join us as we talk to Bookshop.org. CEO…
- Self Publishing Insiders
2025 Indie Author Income Survey
Orna Ross is co-founder and director of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and a passionate advocate for self-publishing and author empowerment. Her…
- Self Publishing Insiders
IBPA Boot Camp for Author Publishers
Lee Wind joins us to talk about the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) Boot Camp for Author Publishers, and how to bring all the pieces together…
- Self Publishing Insiders
10 Tips for Setting Realistic 2026 Writing Goals
Welcome to 2026! Each new year brings the opportunity to begin anew, yet that can be daunting. Rather than start the new writing year feeling overwhelmed out…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Unputdownable - Finding the Right Editor for Your Book
Autumn A. Arnett joins us to talk about the EFA and what you should keep in mind when looking for the right editor for your book. The Editorial Freelancers…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Hollywood Secrets: Incredible Characters, Deep Stories, and Super Drafts
Thomas Dean Donnelly has been a professional screenwriter for over 30 years. In that time he has written on major projects, from Voltron to Uncharted, and from…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Highlights from Self Publishing Insiders 2025
This special Christmas Day 2025 episode is a pre-recorded one with Mark Leslie Lefebvre who introduces a series of clips that highlight just 14 of the amazing…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Book Discovery in the AI Search Landscape
The way readers search for their next book is changing dramatically. With Google's generative search and Amazon’s upcoming AI-driven recommendation engine…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Virtual Beta Readers with Plottr
Cameron Sutter is a sci-fi/fantasy author and the inventor of Plottr – the popular visual story planning software. As a friend of the show, he joins us again…
- Self Publishing Insiders
What to Quit, What to Keep, and What to Question in a New Age of Publishing
Becca Syme, founder of the Better-Faster Academy and Host of The Quitcast, joins us to talk about what habits and practices we need to focus on in this brand…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Novel 90: The 90 Day Writing Challenge!
Bekah Brinkmeier is a USA Today bestselling author and ghostwriter of more than 90 novels. She works with AutoCrit as an instructor and author coach, leading…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Book Reviews with Book Award Pro
Hannah Jacobson is the founder of Book Award Pro, the industry-trusted platform for getting reviews and awards. The company operates the world's largest…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Strategies for ADHD Writers
Nicole Bross is a certified book coach, editor, and the author of A Novel Approach: Strategies for ADHD Writers, a writing guide for neurodiverse authors whose…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Libraries - Missed Opportunities for Authors
Award-winning Detroit Author & Founder of Motown Writers, Sylvia Hubbard has independently published over 65 romance suspense books over 25 years. Sylvia joins…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Freedom to Publish, Freedom to Read
Banned Books Week spotlights stories that some try to erase—but indie publishing ensures your voice is never silenced. In this episode we’ll explore how the…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Multi-Voice Stories with Spoken
Phil Marshall is a technologist, entrepreneur, and storyteller who thrives at the intersection of imagination and execution. He is the founder and CEO of…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Elevating Black Romance Authors
Lauren Lacey is a Southern storyteller who crafts heartfelt romances filled with the complexities of love and resilience. Her writing, often set in small…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Indie Culture and Author Nation
What fuels indie author success beyond the page? In this conversation with Joe Solari of Author Nation, we explore how connection, insight and inspiration…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Lessons Learned: A Decade of Indie Publishing
M.K. Williams is the author of multiple science fiction books, short stories, and self-publishing guides. A truly all-American author, she has lived and worked…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Catching Up with Dale Roberts
In this episode, Jim and Mark sit down with Dale L. Roberts, the voice behind the hugely popular Self Publishing with Dale YouTube channel. Dale has helped…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Finding Success After Rejection with Ang T. Dalton
Debut romantasy author Ang T. Dalton joins us to share the inspiring story behind The Scars Within—a novel born from resilience, mental health struggles, and…
- Self Publishing Insiders
Ask Draft2Digital Anything for Fall 2025
The D2D Team is back again, answering author questions! Jim, Nick, and Tara talk about publishing and the questions your fellow authors have about…