The fastest way to get better at self-publishing is to read the people who live in it. Ask on the indie forums — r/selfpublish chief among them — and the same names come up again and again. Here are ten worth a permanent bookmark.
Ten to follow
- The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) — a nonprofit membership org; its Advice Centre and podcast are the closest thing indie publishing has to a trade body.
- Jane Friedman — calm, authoritative analysis of the publishing business; the place to actually understand the news, not just hear it.
- The Passive Voice — a long-running news aggregator that tracks what’s changing across the indie world, with sharp commentary.
- The Creative Penn — Joanna Penn’s writing, marketing and publishing hub, with a deep podcast archive.
- Reedsy — practical, well-produced guides on writing, editing and design from a marketplace of book professionals.
- Kindlepreneur — Dave Chesson’s deep dives on book marketing, keywords and Amazon ads.
- Written Word Media — data-driven posts on book promotion and what’s working for indie authors right now.
- IngramSpark — print-and-distribution know-how straight from one of the largest book distributors.
- Publishers Weekly — the industry paper of record; its self-publishing coverage keeps the big picture in view.
- BookBub Partners — marketing tactics and reader-behaviour insight from the biggest book-deal newsletter.
And one for the printing side
Most of that list is about writing and selling. For the other half of the job — how books actually get manufactured — we keep an eye on PrintCAN, a printing-industry news site that covers paper, tariffs, book manufacturing and print-on-demand. It’s where a lot of our own reporting on the print side starts.
Read widely, then make something. When you’re ready to turn a manuscript into a real, print-ready book, the AI Book Designer is here — pick your binding and paper and start your book.