On October 17 and 18, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) hosts SelfPubCon26, its annual Self-Publishing Advice Conference. It’s online, free to register for, and built around a single question: where is indie publishing heading, and what’s working right now? Here’s a plain breakdown of what’s planned, who’s speaking, and how the weekend is structured.
The Basics
Theme: “The Future of Self-Publishing: What’s Working Now & What’s Next.”
Dates: The conference weekend is October 17-18. A live orientation and networking meet-and-greet runs Friday, October 16. An optional Indie Author Lab workshop follows on October 19.
Cost: Registering for the weekend is free. Free access closes before the October 19 workshop. ALLi members get access to the full conference archive in replay, and a separate access pass is available for non-members who want the archive (around 100-plus hours of sessions from past conferences, according to ALLi’s conference manager) plus the workshop.
Format: ALLi moved from a 24-hour marathon to a two-day format last year. Conference manager Kayleigh Brindley says the goal is for attendees to dip in and out without staying up all night, and every session is available in replay.
The Keynote
Jane Friedman opens the conference with a look at current opportunities and business models for authors, including bookstores, subscriptions, and direct-to-reader sales. Brindley describes Friedman as one of publishing’s most respected analysts, and her newsletter, The Bottom Line, is a regular source of industry coverage.
Sessions Across Key Topics
AI, across the whole spectrum. The program is designed with three kinds of attendees in mind: those who avoid AI, those who use it as an assistant, and those who’ve integrated it into their work. The conference isn’t telling anyone to use it or skip it. Nicholas Kotar leads a session on writing for humans in an age of AI and algorithms, while Chelle Honiker covers running an AI-assisted publishing business, focusing on which admin and business tasks are possible while keeping things human.
Marketing. ALLi’s YouTube hosts Ross and Tayo present a session built around ALLi’s guidebook Sell More Books, tracing the indie author’s marketing journey. Penny Sansevieri covers local marketing, which Brindley says is emerging as a significant trend despite being long considered small-scale. ALLi Director Orna Ross presents on the new rules of reader reach, including creativity, community building, and direct selling.
Crowdfunding. Oriana Leckert, head of publishing at Kickstarter, leads a panel on reader-powered publishing, covering new platform tools and campaign trends. Brindley notes that some authors now launch on Kickstarter before anywhere else.
European markets. Michail from PublishMe, an ALLi partner, covers patterns, pitfalls, and practical strategies for entering the German, French, Spanish, and Italian markets.
Building a team. Gatekeeper Press’s Luis Javier and award-winning author Grace Sammon look at industry data on authors who hire help, working through each stage of the author journey from minimal budgets to choosing between building a team and buying a package.
Networking
Because online conferences can feel isolating, this year adds networking breaks. Friday’s orientation opens a moderated text-chat space, framed as the pub the night before a conference. On day one, a networking and goal-setting session runs thirty minutes before the keynote, where attendees can share goals and find accountability partners. Similar breaks are scheduled between sessions. There are also more live sessions than in previous years, with live chat for questions.
The Prize Draw
Everyone who registers is automatically entered. According to Brindley, prizes totaled over $4,000 at the time of the interview and were still growing. The grand prize, a Kobo Clara Colour eReader, is donated by Kobo Writing Life. Other prizes from ALLi partner members include manuscript editorial assessments, new websites, publishing credits, and an audiobook production and distribution package from Canopy Audiobooks, along with service discounts, courses, and awards entries. Winners are announced in late October.
The Indie Author Lab Workshop
On October 19, ALLi members and access-pass holders can join an interactive workshop with Orna Ross, designed to turn conference takeaways into an action plan for their publishing business. It builds on the first Indie Author Lab, held in March alongside the London Book Fair, where attendees asked for more guidance working through the accompanying workbook. A further Indie Author Lab is planned for Author Nation in Las Vegas in November.
Sponsors
Kindle Direct Publishing is a Platinum Sponsor, and IngramSpark is a Gold Sponsor. Gatekeeper Press is a Silver Sponsor, and Damonza Design, Bowker, and Kobo Writing Life are also thanked as supporters.
How to Register
Registration is at selfpublishingadviceconference.com. It takes an email address and a password. The full agenda was expected to be released ahead of the event, so session times may be posted by the time you read this.
Sources:
- ALLi, “SelfPubCon26 – The Future of Self-Publishing: What’s Working Now & What’s Next” (event page), selfpublishingadvice.org/events/selfpubcon26-the-future-of-self-publishing-whats-working-now-whats-next/
- Self-Publishing with ALLi Podcast, “SelfPubCon26 Looks at What’s Working Now and What’s Next,” Howard Lovy with Kayleigh Brindley (September 30, 2026), selfpublishingadvice.org/podcast-selfpubcon26/
- ALLi, “SelfPubCon 2026,” selfpublishingadvice.org/selfpubcon2026/
- ALLi, “Why Sponsor the Self-Publishing Advice Conference?” selfpublishingadvice.org/why-sponsor/