In this episode of the ALLi Self-Publishing Advice Podcast, Anna Featherstone speaks with Phil Marshall, co-founder of Spoken, about the fast-changing world of audiobook production and how authors can now record audiobooks more affordably with AI assistance. They discuss using AI versions of an author's own voice, as well as creating multi-voice audiobooks. Spoken is a newer ALLi partner member whose platform is designed specifically for authors, offering natural-sounding narration through custom-generated voices and licensed voice clones from human narrators. The conversation explores practical ways authors can bring both new titles and backlist books to life in audio without prohibitive costs.

Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-Publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally.

Sponsor

This podcast is proudly sponsored by Gatekeeper Press — your partner in premium independent publishing. Empowering authors with expert guidance, 100% rights, 100% royalties, and global distribution. From editing to marketing, their all-inclusive services help you publish professionally and confidently. Gatekeeper Press — Where Authors Are Family.

About the Host

Anna Featherstone is ALLi's nonfiction adviser and an author advocate and mentor. A judge of The Australian Business Book Awards and Australian Society of Travel Writers awards, she's also the founder of Bold Authors and presents author marketing and self-publishing workshops for organizations, including Byron Writers Festival. Anna has authored books including how-to and memoirs and her book Look-It's Your Book! about writing, publishing, marketing, and leveraging nonfiction is on the Australian Society of Authors recommended reading list. When she's not being bookish, Anna's into bees, beings, and the big issues of our time.

About the Guest

Phil Marshall is a technologist, former surgeon, entrepreneur, and hard science fiction author. He is the founder and CEO of Spoken, an AI-assisted audiobook platform that helps authors create single-, dual-, and multi-voice audiobooks affordably. His debut novel, Taming the Perilous Skies, explores the implications of his original Theory of Persistence, a speculative physics framework linking quantum mechanics, gravity, and time.

My guest this episode is Joe Walters. He's the founder and editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review, a platform devoted entirely to indie and self-published books. He's spent years working in book marketing for small presses. He recently published The Truth About Book Reviews, a practical guide for indie authors on making sense of reviews and using them well.

Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of 2,000+ blog posts, and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need.

We invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally.

About the Host

Howard Lovy has been a journalist for 40 years and now amplifies the voices of independent author-publishers and works with authors as a developmental editor. Find Howard at howardlovy.com, LinkedIn, and X.

About the Guest

Joe Walters is the founder of Independent Book Review, a platform celebrating the best in indie books. He has worked on the marketing teams of indie presses including Sunbury Press, Paper Raven Books, and Inkwater Press, and is the author of "The Truth About Book Reviews: An Insider's Guide to Getting and Using Reviews to Grow Your Readership". When he's not writing, assigning, or editing reviews in a Pennsylvania Panera Bread, he's playing with his daughters or reading indie books by Kindle light.

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway breaks down two major Amazon stories, including a controversial change to Kindle's DRM policy that will allow DRM-free books to be downloaded as EPUB and PDF files, raising fresh concerns about piracy. He also looks at Audible's new partnership with TikTok to surface trending BookTok titles inside the Audible app, and examines Australia's new ban on social media use for under-sixteens and what it could mean for book discovery, especially in YA and New Adult markets.

Sponsor

Self-Publishing News is proudly sponsored by PublishMe—helping indie authors succeed globally with expert translation, tailored marketing, and publishing support. From first draft to international launch, PublishMe ensures your book reaches readers everywhere. Visit publishme.me.

Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need.

And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally.

About the Host

Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet, and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines, He competed at the National Poetry Slam final at the Royal Albert Hall. His latest collection, The Transparency of Sutures, is available on Kindle.