The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a UK not-for-profit organisation that collects and distributes secondary royalties to writers. It exists to make sure you’re paid when your work is copied, shared, or used in ways that don’t generate traditional royalties and has been operating since 1977. ‘Secondary uses’ are things like: ·       Scripts being used for broadcasting ·       Use of articles in journals and magazines ·       Lending in libraries overseas ·

There is now a real alternative to Amazon when it comes to reaching new customers with your ebook. Draft2Digital have signed a partnership with Bookshop.org , giving thousands of independent bookstores across the US and UK financial incentives when they give their customers access to self-published ebooks on Bookshop.org ’s platform. To find out more about how Draft2Digital works, click on the image. To make your ebook visible, you will need to upload your manuscript onto the

A quick thought today about New Year’s resolutions related to writing.   Did you make any and have you stuck to them?   Personally, I’m certainly more writing-focused after vowing ‘ to do something connected to writing every day ’. I made very little progress in the second part of last year, and by the time December came, I put it off, like everything else, until after Christmas. But I’m happy to say I’m getting back into a routine again and have found my resolution has broug

As 2025 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the many achievements of our ASPA community this year. MEMBERS The Association of Self-Published Authors remains true to its original promise of being free to all members and ‘ proudly run by self-published authors, for self-published authors’. Today, it has 684 members, all of whom can take advantage of the wide-ranging resources on the website. Click here to learn more. PROSE AND CONS One of the major successes this year ha

If you self-publish your e-books using Amazon KDP, you may have received a notification from them explaining that the policy on Digital Rights Management (DRM) is changing. Here’s a quick summary of what’s happening and how it affects you as an author. What is DRM? DRM on Kindle is a protective technology that restricts how readers can access, copy, or share your e‑book. If you enable DRM when publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), your book can only be read on Ki

During World War 1, Agatha Christie volunteered to be a nurse and spent a lot of time in the hospital dispensary. She later became an apothecary’s assistant, where she handled pills and lotions every day and learned which concoctions were deadly. This training served her well in later life when she wrote her novels; she was able to give her characters access to innocent-looking plants or household chemicals that could be used for fatal consequences.  Her high level of underst