Author Nation 2025 Recap
For the past five years, I've gone to perhaps the largest conference for self-published authors. I wanted to go in 2019, but I didn't think I was ready. I went in 2021, and quickly learned that nobody is ever ready for their first conference. It was 20Books Vegas run by Craig Martelle, but Joe Solari took over in 2024 as Author Nations.
The best part of Author Nation? The authors I've met who became friends. I'm not sure if they are "help hide the body" friends, but we've grown close enough to start an accountability group for 2026. We are the Pink Flamingo Universe; a cheeky idea where each of us has to include a scene in one of our novels where the pink flamingo is the milieu's apex predator. You'll see this in action in Strand: Redemption. I hope you'll soon see me mentioning their new releases here. Thanks to James, Frank, Greg and the others I met. And, of course, to my dear friend (and my wife's childhood friend) Sandy Malone.
As with other creator conferences, much time was spent discussing ethical uses of AI, the impending career doom some expect, and the golden age others predict. Perhaps this does not differ from the Kindle launch that kicked off nearly 20 years of self-published authored novels.
There were those authors who swore, "Never AI." Joanna Penn is all in on AI, discussing 21 use cases. She looks forward to the time when she, as a reader, can replace the author's chosen voice so she can stop listening to "American male narrators."
This reminded me of CleanFlicks of Colorado v. Soderbergh (2006), where courts ruled that editing DVDs to remove objectionable content violated copyright by creating unauthorized derivative works. Swapping narrator voices raises a similar question: does the reader's preference override the author's creative choice? Just because technology enables something doesn't make it right. That a fellow author encouraged it, and others cheered her on, troubles me.
I worry we'll use AI to hear only what we want to hear; becoming either Pygmalion (falling in love with our creation) or Narcissus (reflecting only ourselves back). As Bob Geldof said, "it's the freedom of ideas that makes men civilized." We don't need AI-backed echo chambers.
I wrote about the AI Rapids Scale before, and I shared it with some authors. Authors who understand the risk and who have the skill will survive. The rest will drown in undifferentiated AI content. I use AI to help develop structure, but I write and revise everything myself.
What I loved about Author Nation this year, and last, is how Joe leaned into the ability for authors to fellowship. Longer breaks between sessions gave me a chance to meet new authors. There are some big names in publishing who were there, and who I've gotten to know, who are so down to earth. The conference isn't about ego. Big-name authors spoke freely with newcomers as peers.
Vendors... some I love. ProWritingAid being among them. I got to know BookVault a bit more, which helped dispel some of my concerns. Several companies are leaning into AI. Some lean into authors' fears of marketing by offering ready-made solutions. That made me think of David Heinemeier Hansson's (DHH) 2024 Rails World talk (video) about vendors cultivating unreasonable fear in areas where professionals should have expertise.
A writer writes stories. An author engages with their readers to build a community. You can't outsource that; and it's a skill we all have to master to be "authors." Several rushed in to fill the November novel writing month void made by NaNoWriMo's implosion, which is a cautionary tale about building a community.
Beyond fellowship and AI debates, did I bring home any practical skills?
I picked up a few tips for recording my own audiobooks. I'm reminded that a blind friend of mine said, "Don't do that." But I think it's worth exploring. With over 85 percent of authors relying on Amazon and more on Audible, my natural rebellious streak made me think about going wide or self-selling. I learned specific tactics of how to find new readers and how to build a community. Let's see how that pans out in 2026.
My biggest takeaways came from Diana Xarissa, who is a prolific writer. She discussed tactics that help her be productive without burnout. And it's paper-based. While many of her techniques (how) didn't land, the tactics (what) did. Thank you, Diana, if you read this.
You know Joe did a wonderful job when you eagerly await the one next year. Joe promised to mail us postcards(!) we wrote to ourselves. In 2021, I set some big, hairy goals. In six months, I'll be reminded of the ones I set for 2026.