Thanks for staying on top of these recent updates, @Krista Brea . Honestly one of my favorite things in the little time i've being in here is exactly this, your activeness and updates in your community. Generally the engagement in the community always feels real. On Kindle+ itself, my quick take: the audiobook inclusion is big, but what I’m watching closest is the new reporting split between pages read and pages listened. For the first time we’ll actually see which format readers prefer, not just what sells upfront. That data alone could shape how a lot of us plan our next titles. On royalties I’d wait a few months before judging, these pools always behave differently in practice than on paper. Side note while I’m here. I’ve noticed a lot of the authors in this community lean into the children’s book niche (and doing great work with it). Curious to meet folks in other genres, nonfiction, fiction, memoir, self-help, whatever your lane is. If you’re outside the children’s space and still planning to get one or more titles out before the year ends, drop a comment and say what you’re working on. Would love to connect.

I went on vacation and had about a week without internet this past week. Enjoying things like the sunrise pictured. And because I can’t help myself… I finished a draft of a business fable that’s about 13 years in the making. A part of my editing phase is “reading it out loud” to see how the writing flows. Maybe two or so years ago, ElevenLabs released its ElevenReader app. Have you ever used it? You can upload a doc and have it read by voices that sound like Maya Angelou, Burt Reynolds, or just about any other voice you choose. So I put my writing in a doc, uploaded to ElevenReader, and had my fable read to me by “Archer”. It was great to listen to it without reading it myself. It helped me catch a few things that made more sense on water than back on dry land 🤪. Pretty cool experience!

🎧📚Amazon just dropped some BIG news for self-published authors today! 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲+, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻! This is a pretty significant change, especially for authors who have already turned their books into audiobooks or are considering doing so. 🔥 Here's What's Changing:𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲+ Amazon is expanding its subscription program beyond eBooks. Subscribers can now read AND listen to eligible books at no additional cost. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲+ 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 Previously, Kindle Unlimited royalties were based on pages read. Now, eligible audiobook listening activity will also earn royalties based on pages listened to. Amazon says it's adding additional money to the KDP Select Global Fund to support audiobook listening. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗱 If you have an audiobook created with Amazon's Virtual Voice and your eBook is enrolled in KDP Select, your audiobook is automatically included in Kindle+. If you've created audiobooks through ACX, you may also be eligible to enroll them. However, ACX audiobooks must meet certain requirements: Exclusive distribution through Audible Read & Listen (formerly Whispersync for Voice) enabled Pay for Production payment model (Royalty Share titles aren't eligible yet) 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 You'll now be able to see pages read and pages listened to separately in your KDP reports, making it easier to track how customers are consuming your books. 💡 My Thoughts as a Self-Published Author, I think this could be a BIG opportunity for authors, particularly those publishing nonfiction. Audiobooks have been a significant part of my publishing business, and I've seen firsthand how having multiple formats can create additional income streams from the same book. However, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. More listeners could mean more exposure and potentially more revenue, but we still need to see how the new royalty structure performs in practice.

Where Are Your Feet? — a picture book about a young rabbit called Noodle whose head is always somewhere else. Fourteen spreads, thirty-two pages, finished print files ready for KDP. I’ve written three books for adults. This was my first for children and my first time illustrating anything. The workflow, in case it’s useful: I developed the story and the character with Claude — the manuscript, the spread-by-spread structure, the scene descriptions, and a lot of back-and-forth about what the book was actually about. Then Firefly for the character reference images, Noodle and his friend Tilly. Then StorySmile to build the spreads, hold the character consistent, and produce the print files. Each tool doing the thing it’s good at, rather than fighting one of them to do everything. Four things I learned: -The reference image decides everything. I locked in a lovely seated rabbit — and then every spread came back with him sitting down, no matter how clearly I described standing. The tool wasn’t ignoring me; it was faithfully reproducing the character I’d given it. I had to go back to Firefly and build a second reference before the spreads behaved. -Use the edit function, not a regenerate. When a scene is 90% right, editing preserves the character, setting and continuity and changes only what you asked about. I wasted several generations learning that. -The continuity note wants one backward reference. Not three, and not a description of what future spreads will need. “Same kitchen as Spread 3.” That’s it. -The automated checker is a nudge, not a verdict. It flagged my rabbit’s ears as inconsistent on five separate spreads — they were fine every time. It also caught a genuine trim-edge problem I’d have missed. Treat it as a prompt to go and look, and trust your own eyes. And the thing that actually mattered: My opening line was “Noodle has very big feet.” Five attempts later the feet were still ordinary rabbit feet, because a soft watercolor rabbit is a soft watercolor rabbit and the style was never going to caricature.

This is an open invitation to talk about your book. 👉 If you already have a book published, feel free to share about the book. 🔗 Links are OK. 👉 If you're working on a book, share about what you're working on and where you're at in the process.