Where Friction Hides in Your Author Business (And When It Might Be Useful), with Orna Ross and Joanna Penn

On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Orna Ross and Joanna Penn explore the concept of friction in the author business — the stuff that stops readers from buying and stops authors from acting. They examine reader friction including decision fatigue, pricing signals, platform fragmentation, and the challenge of buying direct; author friction including tech overload, identity resistance, and fear of judgment; and the counterintuitive idea that some friction — a signed limited edition, a serialized novel released chapter by chapter, a live human conversation — is actually worth keeping, because it creates connection, commitment, and differentiation in an age of one-click AI convenience. Show Notes Bones of the Deep. A Thriller: Kickstarter ALLi's Indie Author Bookstore About the Hosts Joanna Penn writes nonfiction for authors and is an award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F.Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Orna Ross launched the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair in 2012. Her work for ALLi has seen her named as one of The Bookseller's "100 top people in publishing". She also publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and is greatly excited by the democratizing, empowering potential of author-publishing. For more information about Orna, visit her website .

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Where Friction Hides in Your Author Business (And When It Might Be Useful), with Orna Ross and Joanna Penn is an episode from AskAlli: Self-Publishing Advice Podcast by Alliance of Independent Authors.

This episode is 42:31 long.

This episode was published on May 17, 2026.

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