The Week That Changed Indie Publishing: KDP Royalties, Book Pirates and AI Audio Theft

Amazon KDP just made its biggest royalty change in nearly 20 years, expanding the 70% royalty rate to books priced at $12.99—and every indie author should know what it means. This week on Author Update, Bryan Canter and Jonathan Shuerger break down the KDP pricing changes, the online battle over book piracy, AI-generated audiobook piracy on Spotify, the EU's controversial Chat Control legislation, Microsoft's massive Xbox layoffs, and the latest K-lytics Science Fiction & Fantasy market report revealing where authors have the best opportunities to succeed in 2026. If you're serious about writing, publishing, and growing your author business, subscribe and join us every Friday for the publishing news that actually impacts your career. Times: 0:00 — Intro 1:58 — Book Pirates Strike Again (piracy debate) 10:12 — AI Pirates Hijack Indie Author's Book on Spotify 16:18 — KDP Boosts E-book Royalties to $12.99 20:58 — Xbox Cuts 3,200 Jobs (storytelling collapse) 26:44 — EU Parliament Revives Chat Control 1.0 35:08 — Sci-Fi/Fantasy K-lytics Market Report 62:15 — Military Culture & Storytelling Discussion Bryan's Author Consulting: https://www.mywordpublishing.com/our-... Support us on Patreon:   / novelmarketing   Patron Toolbox (Author AI Tools): https://www.authormedia.com/patron-to... Novel Marketing Channel:    / @novel-marketing   Author Arsenal Channel:    / @author-arsenal   Join the AuthorMedia.social Community: https://authormedia.social/feed