Posted by Maleeha Mir on 17 March 2025, in Event reports, News

Photos by Maleeha Mir, Words by Chris Russell

You can listen to an audio recording of this event via this link.

Byte The Book’s first in-person event of 2025 took place amid the lively cut and thrust of the London Book Fair, a key annual marketplace for rights negotiation and international deals. Byte’s Justine Solomons led a discussion on how authors can capitalise on the growth of eBooks and audio, and was joined by Kris Dyer, co-founder of Rakkit Productions Ltd, Dominique Raccah, founder and CEO of Sourcebooks and prolific romance author L. Steele. 

Our panel from left to right: Dominique Raccah, Justine Solomons, Kris Dyer and L. Steele.

Justine opened the floor by asking the panellists for their current diagnosis of the eBook and audio markets. “Audio is a huge new technology,” began Kris, whose company, Rakkit Productions, own two audiobook studios in central London and are a registered supplier to the BBC. “And it’s the tech itself that’s driving the revolution. You see it on the tube – everyone has ear buds in – and while many people don’t read books, almost everyone has a smartphone”. He added that audio is appealing partly because people want a break from their screens, and Dominique agreed. “Audio is expanding readership because people can multitask with audiobooks,” she reflected, touching on how, as a format, audio feels uniquely suited to the frenetic pace of modern life. “It’s very difficult to multitask while reading a hardback”.

L.Steele detailing her journey as a prolific author and how she found ways to engage with her readers and build an online community. 

One of the most significant benefits of digital formats is the access they provide to an ongoing stream of customer data. Independent author L. Steele, who has written fifty books in just thirteen years and appears regularly on Amazon bestseller lists, outlined how she constantly tracks her sales data and uses the feedback to inform her writing. “There’s almost too much information out there now,” she commented, “so when I started, I realised I had to seek out what works for me. That’s how I found ReaderLinks, an app which takes my Amazon sales reports and breaks them down by country, format, title, series and so on”. Laxmi then uses this data to determine what she should write next, based on reader responses. “Data might seem impersonal, but I try to personalise it. It’s just feedback from my customers, at the end of the day – and when I see what’s selling well, I write more of that”.

Dominique Raccah shares her incredible insights into how writers and publishers can use data within publishing.

When asked about the importance of data to her business, the market-leading independent publisher Sourcebooks, Dominique was unequivocal: “It’s one hundred per cent important,” she said, mirroring Laxmi’s response. “Data drives marketing. We have eight different marketing teams, and every employee has access to our metrics. I’m a statistician by background, and we aim to put data together in ways that are unconventional … and, most importantly, that truly help authors”.

Kris Dyer discusses the challenges and changes he has seen in the audiobook industry and how authors can make the most of these developments. 

So what can we expect, in the future, from the eBook and audio sectors? AI, of course, is already having an impact, and Kris revealed that his company are piloting a system with software developer ElevenLabs that allows an author to record just the first two hours of their audiobook before handing the baton to an AI engine, which samples their voice to complete the project. The technology is in its infancy, he noted, but the progress arc is steep. And while some audience members expressed concern about the influence of AI in an industry that has traditionally relied on human creativity, Kris was quick to point out that, for now, at least, consumers still place a premium on the real thing. He offered up the music business as a comparison, noting that the live scene has boomed in the last decade, precisely because it’s the hardest sector of the industry to replace purely with technology.

Our audience asking the speakers for bespoke advice after the panel. 

Politics entered the discussion, too, with Dominique asserting that people have a unique need for escapism at the present moment, given the state of global affairs. “The world is imperfect right now,” she said, euphemistically, “and people want escape. They want fantasy, spicy romance, horror, thrillers. They want to be someplace else”. Laxmi echoed this idea, concluding that, when all is said and done, publishing is about readers. “Until you get a book out there,” she said, “you won’t know what it means to people. It’s difficult, and challenging, and releasing that first book is scary … but you’ve just got to do it. For me, my readers are the most important people in the world”.

Thank you to London Book Fair for hosting us at Author HQ.

You can see more photos from our LBF 2025 event here!

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