In 2007, Apple released the iPhone and Amazon released the first Kindle. A LOT has changed in the publishing world since then. Technology has shifted reading as well as writing and new companies spring up every day that may disrupt the old order of things. Today I talk to Thad McIlroy about the future of publishing. In the introduction, I talk about what it means to me to be a finalist for the ITW awards in the Best Ebook Original category for Destroyer of Worlds. Plus, the launch of Amazon Cash and what that might impact in terms of global sales. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. Thad McIlroy is a journalist, author, speaker and publishing consultant and he writes about the future of publishing. You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below. Show Notes * What is artificial intelligence? * The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel and how it applies to authors * Should we be branding in a way that teaches algorithms about our books? * Why an author's website matters so much in terms of metadata * Quantum computing and its effect on books and authors * Start-ups, the future of publishing and world markets You can find Thad at TheFutureOfPublishing.com and on Twitter @ThadMcIlroy Transcript of Interview with Thad McIlroy Joanna: Hi everyone. I'm Joanna Penn from thecreativepenn.com, and today I'm back with Thad Mcllroy. Hi, Thad. Thad: Hi, Joanna, how are you? Joanna: I am good. It is so great to have you back on the show. It's been over 18 months since you were on the show in July 2015 and a lot has changed in the future of publishing, hasn't it? Thad: It certainly has. Thank gosh for that, it's very interesting for all of us. Joanna: So we have a lot to talk about, but just a little introduction. Thad is a journalist, author, speaker, and publishing consultant specializing in the future of publishing, and he actually has the website, Future of Publishing, which is just amazing. I mean, such a good URL. We're going to start straight away with publishing and machine learning. We've both read “The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel” by Jodie Archer and Matthew Jockers which came out last year, and you wrote a blog post on it, several actually. What are your thoughts on how publishers are using or will be using machine learning in this kind of bestseller way?