The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLIA) was launched on April 18 at the London Book Fair. According to director Orna Ross, the launch is "the latest indication of how online technologies are radically shifting publishing power structures".

Ross said in a press release "that a self-publisher's organization is launching there [at the London Book Fair], at the heart of the industry, is another sign that we are in the middle of a literary revolution. Self-publishing is now the preferred choice for increasing numbers of writers who find they can make a living from their writing without the need of an agent or publisher".

According the ALLIA website, the global non-profit organization is "committed to being a force for solidarity, mutual respect and active collaboration within the writing, publishing and book-selling sectors. As well as encouraging ethics and excellence in writing, printing, publication and promotion, our aim is to promote, support, advocate for and advance the interests of independent, self-publishing authors".

"Self-publishing writers are currently unrepresented within the literary and publishing industries," Ross said. "[They are] often voiceless, excluded from most other writing organizations on largely spurious grounds, asked to pay for reviews, rarely invited to literary events or conferences".

To counter this problem, ALLIA "hopes to educate the literary and publishing sector about how and why writers go indie, in the hope of fostering mutually beneficial partnerships with distributors, rights agents and indie presses and booksellers", the press release said.

More importantly, "London Book Fair is to be congratulated on being the first major publishing institution to open its doors to the self-publishing writer. That's what we'll be celebrating as we launch the Alliance: that there has never been a better time to be a writer."

For more details about the Alliance of Independent Authors, please visit its website.