In this episode of the footnotes, Helen ONeill shares her key takeaways from SPS Live 2026, the largest independent author conference in Europe. Here are some speakers whose sessions resonated most:

Tom Donnelly on separating your creative and critical brain when you write

Becca Syme on questioning the writing rules you've always been told to follow

Becca Syme on the eight types of fans and what they mean for your coaching practice

Oriana Leckert on how Kickstarter works and whether it could work for your book

Ricardo Fayet and Sara Usera on using data, not guesswork, to drive your Amazon ad decisions

Sacha Black on building an authorship business with talent, honesty, and grit

Rachel McLean on burnout, simplicity, and deciding what enough actually looks like

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Connect with Helen:

Coach Write Reflections newsletter: https://coachwrite.co.uk/reflections

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oneillhelen/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_write

People and Resources Mentioned

Tom Donnelly https://www.tddonnelly.com/ 

Becca Syme https://betterfasteracademy.com/ 

Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/

Ricardo Fayet https://www.ricardofayet.com/

Sara Usara https://www.booksflyer.com/about

Reedsy https://reedsy.com/

Sacha Black writing as Ruby Roe https://www.rubyroe.co.uk/

Rachel McLean https://rachelmclean.com/