Kobo Writing Life Podcast

Debut author Jessica Hamilton joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her recently released thriller, What You Never Knew. Jessica talks to us about her journey to publication, how she plots her thriller novels, and what it was like publishing her first book during a pandemic. Learn more about this episode!

We are joined by Kobo's Siobhan Padgett on the podcast this week. Siobhan is the Senior Vendor Manager for the US and Canada, working with hundreds of publishers across both territories, and she talks to us about her role at Kobo, what elements successful titles have in common, and what indie publishers and traditional publishers can learn from one another. Siobhan has worked in the publishing industry for over two decades and she shares what changes she has seen within the industry, where she hopes the industry will go in the future, and she shares some fun insider stories with us. Learn more about this episode!

This week on the podcast we are joined by Lateefah Zawistowski to discuss all things OverDrive. As an account manager for OverDrive, Lateefah gives us the inside look at how OverDrive works, how authors can add and market their books on OverDrive, and how libraries utilize the service. She also shares some advice on pricing your books for libraries, what trends she's currently seeing in library sales, and she discusses the impact of the pandemic on libraries. Learn more about this episode!

This week on the podcast we sit down with Kobo's Content Sales Lead for North America Deandra Lalonde to talk about the new Kobo Staff Picks page and the power of word of mouth marketing. Deandra tells us why she's decided to bring back the Kobo Staff Picks page, what she's learned about the Kobo customer during her time with Kobo, and we discuss what new releases Deandra is excited for and the power of word of mouth marketing, especially when it comes to backlist titles. Learn more about this episode!

Productivity strategist and author Sagan Morrow joins us on the podcast this week. Sagan tells us how she got into productivity strategy and what habits authors can implement to better fit writing into their schedule. She also talks to us about her polyamorous romantic comedy series, Polyamorous Passions, and how she's using the romantic comedy genre to break down common misconceptions about polyamory. Learn more about this episode!

Nina Grinstead, the founder of Valentine PR, joins us on the podcast this week to share how she creates strategic marketing plans for her authors. Nina talks to us about influencer marketing, utilizing different social media platforms, and how she helps her authors reach their career goals. Learn more about this episode!

New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren joins us on the podcast this week. Skye has been an indie author for almost a decade and she tells us how her writing process and marketing strategy has changed throughout her career. Skye is also the founder of the Romance Authors Mastermind and she tells us how RAM came to be and why it is so different from other author conferences. Learn more about this episode!

Liv Albert, host of the popular podcast Let's Talk About Myths, Baby, joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her new book Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook. Liv talks to us about her podcast and how it came into fruition, she tells us what her research and production process is like, and she tells how her podcast led to a book deal and what it was like writing her first book. Learn more about this episode! Check out our audiobook sale here. With so many audiobooks on sale for $9.99 or less, there's something for every kind of listener!

Ricardo Fayet, the head of marketing and one of the founders of Reedsy, joins us on the podcast this week to discuss his book How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market. Ricardo uses his wealth of marketing experience to give advice and share some best practices for finding your target audience, discovering new readers on different retailers, and converting page views to book sales. Learn more about this episode!

Debut author and certified clinical hypnosis practitioner Shauna Cummins joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her book Wishcraft. Shauna has been a hypnotherapist for almost a decade and she talks to us about finding creativity during difficult times, her creative process and the experience of writing her first book, and she shares a simple technique authors can start using today to retrain their mind to register productivity and progress over negativity. Learn more about this episode!

Kobo Writing Life's very own Shayna Krishnasamy joins us on the podcast this week to discuss all things promotions. Shayna is the Author Relations and Promotions Strategist for KWL, and she not only manages our promotions tab, but she also helped create it! Shayna tells us how the promo tab came to be, how authors can best utilize the promos we run, and what authors should do if they're rejected from a promo. Learn more about this episode! If you would like the promotion tab enabled on your KWL dashboard, email us at [email protected].

Author and writing teacher Sacha Black returns to the podcast this week to discuss her book The Anatomy of Prose and crafting fully-realized characters. Sacha talks to us about her experience as an editor and how that's affected her reading habits, and she gives some great insight into creating effective character emotions, embodying your characters' personalities, and creating layered descriptions in your prose. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling paranormal author Steff Green (AKA Steffanie Holmes) joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her writing career and her unique writing process of using Skeleton Drafts. Steff also talks to us about her writing community, Rage Against the Manuscript, revitalizing her blacklist, and what it's like navigating the publishing world as a legally blind author. Learn more about this episode!

We are joined by three editing professionals on the podcast this week: Kristina Stanley, the creator of Fictionary, JoEllen Nordstrom, the founder of First Editing, and Lisa Lepki, head of marketing for ProWritingAid. Kristina, JoEllen, and Lisa walk us through the editing process, from story editing to proofreading, and discuss everything an author needs to know to make their book the best it can be before publishing. They also give some great advice on how to find the right editor for your work, and they discuss the use of AI and technology in the editing process. Learn more about this episode!

New York Times bestselling author Courtney Milan joins us on the podcast this week. Courtney's book The Duke Who Didn't was on New York Times' most notable books of 2020, and she tells us about her writing career, why she loves writing historical romances, and how to build a strong, engaged readership. Courtney is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in publishing, and she talks to us about activism within the romance community, Romancing the Runoff, and what she hopes the future of publishing will bring. Learn more about this episode!

USA Today bestselling romance author Kelly Jamieson talks to us about her newest series with Penguin Random House, Bears Hockey. She also discusses why self care is vital for authors, and why celebrity heroes are so popular among readers! Join the platform that's fast, free and easy. www.kobo.com/writinglife

New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti is on the podcast this week to discuss her writing process and what her experience has been like as a hybrid author. Rebecca talks to us about her decision to try indie publishing and why she chose to self-publish her most recent series, The Anna Albertini Files, she discusses the challenges of juggling multiple publishing contracts as well as her indie publishing schedule, and she gives us some great insight into why so many successful writers have a history of practicing law. Learn more about this episode!

Actress, artist, and writer Irene Tsu joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her debut memoir, A Water Color Dream: The Many Lives of Irene Tsu. Irene tells us about her life and career as an actor, from a child dreaming of becoming a ballerina to becoming one of the first working Asian-American actors in Hollywood, appearing in films alongside legends such as Elvis, Bette Midler, and Jeff Bridges. Irene also talks to us about her writing and publishing experience, the evolution of the film industry throughout her illustrious career, and what she's working on next. Learn more about this episode!

We are kicking off 2021 with a delightful conversation with Kobo's Chief Content Officer Pieter Swinkels. Pieter has worked for Kobo for almost a decade and previously worked as a publisher in the Netherlands, giving him a wealth of experience in the publishing industry which he was kind of enough to share with us. Pieter discusses the differences in publishing in North America and Europe, the evolution of digital publishing and his predictions for the future of the industry, and why he believes Kobo remains so competitive and what he's excited for Kobo to do next. Learn more about this episode!

Author Tara L. Roí joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her career and how she combined her love of writing with her passion for fighting climate change. Tara writes "steamy romance in a heating world", and she talks to us about her path from screenwriter to journalist to romance author, what her writing process looks like and how it has evolved, and how she became passionate about the fight against climate change and how it has influenced her writing. Learn more about this episode!

Brad West, the co-creator Vellum, joins us on the podcast this week to answer our questions about his ePub creating software. Brad tells us how Vellum its start, how the software works, what users can expect from Vellum in the future, and he talks to us about what he's learned during his time as a small business owner. Learn more about this episode!

Author and winner of the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction Zalika Reid-Benta joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her award winning debut title Frying Plantain. Zalika tells us about the book's road to publication, from high school writing project to finished work, she tells us about her writing process and how it has evolved over time, and she gives some great advice for writing natural and organic sounding dialogue. Learn more about this episode!

Librarian Jaclyn Derlatka sits down with Steph and Joni this week to discuss her role as the department head for children's and adult fiction at Whitby Public Library, and how she curates the library's collection. Jaclyn talks to us about using Overdrive and Hoopla to build the digital library, what publishing trends she's noticed recently, and how the pandemic has affected libraries. Learn more about this episode!

Author consultant Kate Tilton joins us on the podcast this week to discuss figuring out your goals as an indie author and what practices to implement in order to reach them. Kate started out in the publishing industry as an author's assistant, and she talks to us about what prompted her to start her own business, why authenticity is key when it comes to social media, and why avoiding burnout as an indie author is so much easier than recovering from it. Learn more about this episode!

Please enjoy this preview of Season 3 of Kobo in Conversation! Eden Robinson joined us to talk about how she outfoxed her inner editor to write the Trickster trilogy -- including Return of the Trickster, coming in 2021 -- and explained why it's a bad idea to follow her on twitter if you enjoy popular TV shows. And we learned how many narrators she tried for the Trickster story before landing at last on Jared. You can subscribe to Kobo in Conversation anywhere you listen. https://www.kobo.com/blog/kobo-in-conversation

Bestselling author Talia Hibbert joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her career, her writing process, and her newest Kobo Original, Wrapped Up in You. Talia writes sexy, diverse romance and she talks about how indie publishing is more accessible for diverse authors. We also discuss how she works from the initial story idea to the finished product and where she thinks indie publishing is going next. Learn more about this episode!

Author and co-host of the Six Figure Authors podcast Lindsay Buroker joins us on the podcast this week. Lindsay has been an indie author for almost a decade and she talks to us about how the industry has changed over that time, where she thinks it's going next, and she tells us about her Patreon and how she utilizes the platform to distribute ARCs and reward her fans. Learn more about this episode!

New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her career and what makes a great crime novel. Karin tells us how she plots both her novels and her long-running series, what her research process is like, and the double standards imposed on female crime writers. Karin also tells us about her non-profit, Save the Libraries, and she gives some great advice for aspiring authors. Learn more about this episode!

Debut author Vanessa Åsell Tsuruga joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her novel Förgätmigej för alltid (Forget-me-not Forever), and how she went about translating her book into English. Vanessa tells us how she found the right translator for her novel, what the translation workflow was like, and how she fits writing into her busy work and home life. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling author Gail Carriger joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her writing career and her new non-fiction book, The Heroine's Journey. Gail started out as a traditionally published author, but once she got a taste of indie publishing she absolutely loved it. Her newest book, The Heroine's Journey, takes a look at the storytelling device by the same name and how it appears throughout the literary canon and pop culture. Gail also talks to us about her writing process, the fate of the publishing industry, and what happened when she stopped running ads for three months. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling mother-daughter author duo, PC Cast and Kristin Cast, join us on the podcast this week. PC and Kristin tell us how they got their start writing and what prompted them to start working together, what their co-writing process looks like and how their individual writing practices differ, and they discuss the evolution of YA as a genre and where they see publishing going next. Learn more about this episode!

Award winning author Brooke Adams Law joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her writing method, embodied writing, which aims to explore emotions and experiences through the physical body. Brooke also talks to us about her MFA experience, and the journey from idea to publication for her award winning debut novel, Catchlight. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling author Susan Stoker joins us on the podcast this week to discuss how she creates her romance series from creating the initial layout on an Excel spreadsheet to deciding which marketing strategies to use when launching a new series or bringing a new audience to an older one. Susan also talks to us about translating her series for a non-English audience and how she's managed to sustain such a successful writing career. Learn more about this episode!

Novelist, poet, and director of the Alliance of Independent Authors Orna Ross joins us on the podcast this week to discuss taking a global approach to your indie publishing business. Orna talks about what business decisions authors should consider and how to get into the right mindset before going global, and she gives us some great advice for new and veteran authors alike. Learn more about this episode!

Internationally bestselling author Laurelin Paige joins us on the podcast this week. Laurelin has a background in musical theatre and marketing, making her an expert in both writing stories and selling them, and she gives us some great advice on how to tackle creating a series, what marketing techniques she has found effective when launching a new series or rebranding an old one, and how to approach your writing career as a business. Learn more about this episode!

Jeff and Jamie from Deyan Audio join us on the podcast this week to discuss all things audiobooks! Jeff and Jamie have a combined 23 years of experience at the award winning production company, and they share their expertise by giving us an insider look at the audiobook production process from casting to quality control and every step in between. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling author and creator of The Indie Author Mindset Adam Croft joins us on the podcast this week. Adam is a huge advocate for publishing wide, and he shares some excellent advice for authors who are considering making the jump from exclusive, and he also shares how indie publishing has changed throughout his career and where he thinks it's going next. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling author Sam Maggs joins us on the podcast this week. Sam has written both fiction and nonfiction books, as well as comics, graphic novels, and video games, and talks to us about how she tackles writing across a variety of mediums, and the difference between writing original works and pitching to write for an already established IP. Sam also discusses what it's like working as a woman in the traditionally male-dominated Nerd World, how gate-keeping and diversity in Geek Culture and publishing have changed over the past few years, and how she has utilized social media to build both her career and a community of her peers. Learn more about this episode!

Author and founder of Izzard Ink Tim McConnehey joins us on the podcast this week. Tim has spent almost a decade working with indie authors and connecting them to publishing professionals, making him an expert in the collaborative nature of the publishing industry. Tim talks to us about why authors should hire professionals to help their work succeed and how authors can find the right publishing pro for their book.

Melissa Dalton Martinez, a veteran marketing and PR manager and the host of The Book Break, joins us on the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of book reviews and author branding. Melissa explains the process behind paid book reviews, when and how authors should use these reviews, and how to create a cohesive author brand. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling author Nick Thacker joins us on the podcast this week to discuss utilizing street team marketing to grow your readership. Nick explains how to use your mailing list to find beta readers, get honest feedback about your work, and learn more about your target audience and what they're looking for in their next read. Learn more about this episode!

Author Megan Angelo joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her debut novel Followers. Megan tells us what inspired the story of Followers, how she created the fictional not-too-distant future of 2051 and grounded it in reality, and how her previous work as a journalist helped her craft the social-media-obsessed world within her book. Learn more about this episode

Kobo Plus, our all-you-can-read subscription service, launched in Canada last week, so we asked the director of Kobo Plus and Publisher Relations, Erik Rigters, to join us on the podcast to help answer the big questions surrounding the launch. Using the data we've seen from Kobo Plus in the Netherlands, Erik explains how Kobo Plus can benefit authors, how it can help boost your backlist, and why you should consider enrolling your books! Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling author and writing coach Allison Fallon is on the podcast this week. As the published author of thirteen books and the founder of the writing community Find Your Voice, Alison brings her depth of knowledge to our conversation as she shares some tips and best practices for navigating the publishing industry, writing honest nonfiction, and utilizing science to successfully make writing a part of your routine.

Veteran Publicist, social media pro, and brand manager Dana Kaye joins us on the podcast this week to discuss all things marketing, publicity, and branding. Dana gives us some great advice on striking a balance between PR and marketing, pitching yourself and your books to media outlets, and identifying and establishing your unique author brand.

Mystery novelist Paul Austin Ardoin joins us on the podcast this week. After spending eight years writing the first few chapters of his novel, Paul signed up for NaNoWriMo, finished writing his debut in a matter of weeks, and the rest is history! Paul talks to us about kick starting his writing career through NaNoWriMo, how his writing process has changed throughout his career, and why he decided to self-publish and go wide.

Bestselling author and publisher Kevin J. Anderson joins us on this podcast this week to discuss his illustrious thirty year writing career and how the world of publishing has evolved, and continues to evolve, throughout. Kevin publishes both traditionally and with his own indie press, WordFire Press, he is an instructor at Superstars Writing Seminar, and he teaches a Masters in Publishing course at Western Colorado University, giving him unique and diverse insight into the world of publishing.

Please enjoy this special bonus episode from Kobo in Conversation! We spoke with thriller writer (and former newspaper columnist and humourist) Linwood Barclay about the myth of writer's block and the discipline required to rein in his comic gifts. Hear more from Kobo in Conversation.

Kobo's CRM and Marketing Manager, Cristina Mendes, joins us for our 200th episode to give insight into the Kobo customer and how to effectively market your eBooks and audiobooks globally! Cristina covers a lot of ground in our conversation, including advice for selling on an international scale, the difference between Kobo's eBook and audiobook customers, marketing tips for when you're on a budget, and what makes Kobo (and our customers) unique!

Kobo's Global Audiobook Merchandiser, Elyse Daniels, is on the podcast this week discussing all things audio. Elyse tells us the ins and outs of selling audiobooks on Kobo, including what genres do especially well as audiobooks, how she curates audiobook promotions and emails, what types of promotions are the most successful for audiobooks, and she gives some great tips for how to competitively price your audiobook for Kobo's market.