Kobo Writing Life Podcast

How a virtual assistant can transform your publishing business and create more time for what you love most: writing. Veteran VA to superstar authors and CMO of Book+Main, Melissa Saneholtz, tells listeners how she got her start as an author virtual assistant and what a VA can do for an author, and how to find one that's right for you. Start self-publishing today with KWL. Join the platform that's fast, free, easy. www.kobo.com/writinglife

Empower more people to read your books. This behind-the-scenes at Kobo episode features Senior QA Analyst Wendy Reid, talking about the importance of EPUB accessibility, and specific features you can include in your eBooks to make them more accessible. Wendy also discusses her role in launching audiobooks for Kobo and how specifications for audiobooks do not exist (yet). Start self-publishing today with KWL. Join the platform that's fast, free, easy. www.kobo.com/writinglife

In this episode we bring you a Kobo in Conversation with author Ben Macintyre about his latest book, The Spy and the Traitor. Ben was interviewed by the Globe and Mail's Doug Saunders where they discuss the spy Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War.

In this episode, Cristina sits down with author and podcast producer Amanda Cupido to talk about her book Let's Talk Podcasting: The Essential Guide to Doing it Right. Amanda talks about how she got into podcasts, the difference between podcasts and older media such as radio, and she discusses the underrepresented voices in the podcasting community. Amanda also shares her tips for starting your own podcast and the most common roadblock aspiring podcasters encounter.

In this episode, Rene sits down with the cast and crew of the recent film The House with a Clock in its Walls to learn about their experience working on the movie and their favourite books. Rene chats to director Eli Roth about his experience directing a fantasy/horror movie geared towards a family audience, actor Owen Vaccaro about working with successful actors Cate Blanchett and Jack Black and music composer Nathan Barr, about incorporating old school horror-flick sounds into the movie's score. Start self-publishing today with KWL. Join the platform that's fast, free, easy. www.kobo.com/writinglife

In this episode, Chrissy chats to Ricci Wolman the founder and CEO of Written Word Media. Ricci talks about why she created Written Word Media, the services she offers authors and she tells listeners about her newest site, Reading Stacks. Ricci discusses the different types of information they are able to gather from their readers and how authors can use this information for promotional opportunities. Ricci also reflects on the marketing changes that have occurred in 2018.

In this episode, Steph and Laura chat to author Signe Pike about her novel The Lost Queen. Signe talks to us about her time as an acquisitions editor, her top tips for writers struggling to write their first draft and the challenges writing non-fiction versus fiction. Signe discusses her inspiration behind The Lost Queen, the research that went into the novel and the process of selling her television rights. Signe also gives listeners a hint about what to expect in the second book of her series.

In this episode, Steph and Mickie sit down with Damon and Nicola from pop gospel band, Bishop Blue. Bishop Blue, also known as Novel Songwriters, create original music for authors. They tell our listeners about the creative process behind bringing a story to life through music, how they got their start creating music for authors and why commissioning a song might be the right choice for you.

In this week's episode, Rene sits down with Professor Dr. Lee Airton to talk about Airton's new book, Gender: Your Guide: A Gender-Friendly Primer on What to Know, What to Say, and What to Do in the New Gender Culture. Dr. Airton talks about their wish to expand the conversation around the ways gender doesn't work for people who are transgender, the difference between transgender and transgendered, and that it is okay to make mistakes as we learn to navigate and use new terminology around gender identity!

International bestseller Adam Croft explains the mindset shift that transformed his publishing from side hobby to full-time dream job. He gives specific advice for succeeding "wide," increasing your global reach, and his latest nonfiction book, The Indie Author Mindset.

In this episode, author Sarah Winman drops by Kobo's headquarters in Toronto to talk to Chrissy about her latest release, Tin Man. Sarah talks to us about the inspiration behind her novel, why it took her ten years to write the book and she also discusses the significance of the title of the novel.

In this episode, Stephanie and Marina sit down with New York Times best-selling author Courtney Summers. We talk to Courtney about her new novel Sadie and her inspiration for including a podcast in her narrative. Courtney also discusses murder podcasts that inspired her and gives advice to new writers. We also discuss some of our favourite tv shows and movies of the summer. SPOILER WARNING! There are some Sadie spoilers in this episode.

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Eve Langlais. Eve talks to us about being a hybrid author, why she loves writing romance novels and how she balances being creative while simultaneously working on the business side of publishing. Eve also chats about why she created the conference Romancing the Capital and gives tips for authors and readers nervous about attending their first conference.

In this episode, Stephanie and Laura sit down with New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shayla Black. Shayla chats to us about celebrating 20 years in publishing, how she got her start in indie publishing and how she manages to balance the business side of writing. Shayla also talks about staying authentic online and why being true to yourself is the most important aspect of social media.

This episode was recorded live at our first-ever indie author library night at Kobo HQ. Chrissy Munroe interviewed Maria Cipriano and Beth Godlewski from Toronto Public Library to discuss how they curate the library catalogue and give advice on best practices for indie authors.

In this episode, Chrissy chats with Kobo's VP of Product and Devices, Ramesh Mantha, to learn all about Kobo's newest eReader Forma. Ramesh gives listeners a peek into the work that goes into creating new devices at Kobo. He talks about the features of Forma, specifically the focus on physical comfort, and the readings stats that influenced the design of Forma. Ramesh also talks about digital reading and how print and eBooks fit in the reading landscape today.

In this episode, we sit down with the European Manager of Kobo Writing Life, Camille Mofidi. Camille shares her thoughts on why authors should go global, the questions they need to ask themselves before going global and why they should consider translations. She also gives listeners tips on translations, metadata, pricing, countries they should consider publishing to and how authors can reach these potential new markets.

In this week's episode, Chrissy sits down with Australian author Sasha Cottman. Sasha talks to us about her first-year being independently published, how she is able to balance paying her bills and having fun writing, and where she looks for inspiration and knowledge about indie publishing. She also talks to us about where she finds inspiration for her historical romance novels and where Australia fits in the indie publishing landscape.

In this week's episode we bring you not one but two interviews! First, Rene d'Entremont, the director of PR here at Kobo, sits down with New York Times best-selling author Lauren Weisberger. Rene asks her about her new book When Life Gives You Lululemons and discusses her writing process. Secondly, Stephanie sits down with aspiring author Mackenzie Belcastro. Mackenzie tells listeners how she stays motivated as she learns her writing style, how she connects with other aspiring writers and how she manages to write full-time without having a 9 to 5 job.

In this episode Chrissy interviews award-winning and bestselling author, Kevin Tumlinson. Kevin talks to us about overcoming the stigma of self-publishing and how marketing sophistication and budgets have increased over the last ten years. He gives listeners his top tips for aspiring and established authors. Kevin also chats to us about his own podcast the Wordslinger Podcast and how he started working with Draft2Digital.

Join Steph and Joni as they sit down with Sean Pratt, an audiobook narrator who has recorded over 975 audiobooks. Sean chats to us about his experience being a narrator for 23 years and the physical and mental work that goes into producing an audiobook. Sean outlines how authors can create an audiobook themselves and the services he offers as a coach for authors wanting to narrate their own work. Sean also speculates on why audiobooks have exploded in popularity in the last couple years.

In this episode, Chrissy chats with authors Rachael Herron and J. Thorn from the Writer's Well podcast (formerly The Petal to the Medal podcast). Rachael and J. discuss their writing and revision processes and how they got into self-publishing. J. talks to us about the conception for his Author on a Train event and why he loves to collaborate. Rachael and J. also give us tips on battling self-doubt and how to stay motivated when you are 30 revisions deep on a title.

In this episode, Chrissy chats to Scott Bintz, the founder of RealTruck.com, a 100-million-dollar e-commerce store from North Dakota. Recently, Scott became a rookie author publishing his first book Principles to Fortune: Crafting a Culture to Massively Grow a Business. He discusses his guiding principles in the workplace and how these fundamental values led to his success today. He also explains how these core values can be adapted by anyone, anywhere.

Join Chrissy as she sits down with EPUB experts Simon Collinson and Ben Dugas from Kobo. They teach us everything we need to know about eBook files. They explain the different types of EPUB files, the tools available to authors to make their own EPUBs and common errors to watch out when creating your own file. The also discuss the future of eBooks and accessibility.

In this episode, Chrissy and Stephanie chat with #1 New York Times best-selling author, Lauren Blakely. Lauren talks about her tips and tricks for marketing, her philosophy on writing and why it is important to be authentic on social media. She also examines a mistake she believes to have made with her publishing schedule last year. Lauren also gives listeners some great recommendations for readers curious about the romance genre.

In this episode, Chrissy and Steph sit down with Adam Sockel and Jill Grunenwald from Overdrive. They give us the low-down on all things Overdrive: what their roles are within the company, what is their favourite part about working at Overdrive, and share ways authors can reach librarians and library readers. They also talk about their own podcast, Professional Book Nerds, and gives us some great recommendations to add to your summer reading list.

Join Chrissy and Stephanie as they sit down with Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant, the masterminds behind Sterling & Stone. They discuss what goes on behind the scenes running Sterling & Stone, the top conversion elements every author should know, and why they decide to keep publishing wide. They also talk about their Smarter Artist Summit.

In this episode, Stephanie and Joni interview author Katja Meier about her memoir Across the Big Blue Sea. Katja discusses her inspiration for writing a memoir and why she ultimately decided to self-publish her book. She also talks about the power of social media and the problems she encountered using Instagram to promote her work.

Actress, producer, TV host, business owner and newly minted author Vivica Fox sits down with Rene at Kobo HQ in Toronto to talk about her new memoir, Every Day I'm Hustling

In this episode, Stephanie and Cristina sit down with Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Sarah is a writer, blogger and podcaster and chats to us about running her successful romance book blog and podcast. She delves into the workshops she runs on topics such as "Digital Promotion" and "How to Put a Review in Your Rearview Mirror" and, of course, we ask for her romance recommendations.

In this episode, Chrissy Munroe interviews award-winning author and creative writing instructor, Maxwell Alexander Drake. Drake, best known for his fantasy series, The Genesis of Oblivion Saga, chats to us about his writing career, the creation of DrakeU and how he generated a reputation for giving brutal writing advice to aspiring authors. He also discusses being in rebuild mode at this stage in his career and what he is working on next.

In this episode, Stephanie McGrath interviews popular YouTuber Ariel Bissett. Ariel gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look into the life of a BookTuber and the community behind it. She offers advice on getting your book into the hands of YouTubers, tips for aspiring vloggers and podcasters, and also gives us the low-down on YouTube sponsorships.

Bestselling romance author Julia Kent came to Kobo HQ and chatted to Chrissy Munroe about her incredibly successful publishing and writing career.

Join Chrissy Munroe as she interviews best-selling science-fiction author, Kevin J. Anderson. KJA gives listeners a peek into his life as he juggles writing, editing, and running his own publishing company, Wordfire Press. All while working towards completing his Master's degree.

In this episode, co-host Stephanie McGrath interviews USA Today Bestselling and RITA award winning author Sarina Bowen. We ask her about running a successful publishing business, collaborating with other authors and important lessons she's learned about craft through the years. We are also joined by two Sarina fans, Laura Granger and Cristina Mendes, as we discuss Sarina's post on the KWL blog, "Romance Writer's Don't Need Your Love-They're Too Busy Making Bank". We also learn more about her latest release, Brooklynaire.

Joni Di Placido interviews Charlotte Leonetti, a high school senior who wrote and self-published her YA novel Heartshire High. Her novel is a modern-day retelling of Alice In Wonderland and Charlotte describes it as a book for teens, by a teen. What's it like to publish a debut novel while a senior in high school?

For our 100th episode, we decided to give our listeners a behind the scenes look into Kobo Writing Life and the magic that goes into publishing a new title on Kobo. We follow Sarah Woodbury's upcoming release The Favored Son, as it makes its way onto the Kobo store and into the libraries of our customers. We also introduce an exciting edition to the KWL podcast, Chrissy Munroe's newest co-host, Stephanie McGrath!

Launched in 2012, BookBub has become the essential marketing platform for authors and publishers to promote their eBooks to millions of power readers around the world. We jumped at the chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at BookBub, how they select eBooks for their daily emails, and what you can do as an author to make the most of this incredible marketing tool. You don't want to miss a minute of this conversation between Christine Munroe and BookBub's Carlyn Robertson.

Rachel Amphlett, bestselling crime and thriller writer from Brisbane, Australia, was at Kobo HQ earlier this fall as part of an international author tour. Rachel spoke to Mark Lefebvre about: Rachel's re-introduction to writing after a long lapse and the underlying concept for a story that just wouldn't let go The wonderfully inspirational Christmas gift from Rachel's husband Nick and his keen words of advice on how to deal with that story (which became the novel WHITE GOLD) The Italian publisher who approached her wanting to purchase Italian language rights to that first published novel The mindset shift that requires discipline on a daily basis in order to hit the daily word count first thing before all the other business and marketing tasks take hold The necessary step of turning off the wifi and putting her phone in another room when it is time to be serious and get down to writing The Gantt chart Rachel uses to outline and stick to her twelve month pre-planned publishing schedule Her latest book, the November 2017 release HELL TO PAY and how it wraps up an underlying sub-plot that had been developing over the previous three novels in the series How emails and feedback from readers around the world have helped Rachel to "up" her game when writing the books in her two series The decision Rachel has made to use British English versus American English for different books depending on where they are set How Rachel's Canadian audience on Kobo was established well before any of her other international audiences started to grow How being in Kobo Plus in the Netherlands and Belgium have helped Rachel sell more books in those territories than ever before Her advice for beginning writers, which include "don't give up" and "do your homework" Nick's advice for the spouses of writers

Mark Lefebvre interviews James Alan Gardner and Spider Robinson, co-editors of the Tesseracts Twenty: Compostela anthology. Compostela means "field of stars" and is most commonly known from the Santiago de Compostela, which, for more than 1,000 years, has attracted pilgrims to walk to the cathedral that holds St. James the apostle's relics. The stories in this anthology in their own way tell the tale of futuristic travelers who journey into the dark outer (or inner) reaches of space, searching for their own connections to the past, present and future relics of their time.

It's day 8 of National Novel Writing Month - perfect timing to listen to some excellent inspiration from Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo. He just published a nonfiction book, Pep Talks for Writers, and Christine Munroe chatted with him about how to stay dedicated to daily creativity, in November and beyond. https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/pep-talks-for-writers

KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews bestselling author M.L. Buchman ("Matt") about his non-fiction title specifically targeted for writers and other creators, Estate Planning for Authors: Your Final Letter (and why you need to write it now), a step by step guide on how authors can make sure their legacy remains profitable for decades for their heirs after they are gone. During the interview, Mark and Matt discuss: The approximate 120 titles that Matt has written (about half full length books, the other half short stories) in the past several years The 20 "sweet romance" versions of his romance titles that were re-drafted to remove the adult situations and adult words for a more "wholesome" audience. Described as: "This "Sweet Version" is the exact same story as the original, with no foul language and the bedroom door—even when there isn't one—tastefully closed." How Kristine Kathryn Rusch, after hearing Matt state that he couldn't write short, commissioned him to write a short story for an anthology she was editing (Fiction River: Christmas Ghosts) – showing the power that a good editor can have a pulling excellence out of a writer The way that the short fiction Matt writes can help funnel readers into the various series novels he has written The free short stories that Matt posts to his website for free on the 15th of every month (called "the Ides of Matt") and how he uses that to earn money (both the individual short stories available on all retailer websites as well as in compendium editions later on) How Matt's book on estate planning came out of the fact that his wife and child were terrified about how they might manage his IP should something happen to him A will might control who gets what, but it doesn't usually include instructions on how to manager that person's IP (Intellectual property) The examples of estates that were not necessarily handled well as well as examples of estates that were managed spectacularly (how Priscilla Presley turned a near-bankrupt Elvis estate into a multi billion dollar legacy The 14 page letter that explains, "in English" (ie, explaining publishing industry concepts that most non-publishing people don't understand) how to manage the various elements of an estate, particular one that includes assets from an author publishing digitally How this process and the "final letter" works not only for writers, but for anybody who has an IP that can be passed along to heirs After the interview, Mark reiterates the importance of thinking about the future and about the long term and reminds authors the importance of putting a plan in place to ensure that their heirs are equipped to properly manage their IP when they are no longer around. He then reminds writers of the forthcoming NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and encourages writers to take advantage of such "global" activities where writers can mutually support and cheer one another on to get that first draft of a novel written in a 30 day period. Links of Interest M.L. Buchman's books on Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/search?query=M.L.%20Buchman&fcsearchfield=Author M.L. Buchman's website: http://www.mlbuchman.com/ M.L. Buchman on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mlbuchman M.L. Buchman on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mlbuchman NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Bestselling author M.L. Buchman started the first of over 50 novels and as many short stories while flying from South Korea to ride across the Australian Outback. All part of a solo around-the-world bicycle trip (a mid-life crisis on wheels) that ultimately launched his writing career. His true love in military romantic suspense, with contemporary romance, thrillers, and SF all vying for second place. If you enjoy this podcast and would like to automatically download episodes as they go live – even before the show notes are posted to the Kobo Writing Life website – subscribe to the RSS feed via your favourite pod-capturing platform (such as iTunes) using this link: RSS feed for Kobo Writing Life Podcast.

Heather Tucker, author of The Clay Girl, had an entire career as a nurse, teacher, bereavement counselor, and professional writer, before she discovered that "playing with words is more fun than working with them." What is it like to publish a debut novel at age 62? She kept an emotional journal from a young age to age 50. She was going on a big trip to Asia and taped a note on the boxes that said, "If the plane goes down, do not read. Burn these." Then she decided to take them outdoors up North and burn them herself. She didn't lose her stories, she opened them up and set them into the universe, freed herself to pull them back and rework them in a new way Now she does positive journaling, putting actual pen to paper, drawing and painting. If her plane goes down now, she has boxes of writing and journals that she does want to share Her first books as a kid were the Junior Classics Collier's Encyclopedia set. She felt intimidated by reading, until her grade 2 teacher gave her a copy of Pippi Longstocking. After that she was obsessed with waiting for the Bookmobile to come and bring new stories How do you get started writing fiction at age 50? She joined a local writing group that has become her "tribe." She reapplied to school for creative writing, and crashed the registration system because her student number was so outdated. Michael Redhill taught one of her courses. One day after class she told him she was afraid she'd waited too long to start writing. He replied, "It's never too late to start writing. Some start too early, but it's never too late." Now she feels she's not late to the writing party, she just was conducting 50 years of research before she got started. For any baby boomers considering starting to write fiction, it's NOT too late. "You are the people with stories to tell. You've gathered stories through whatever your life experience has been." How she deals with negative feedback. She has to fight the urge to explain and defend her story. But she's trying to hear the criticism and improve for the sequel How she found her publisher, ECW Press: a mix of serendipity and luck. She didn't set out to be a published author, she just wanted to write for fun What it means to her to be a Canadian author, and for The Clay Girl to be considered "CanLit" One of the most interesting part of the publishing process has been learning that readers are particular about HOW they want to read – eBooks, large-print, library, audio. Authors need to provide every format so that customers can keep discovering wonderful books in the form and location they want When she started writing fiction, she would wake up at 2am and "give the best hours of my day" to writing before she went to her day job You can make connections and have experiences no matter where you live and what you do. As long as you're experiencing (and not just observing), you're gathering stories to inform your writing "There's enough despair already in the world. I want to leave behind a legacy of hope." www.heathertucker.ca

Episode 93 includes a series of short interviews that KWL Director, Mark Lefebvre conducted at the 2017 When Words Collide conference in Calgary, Alberta. Mark speaks with authors Robert J. Sawyer and C.C. Humphreys as well as marketing consultant Mickey Mikkelson about digital publishing, global eBook pricing, author promotion strategies and successful author readings. Robert J. Sawyer Robert J. Sawyer — called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by The Ottawa Citizen and "just about the best science-fiction writer out there these days" by The Denver Rocky Mountain News — is one of only eight writers in history (and the only Canadian) to win all three of the science-fiction field's top honors (the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and The John W. Campbell Memorial Award) for best novel of the year. Rob talks about how he sold the North American rights for his twenty-third novel, Quantum Night, to Penguin Random House, but retained the rest of world rights and took advantage of Kobo Writing Life to publish the international eBook edition of the book. (Link to the book in UK used) He shares the wisdom of lower eBook prices, comparing his own global sales of the title at $4.99 USD version the $18.99 price point that Penguin Random House set. WATCH THE FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH ROB Mickey Mikkelson (Creative Edge Publicity) Creative Edge Publicity specializes in arranging events such as book signings, library or school presentations, or any event related to the arts in general. They represent many book events including When Words Collide and have a strong belief and advocate for the independent and traditional artist. In his role at Creative Edge supporting authors with their marketing efforts, Mickey shares some of the things his company does helping both traditionally published and self-published authors. Mickey offers advice on what authors should consider before approaching a marketing team for support for their efforts and the fact that there is always a unique approach for each individual author. WATCH THE FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MICKEY C.C. Humphreys Chris (C.C.) Humphreys has acted all over the world and appeared on stages ranging from London's West End to Hollywood's Twentieth Century Fox. He has written ten historical novels, including the most recent Plague and Fire. Tales of religious fundamentalist serial killers set against the wild events of 1665 to 1666, London, Plague won Canada's Crime Writers' Association Best Crime Novel Award, the Arthur Ellis in 2015. In the Summer of 2016, both novels spent five weeks in the Globe and Mail Top Ten Bestseller list. Along with being a bestselling author, Chris is also a stage, film and television actor, who shares some tips for writers on doing public readings of their work. He suggests that an author's goal in doing a reading should be to really engage with that audience and also to remember that the audience is there to "love" and cheer for the author's success. He also suggests selecting a passage that is active and character driven as well as modulating the tone of their voice throughout the reading. WATCH THE FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS Mark then talks about the concept of authors taking full advantage of both traditional publishing and independent publishing opportunities, going into a full breakdown of the revenues earned from a single short story of less than 900 words. "Almost" the story in question, appeared in several self-published collections but also is contained in Bumps in the Night, One Hand Screaming and the Crimes, Capers & Rule-Breakers Bundle. but he also sold non-exclusive reprint rights to the story to McGraw-Hill Ryerson for their iLit program. Based on the fact that the professional rate for a short fiction rates is typically somewhere in the $0.05 to $0.6 per word range for most writers, Mark calculates what the per word earnings for this story have been, landing somewhere between $0.40 and $1.15 per word depending on the various income streams for that story. Ultimately, a story whose original pro fiction rate sale would have been approximately $44.00 ended up earning more than $1000. Of course, this is only a single short story, but as part of a larger strategy with plenty of other assets in play, consider how that might add up for authors who take full advantage of exploiting their rights and exploring all options available for earning money on their writing. (See the original blog details here) Links of Interest: Robert J. Sawyer's eBooks on Kobo Robert J. Sawyer's audiobooks on Kobo (Listen for FREE with Kobo Audiobooks trial) Robert J. Sawyer's website (SFWriter.com) C.C. Humphrey's eBooks on Kobo C.C. Humphrey's website Creative Edge Publicity website When Words Collide Website If you enjoy this podcast and would like to automatically download episodes as they go live – even before the show notes are posted to the Kobo Writing Life website – subscribe to the RSS feed via your favourite pod-capturing platform (such as iT

In Episode 92, Mark Lefebvre interviews Charles de Lint, who is the author of more than seventy books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, Charles is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and has been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. In the interview, Mark and Charles talk about: The underlying theme for de Lint's new book, The Wind in His Heart – accepting the past and how community and a connection with others can help us surmount the challenges we face in the present – but only if we can teach ourselves to open up and trust those around us How long de Lint has worked on the book through its various stages The connections this novel has to de Lint's popular Newford novels and stories The pattern of writing adult novel, young adult novel and then repeating that pattern until it was suggested to de Lint that he focus on the YA market for a while The readership of de Lints work, which spans from 12 to 82 years and how various folks have started with different introductory books to his work and then stuck with his writing no matter which direction he has taken The factors that led to de Lint experimenting with indie publishing; such as the fact that the digital/eBook rights to his books were never sold to a publisher The comparison between independent authors and independent musicians The true hybrid approach for The Wind in His Heart, with de Lint self-publishing the eBook as well as a standard trade paperback POD version of the book, but how PS Publishing, a specialty publisher in the UK is released a limited edition hardcover version of the book and how de Lint's agent ended up selling the audiobook rights to a major audiobook publisher The great success of an independent musician such as Ani DiFranco - https://www.righteousbabe.com/ The hopeful and optimistic viewpoint that de Lint draws when comparing the music industry to the publishing industry Some of the music that de Lint listened to when working on the novel, and how he believes that the southwest style music of Calexico (http://www.casadecalexico.com/) encapsulates the mood of the novel quite well How de Lint got into writing book reviews, interviews with authors and articles about writers and the reasons behind putting all that work into it Places where de Lint hangs out, such as the Facebook group The Mythic Café, with Charles de Lint and Company (https://www.facebook.com/groups/114379772019551/) The launch events for the novel: Ottawa (Sept 19th at The Savoy Brasserie - https://savoybrasserie.com/_ ) Toronto Oct 21st at Bakka Phoenix - http://www.bakkaphoenixbooks.com/) A few of the projects that de Lint is working on now for future release and the liberating joy he has experienced being able to follow his muse and just write the books he would like to write (rather than trying to follow a requirement from a contract) De Lint's advice for beginning writers Mark then talks about the "true hybrid" approach that de Lint has taken on his writing and publishing journey – effectively and efficiently dividing up the rights of his works, as well as the optimism not only inherent in de Lint's new novel, but in his overall approach to the opportunities available through digital publishing, and what writers can learn from embracing that spirit of hope and hard work. Links of Interest Charles de Lint's Books at Kobo Charles de Lint's Facebook page Mythic Café with Charles de Lint & Company Charles de Lint on Twitter Charles de Lint on Goodreads Charles de Lint on Instagram Charles de Lint on Tumblr More info about Kobo Audiobooks KWL EP 52 - One More Story Games – Interview with co-founder Jean Leggett about the great opportunities for writers with this storytelling/game creation platform

KWL Episode 90 is a special episode featuring the announcement of the launch of Kobo Audiobooks, narrated by Jim Dale. Let me tell you a story. Do you remember when you first fell in love with reading? Well you weren't really reading, were you? No, your passion for books began quite another way. It was listening, wasn't it? To a story. Yes; your love of reading got started when you were being read to. Could there be any six words that have more anticipation behind them than: "Let me tell you a story." Introducing Audiobooks for the Free Kobo App with a beautifully designed, easy to use player. One home for all your ebooks and audiobooks. It's your whole reading life - always with you! Start your free trial today and embrace the art of listening. For authors looking to get their audiobooks loaded to Kobo's catalog, there are currently three main ways to do that via distributors: ListenUp Audiobooks (click here for more info) Findaway Voices Authors Republic If you are using a third party distributor for audiobooks, be sure to check with them to make sure they are distributing your titles to Kobo. The KWL development team is looking into how KWL authors might be able to load their audiobooks directly to Kobo's catalog, but there currently isn't a direct upload solution.

Episode 90 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast features an interview with Dennis Weichman, (AKA, Mr. W.), a retired math teacher who has brought his passion for teaching and tutoring into the digital realm with YouTube channel and study guides published to Kobo. Mr W. is interviewed by KWL Director Mark Lefebvre. In the interview, they discuss: How, after he retired in 1998, Dennis began tutoring students in math and he recognized something that was lacking for many of the people he was working with were enough examples. His compilation of those examples into a print workbook that was made available via a local school uniform company's retail store The request from students for him to compile more math books for even more grades The various high school math subjects covered and how they are all based on the Ontario curriculum How he created math tutorial videos and the YouTube channel with more than 50 videos and 100,000 views from 150 different countries Advice for those who are either frightened of or are not comfortable with math Relating math to things that people understand or are interested in/passionate about The "hand-written" appearance of the math examples and how that personalizes the content for users How Dennis had to work really hard at math himself, and how that perhaps affected the way that he teaches it to others The former student that helped Dennis get his books into eBook format You can watch the full video on YouTube here. After the interview, Mark talks about writing specifically for a niche market, and uses both Mr W.'s example as well as a personal example to outline the process. His talk includes how focusing on a niche market/niche audience usually involves identifying and resolving a problem or an issue for that target audience as well as the application of personal experience and knowledge as well as personal passion to creating and publishing that book.

Episode 89 of the KWL Podcast includes on location interviews with 7 different authors conducted by Mark Lefebvre, Director of Author Relations at Kobo during the 2017 Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual conference. Barbara Freethy Sharing the enjoyment she gets connecting with fellow writers at RWA, Barbara also shares info about a new romantic suspense series (a spin-off of her Storm trilogy) that she was releasing during the week of RWA, as well as a collaboration with 6 other authors called "Seven Brides for Seven Soldiers" that will be launching in the fall. Chris Keniston Chris discusses the strategy she used for her Faraday Country series (currently 8 books out with books 9 and 10 up for pre-order at the time of the interview), including stock-piling the first 4 books before beginning to release the series. She also talks about how she used a permanently free Book One in the series to help propel sales of the rest of the books in this clean and wholesome romance series. The combined effect of this stock-piling and a permanently free first book in the series has helped her triple her sales numbers. Carrie Ann Ryan Fresh on the heals of the recent releases of Inked Expressions and Hope Restored, Carrie Ann shares the "tree-trunk" manner by which she connects the various series books together in a cohesive whole and the multiple points of entry this creates for readers. She also shares the combined multi-author launch of the Bad Boy Homecoming Romance connected novels as well as the slightly different branding that she uses when switching between paranormal romance and contemporary romance. M.L. Buchman How M.L. (Matt), who writes in 11 different series (publishing 8 books a year and at least 13 short stories, including two that appear in Fiction River #4 and Fiction River #23), doesn't engage in social media in any significant way, but uses his newsletter to create a great value for his fans. Matt provides a free short story for his newsletter fans every single month. Matt also shares a bit about his important book Estate Planning for Authors: Your Final Letter (and Why You Need to Write it Now) Ember Casey & Renna Peak Ember and Renna talk about the collaborative contemporary royalty romance series that they've been writing for the past 3 years (3 6 part serials that are all connected) and the way they split the writing (Ember writes the guy parts, Renna writes the girl parts). They also share the aggressive "every 2 week" release schedule that they developed and the success of creating a large reader funnel by making the first 2 books in the original series free. Mark Dawson Mark talks about some of the strategies that he has used for Facebook ads, particularly the ads placed for 8 book box sets targeting Kobo customers, particularly customers in Canada and Australia. Much of Mark's shared wisdom can be found on his website SelfPublishingFormula.com He also talks about the importance of not getting details wrong, in particular the use of weapons (which one of his most popular characters, John Milton, uses) and shares the fact that, later that same day, he was heading off to a shooting range to try various weapons first hands as the ultimate research. At the end of the podcast, Mark Lefebvre points out a recent article that was posted on both the Kobo Writing Life website and the Kobo Writing Life Community that outlines the 5 most common reasons why a book might be rejected in the publishing process. He shares that these posts are created specifically to help authors with finding information about particular details related to publishing on Kobo and encourages authors to take advantage of that information.

Episode 88 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast isn't the more typical interview, but rather, KWL's Director, Mark Lefebvre, outlining five strategies that successful authors use to build their sales, raise their author profile and get readers to sign up their author mailing lists with Free eBooks. First, Mark talks about the updates to FREE tracking. If you've been paying attention to the updates in the Notification header of the Kobo Writing Life dashboard (which link to this VERY HANDY - hint, hint, nudge, nudge - part of the KWL Community) throughout July, you may have noticed that the Web team and the KWL Team have been working at revisions to the broken free tracking that we've been dealing with for quite a while. Currently FREE TRACKING is being refreshed and updated. But in the meantime, there's something important you should know about the FREE DOWNLOADS numbers you're seeing. The most important has to do with PREVIEWS. First, please don't worry, we are NOT giving your non-free books away. At Kobo, readers have the opportunity to preview the first 5% of eBooks. Whenever an ePub file is loaded into Kobo's database, the catalog generates a unique new ePub file that is comprised of the first 5% of that full eBook, then it tacks on a final page with a "BUY Button" for the full book into the end of that ePub. And whenever a customer clicks on the "Save Preview" button on a book's item page, it adds that preview ePub file to that customer's library. Since there isn't currently any filtering that distinguishes the preview ePub file from the full ePub file, it appears as if that eBook was given to a customer, and is tracked as a "free download" in the dashboard. (The KWL, Web and UX Teams will be adjusting and fixing this, but having that information can be extremely valuable, because it allows you to see how many customers have PREVIEWED your book. IE, if you have a huge number of PREVIEWS but not a huge number of sales, that could tell you something important about the conversion from free preview to sales) 1) First Free eBook in Series (Perma-Free) Although this isn't a new practice, it continues to be something that works quite nicely for authors looking to increase their sales and author profile at Kobo. Authors can set any book on Kobo to free at any time for as long as they want with no restrictions and no requests for exclusivity. The concept is creating a funnel to get a lot of people to grab the first book for free and hopefully converting them into buyers because the worlds, characters, settings and situations they are reading about in your series are so compelling that they HAVE to keep on reading. Below are some stats that are typical of the conversion rate from FREE to SALES via studies done on multiple different first book in series promos. 2) Free Book/Novella/Novelette Kept Perma-Free that ISN'T the first in the Series The same technique used above can be used for other books in the series (rather than the first book), or perhaps for interstitial stories in the series universe. Remember that, with Kobo Writing Life, you can enter Series metadata using decimals. IE, imagine you have a novella that takes place between Books 1 and 2 in your series. Entering 1.5 into the Volume Number value in your Series metadata connects those book. (See this post on how that works at KWL) 3) Free related/connected Short Story hook into a novel or series Mark shares a personal anecdote about using a short story to entice readers to want to learn more or explore more about characters that appear in a full novel. His example is how the FREE short story, This Time Around, a 10,000 word short story, has been successful at helping new readers discover his main character Michael Andrews, who is a werewolf attempting to live a normal life in the midst of one of the world's largest metropolitan centers in the novel A Canadian Werewolf in New York. 4) A Free eBook that is a stand alone novel / NOT part of a series For those of you who do NOT have series books, don't despair. There is still a correlation between the "funnel" of free eBooks and readers going on to buy more books by the same author (rather than books in the same series) Mark shares how his friend Sean Costello, a thriller/horror writer he works closely with, uses free to build a readership, not based on the book being part of a series, but based on readers discovering the voice of a brilliant author who they feel compelled to read more books from. Costello's SQUALL has garnered almost 3300 reviews on Kindle and more than 800 reviews on Kobo with a 4 star average. Again, good news for authors who don't write series books. Free works for gaining new readers and selling more eBooks for you too. :) 5) Using FREE eBooks for Newsletter sign-ups While it's great that retails can help authors sell more using algorithms and targeted emails to their customers making recommendations, it is important for authors to get readers to sign up to their author newsletter. Fol

Episode 87 of the Kobo Writing Life podcast features a keynote address from When Words Collide's 2016 Guest of Honour, Eve Silver. She is a national bestselling author of books for adults and teens, has won the Ontario Library Association's "Forest of Reading White Pine Award" and has been praised for her "edgy, steamy, action-packed" books, darkly sexy heroes and take-charge heroines. Eve is introduced by Randy McCharles, When Words Collide chair, and who happens to also be a successful author. In her keynote talk from When Words Collide, Eve talks about: Writing her first book at the age of 9 The first form-letter rejection she received at that same age, which crushed her "little writer's heart" A short story she wrote at the age of 16 for a high school assignment which led to a teacher calling out her talent The next teacher she encountered who wasn't as fond of the fiction Eve was writing for her homework assignments and how that represented the second time her "little writer's heart" was crushed The first romance novel she wrote, which was a historical romance novel Advice from her parents that writers don't make any money, which led to her university degree in science Her supportive husband who recognized that her heart was never in science, but in writing The writing course she took, which re-ignited the spark in her "littler writer's heart" The manuscript that shall remained buried in her back-yard The fact that if you are a writer, you write, no matter how many times your "little writer's heart" is crushed The regular process of submission, rejection, submission, rejection that Eve persisted through An important look at the sixteen editors from seven different publishing houses she has worked with (and how most of them had originally rejected her in her early attempts) – but she persisted The fact that writing and publishing is a business and the importance of not holding grudges The post-apocalyptic trans-Siberian trucker romance novel that she originally couldn't sell, but which did eventually sell and went on to receive a stared review in Publishers Weekly and was chosen as Library Journal's best genre fiction for that year Doing what you have to do in order to keep writing – because writers write and authors sacrifice The challenge of getting rid of the "doubt weasel" that can sit on a writer's shoulder The fact that writing isn't just what you do, but it's who you are Mark then shares a few thoughts on the concept of what can happen to the "little writer heart" with all the types of rejection (either from publishers or from lack of sales), as well as a reminder about the important theme in Eve's message, that writers write, no matter what. Links of Interest: Eve Silver's Website Eve Silver's Books on Kobo When Words Collide Website