Kobo Writing Life Podcast

Episode 86 features an interview with international bestselling author Catherine Coulter, about one of her most recent titles, Insidious. In the interview, Mark and Catherine talk about: The question Catherine's sister asked her at a family reunion back in the 1990's that inspired the her first romantic suspense novel, The Cove (which became the first book in her FBI series) The devious nature involved by the author when writing in a series where each book can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone novel The reason why, when most books in the series are set about 2 weeks apart from one another, there's a 5-year time-lag between Books 2 and Books 3 in the series The benefits of moving between writing different types of genres as really great exercises for the brain The cross-over in Catherine's fan base who read both Historical Romance and Romantic Suspense As a self-confessed "pantser" the fact that about 98% of Catherine's writing is discovery and the backward-building that she does in the re-writing How her husband is her first editor Catherine's preference for writing dialogue over setting descriptions (as well as her penchant for humor) How it is a wonderful time to be a writer and Catherine's favorite advice for beginning writers After the interview, Mark gives a bit of an update on Kobo Plus Links of interest Catherine Coulter's Website Catherine Coulter on Facebook Catherine Coulter's Books on Kobo KWL's Instagram Account

Episode 85 of the KWL Podcast contains an interview with Scacchi Koul conducted by Johanna Schneller about Scacchi's new book One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter. Please note that this interview contains adult language which might not be appropriate for all listening audiences. In the interview, Johanna and Scaachi talk about: The story behind Scacchi's Twitter profile picture How Scacchi inherited her sense of humor from her father and the role humor has played in her life How men always get to be "complicated" while women are "difficult" The sixth grade writing assignment that might have been the spark to Scacchi's writing career How "sitting in a room pouring out bitterness" might be the only possible job she could have based on her skill set How most of the content of the book is taboo to her family The topic of "shaking up complacent white media" and a discussion about the fiery debate in the Canadian literary community over race, representation and free speech after a short column titled "Winning the Appropriation Prize" was published in early May The right amount of time required before writing something; the concept of comedy being just tragedy after time. Scacchi's concern over having just the right balance of humor for this book and the interesting back and forths between writer and editor The use of "being arranged" as a verb when referring to arranged marriages How The Walrus was a magazine that changed Scaachi's life and made her want to be a writer, and how, with recent events, all that has changed in a significant way The writers who mattered to Scaachi How Scaachi went into writing because she thought it might help other people feel less lonely Scaachi Koul's Website: scaachi.com/odwabdanotwm Scaachi Koul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Scaachi Scaachi Koul at BuzzFeed - [email protected] Other Links of Interest: The Appropriation Prize Controversy

Episode 84 contains the third and final installment of interviews that took place at RT (Romantic Times) Booklovers Convention in Atlanta this year. This time the interviews are from Sinead McElhinney, PR Coordinator for Kobo, who was interacting with dozens of authors and romance readers at the conference. Featured interviews include chats with the two authors who write under the name Christina Lauren and with Ella Quinn. Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the dynamic duo co-authors who make up the NYT and USA Today bestselling author Christina Lauren. In their chat, they discuss the process of co-authoring and how it has evolved in the past 8 years as well as the personal closeness/friendship that is the foundation for their authoring partnership. Ella Quinn is a USA Today Bestselling author of smart and spicy regency romances. In her chat with Sinead, she shares a bit about the incredible amount of research on the customs, the manners and the buildings for the worlds she writes about in her historical novels. She explains how, while those elements are important in the realism, that the love story and the characters are what should be front and center in the reader's mind. Mark then talks with Sinead about what she does at Kobo (a bit of a behind the scenes look), and how her role in PR is related to engaging in social media and in person interactions with publishers, with authors and with readers.

This episode continues from where episode 82 left off with KWL's recent live interviews with attendees from RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia in early May 2017. RT (Romantic Times) Booklovers brings more than 3,500 fans and between 600 to 800 authors together for a celebration of romance novels. Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life, interviewed authors and industry folks about various topics. In Part 2, we share Mark's chats with: Meredith Wild A new series of collaborative novels launching in September, starting with Meredith's novel Misadventures of a City Girl and the fun writing experimentation that led to it Advice that Meredith would offer to beginning writers who are just getting started on their writing journey How Meredith allowed herself some "time off from writing" during this particular conference Stephanie Bond Stephanie's latest release in the Body Movers Series, 8 Bodies is Enough The things that Stephanie loves about RT, which is one of her favorite conferences A forthcoming project, Temp Girl, and the temporary tattoos that Stephanie is giving out to fans at the conference Liliana Hart The forthcoming book (due out May 23rd) in a brand new series (Gravediggers) from Pocket Books entitled The Darkest Corner which is a mix between her J. Graves and the MacKenzie Family series (combining thriller and romance) The unique position of being a hugely successful indie author who is also working with a major publisher and making the best out of both worlds How Liliana writes all the time, including sequestering herself in a hotel room or even as a passenger in the car while touring to events like RT Stephanie Phillips from SBR Media Literary Agency Some of the 20 authors that SBR Media represents, including Debra Presley, Kahlen Aimes, Micalea Smeltzer, as well as authors who are attending RT (M. Willard, Misha Elliott, Elizabeth Hayes) The pitches that Stephanie has been taking from authors interested in working with her agency Stephanie's Romance Focused Review Blog: Stephanie's Book Reports (where authors can submit their books for consideration for reviews) Mark Coker from Smashwords A sneak peek at the annual RT Smashwords survey that explores the aggregated sales data across all the retail platforms, including: Which price points get the most sales / which price points get the most income What impact does a pre-order have on sales related to different genres A deep dive into series, including the effect of free as series starters As of the time of this posting, the 2017 report hasn't been made live, but here is a link to the 2016 and 2015 report, chock-full of great insights and info for authors Diane and Dante from ListenUp Audiobooks Diane's role at ListenUp in assisting indie authors in the production of their audiobooks, including the initial discussion, finding the right narrator and getting the book distributed if the author chooses that option Dante's role as audio engineer and technical director, including working directly with the voice talent and the post recording production to ensure top-quality audio product KWL authors can get $100 off per hour by following this link, navigating to "Get Started" and entering the promo code "Kobo" http://www.listenupindie.pub/

KWL was recently in Atlanta, Georgia attending RT Booklovers Convention. Considered the Book Lover Event of the year, RT (Romantic Times) Booklovers brings more than 3,500 fans and between 600 to 800 authors together for a celebration of romance novels. Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life, was on site interviewing authors and industry folks about various topics on writing, reading and promotions. The RT Booklovers interviews have been broken into more than one episode. In Part 1, we share Mark's chats with: Helen Hardt Her latest novel, Surrender; her penchant for ending her series books with cliffhangers and the direct relation with her pre-order success; A teaser regarding her forthcoming MISADVENTURES series; some advice for beginning writers Jeff Adams & Will Knauss Jeff's new release Somewhere on Mackinac and its relation to the classic film Somewhere in Time; their publisher Dreamspinner Press and collaborating on a novel; Jeff and Will's Big Gay Fiction Podcast Julia Kent Her most recent novel, Shopping for a CEO's Wife in the bestselling romantic comedy SHOPPING series of novels; the pseudonym that Julia writes romantic suspense and pulse-pounding fiction under: Meli Raine Chloe from Written Word Media Opportunities for writers looking for promotions for their reduced price and free ebook titles; more places where writers can get great tips and advice Dan from Draft2Digital The free universal link tool that D2D has released for authors, making it simpler than ever before to be all inclusive when linking to retail websites where people can buy their books.

KWL Director Mark Lefebvre speaks with former college professor Gilian Baker about her new novel Blogging is Murder. In the discussion, the two explore: The transition from teaching academic writing and literature for twenty years to the challenge of writing; first approached through blogging and ghost-writing Her original blogging experience, which was created for college students who were reluctant writers How her daughter managed to convince Gillian to join NaNoWriMo one year after long and enjoyable discussions about writing How long the idea of Jade and her world had sat in the back of Gillian's mind before she sat down to write the book Elements that helped to make the characters in the story very real for readers; in particular the old woman character of Phyllis who is often called out by reviewers as a favorite character What the novel has to say about cybersecurity, identity-theft and online transactions and the tips available on Gillian's Blog regarding that. (http://gilianbaker.com/2017/01/23/cyber-security-tips-hackers/) The differences and similarities between academic writing, ghost-writing and fiction writing After the interview, Mark discusses the age-old advice of "Write What You Know" that is not only often shared with writers, but also debated among writing circles. He points out a few examples of authors who have drawn from their personal experience and passions, including a few of his own personal examples, including using "things he knew" in both novels as well as non-fiction titles. Mark then asks the listeners on their own thoughts on the "write what you know debate" that people can answer either in the comments below or on the Kobo Writing Life Community Forum Gilian Baker is a former writing and literature professor who finally threw in the towel and decided to just show 'em how it's done. She has gone on to forge a life outside of academia by adding blogger & ghostwriter to her CV. She currently uses her geeky superpowers only for good to entertain cozy mystery readers the world over. When she's not plotting murder, you can find her puttering in her vegetable garden, knitting in front of the fire, snuggled up with her husband watching British mysteries or discussing literary theory with her daughter. In her next life, she fervently hopes to come back as a cat, though she understands that would be going down the karmic ladder. She lives in Flagstaff, Arizona with her family and their three pampered felines. Links of Interest Gillian Baker's Website: www.gilianbaker.com Gillian Baker on Twitter: @gillianbaker Gillian Baker on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GilianBakerAuthor/

Kobo was delighted to recently host Emily Schultz in a "Kobo in Conversation" chat in the Kobo Café a few weeks ago while she was coming through Toronto on a book tour. Kobo Merchandiser Nora Parker interviewed Emily. In the interview, Emily and Nora talk about: The fact that Emily had started working on this novel before her previously released novel The Blondes The rum-runner history in Emily's family and the different manner by which they traversed the water to conduct their rum running in the winter and summer How the story of a relative who was lost during one of these winter-time runs crashing through the ice helped to inspire Emily's desire to explore this narrative The explosions of culture, literature, music and sexuality in the 1920s. The contrast and clash of society being both "open" and "closed" during the Prohibition Era Various methods of research, including old photographs, documentaries, silent films and novels written from that time period The concept of justice in the novel and the line "you never get caught for what you think you're going to" that encapsulates that Elements of "the person who is not who they appear to be" in particular relation to religion The balance of mixing the "true" with the "fictional" in this historical novel The additional balance of being an author of fiction being a founder and senior editor of Joyland (http://www.joylandmagazine.com/) magazine Pairing oneself with other writers in particular locales to help ensure a slightly larger crowd at an author event The fun of onomatope words that came from the jazz scene of the time Mark then highlights a few things from the interview with Emily that he wanted to call attention to. In particular, the research that she conducted for the Prohibition era time period the novel was set in as well as the manner by which she collaborated with local writers when traveling on a book tour. There is a reminder of the Kobo Plus Subscription service available through Kobo in the Netherlands and Belgium with Kobo's retail partner, BOL which is open to Kobo Writing Life authors via the "Rights and Distribution" tab. Links: Emily's Website - http://www.emilyschultz.com/ Emily on Twitter: https://twitter.com/manualofstyle?lang=en Joyland Magazine - www.joylandmagazine.com/

Julie Czerneda, an international bestselling science fiction and fantasy author from Canada, was one of the Author Guests of Honour at the 2016 When Words Collide conference which takes place in Calgary each year in late summer. When Words Collide is an annual non-profit festival designed to bring readers and writers together in a celebration of the written word. Up to 10 tracks of programming, beginning at 1 PM on Friday and running through 5 PM Sunday, offer informational, educational, and social activities covering a wide spectrum of literature including Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Historical, Literary, Script-writing, Poetry, Comics, and Non-fiction. Roughly 650 readers, writers, editors, publishers, agents, and artists attend with over 200 presenters. Kobo Writing Life has been a proud sponsor of When Words Collide for the past several years and are delighted to present one of the inspiring keynote talks from 2016 by Julie Czerneda addressing the "Dreamers" who were there attending the conference. Julie's keynote talk at When Words Collide addresses the world of dreamers and dream-weavers who are completely at home when at a book-related conference and how putting readers and writers together matters. That the things they revel in matters. Julie Czerneda has written more than 20 books in multiple series, including The Trade Pact Universe, The Clan Chronicles, The Web Shifters Series, Night's Edge, Stratification and The Reunification Series, with THE GATE TO FUTURE'S PAST (Book 2 in the series) being her most recent novel. (Look for Book 3, TO GUARD AGAINST THE DARK in the fall of 2017) After the keynote talk by Julie, Mark talks to Julia Nethersole who oversees the Author Support Community at Kobo about some of the most common questions that authors write in to [email protected] as well as some insights about better self-service tools and an author community forum that has recently been created to help authors help themselves as well as another way to connect with others from the community.

Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life, interviews Young Adult Fantasy and Chicklit author, Katie Cross as she shares strategies about how she was able to keep writing, with even more productivity, in her transition from full time author to full time Mom. In the chat, Katie and Mark discuss: Her lifelong passion of writing and her recent passion of becoming a mother (which happened about a year and a half into her 3 years of publishing career) and how she juggles both with her 18 month old. Some of the time-scheduling strategies she uses, which changes every month with such a young child. (For example, right now, she writes for a couple of hours during the day during nap time as well as after bed-time) The concept of a Mom-swap with a few neighborhood friends. On a schedule with two other stay-at-home Moms who need time for personal errands/etc they rotate on particular days of the week where all the children are at a particular mother's house for about a three hour period. This provides Katie with about 3 additional hours to write twice per week Strategies in early childhood, actually holding her baby while he slept and managing to quietly tap away at the keyboard Other strategies used, (involving intense multi-tasking) walking the dogs while having her baby strapped onto her and dictating story ideas into her phone. (Exercise, fresh air, getting the dogs and baby for an outing AND getting some writing work done) How, being a Military Wife, she is able to arrange to travel to valuable writing and networking workshops like Superstars Writing Seminars How having limited time has made her a much more productive writer The way that hiring a virtual assistant has helped her maximize her writing time (Her assistant, Christina's website is www.faithfullysocial.com Katie's initial struggle to grow sales and readers at Kobo and how, over time (about a year and a half), her sales began a slow and steady build (she has been seeing growth mostly at Kobo, iBooks and Scribd since going wide) How, once she finished a young adult series (4 books plus a prequel and a novella) and created a bundle, the series seemed to have taken off The comparison of being a new parent to being an indie author The blog that Katie has which is meant specifically for author parents (IE: "I get it, I'm in the trenches with you") kcrosswriting.com After the interview, Mark reflects on the manner by which Katie has made writing a priority and how other writers who struggle with balancing multiple priorities might be inspired by her as well as a reflective writing quote that has been with him for more than 20 years.

From his role as a guest faculty member at Superstars Writing Seminars, Kobo Writing Life director Mark Lefebvre interviewed professional photographer Lauren Lang who was on site to help attending authors get a professional author photo. In the interview Mark and Lauren discuss: Lauren's start in the industry in journalism and her desire to use a visual medium as her preferred method of telling and sharing stories The desire of capturing a moment in photography and causing an emotional reaction in the viewer/audience Some of the differences between "posed" and more "candid" photography and Lauren's desire to love people in the midst of emotion, catching them emoting and enjoying themselves in the moment The methods that Lauren uses turning the "inherently unnatural" environment of posed photography into something where the subject doesn't feel so uncomfortable or self-conscious The importance of being real when Lauren is trying to draw the author and their story out as part of the photo shoot Some of the tricks that an author might use when preparing for a professional photo shoot, including moving beyond the "getting an author head shot is something I have to do" to thinking about this as being something for their fans (even if they're a beginning author and don't yet have a fan base) A look at some of the "do not do's" and "mis-steps" that people make when trying to select a good head-shot, including using a photo that actually looks like you (rather than the way you looked a few decades earlier) What an author should look for when finding a photographer to hire/work with A look at expression in photography from a study from Photofeeler.com Mark then reflects on the author photo, a projected image, authenticity and how that might all role into a larger picture of author brand. Links of interest: Jacobin Photography Website Jacobin Photography on Facebook Lauren Lang on Instagram Lauren Lang on Twitter Photofeeler.com Blog Superstars Writing Seminars

On site at Superstars Writing Seminars, Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Joshua Essoe, freelance editor. In their discussion Mark and Joshua discuss: What led him to writing (the author's notes at the end of a Piers Anthony novel he had picked up at an early age) and then, more specifically, what led him into editing The role that Brandon Sanderson played, at the very first Superstars Writing Seminars in Pasadena, in launching Joshua onto the patch towards editing The editing pitch that Joshua did to David Farland, which led to Joshua editing his Award-Winning Novel Nightingale The struggle that Joshua deals with in making the time to write while having such a heavy editing workload The benefit of consultation calls between a writer and an editor when the writer is at the early stages of working on their novel The types of works that Joshua mostly works on, including the types of manuscripts he would like to see more of (horror) The process of finding an editor who is a good fit for a particular writer A look at the different types of edits that an editor can do, or that different editors specialize in The benefit to a freelance editor of working with repeat clients The most common errors that Joshua has seen that writers make (and where a good editor can help them) Reflections on the difference between American English and British English Some of Joshua's forthcoming projects including an anthology Joshua is co-creating with James A. Owen entitled Magic Makers (including stories by Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Peter Beagle) After the interview, Mark shares some thoughts on how an element such as a post-text authors note can serve an important part in helping a reader feel more connected with a writer.

Instead of the regular interview with an author or industry person, episode 75 of the podcast features Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre pausing to look at some of the most successful Kobo Writing Life authors on Kobo for 2016. He compiles a list of the top 5 things that the most successful authors in terms of both unit sales and net sales all have in common, and tries to break them down into things that you as an author might consider in your own business plans for success. The items are: 1) Genres / Genre Fiction - the top authors are all writing books in genre fiction, with Romance and Mystery/Thriller/Suspense being consistently in the top 2) Series - many of the top titles are either books written in a series, or, if not, involve an aggressive production schedule far quicker than traditional publishing schedules 3) Targeted and Appealing Visuals / Covers - the covers for the books aren't just professional and attractive, but they're attractive to the right audience, to a very targeted audience or demographic that drills down, even into the sub-genres within a category 4) Author Branding / Series Branding - directly in line with the visuals, the author brand on a book makes a particular promise to a particular type of reader based on the way it is presented. 5) Inclusive Publishing/Promoting / Going Wide - obviously, the authors who were most successful at Kobo published to Kobo. Seems obvious, but drilling down into some of the more subtle ways not just to "go wide" but to "be wide" Lefebvre then wraps up by taking about, particularly to insiders at Kobo, the important different between Unit Sales and Net Sales and why booksellers like Kobo might have a preferential lean towards one over the other.

Mark Lefebvre, Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations for Kobo is the host for this episode, and introduces a memorable clip from Episode 279 of The Creative Penn Podcast where Joanna Penn talks compares walking the 100KM "Race to the Stones" with writing. In her talk, Joanna goes into the details regarding 9 Lessons Learned About Writing from Walking 100K in a Weekend: Deadlines and specific goals help you achieve more It's good to have a goal, but training (and the journey) is the point Stamina builds up over time with practice You need a support team, but nobody can do the steps for you There are fun parts, but some of it will be hell Don't compare yourself to others. The race is only with yourself Follow the path others have set before you It's worth spending money to get the right gear A lot of people give up along the way – persistence is the key to success Mark then talks a bit about the beginning and end of the year as common goal-setting times for writers, and shares 5 of the bigger writing goals he had set for himself in 2016. He goes into detail, explaining the highs of meeting deadlines and goals, and the struggles with not achieving a goal (including his own 10 year struggle with getting his novel A Canadian Werewolf in New York published - he started working on it on a series from The Writing Show Podcast back in 2006) - something likely every writer faces. Links of Interest from this episode The Creative Penn Podcast Episode 279 of The Creative Penn Podcast with Roz Morris Joanna Penn's books on Kobo (About Writing) Joanna's J.F. Penn novels on Kobo KWL Episode 32 - Interview with Dan Rubinstein The "Getting Published with Mark Leslie" episodes of The Writing Show Mark's A Canadian Werewolf in New York on Kobo

Colson Whitehead, is the author of Zone One; Sag Harbor; The Intuitionist, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award; John Henry Days, which won the Young Lions Fiction Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and Apex Hides the Hurt, winner of the PEN Oakland Award. Colson is interviewed by Kobo's Nora Parker about his latest book, The Underground Railroad, which is an Oprah's Book Club pick. Whitehead's decision to play with the quirky premise of "what if the underground railroad was a real railroad?" The navigation of research and how it gets interwoven into the fiction; but the fact that this is not a historical novel and that it doesn't stick to any real world chronology The freeing aspect of not being beholden to reality when crafting a novel The manner by which the novel addresses the two opposing viewpoints and biases that take the same passage(s) from the bible and use it to either oppose or support slavery The choice of the opening setting in North Carolina and the different arenas for Cora to be tested, and how that allowed for the examination of different types of racism and social structures The concepts of racism in pre-Civil War America to the concepts of racism as it exists today in modern America The historic use of rendering of dialect in the dialogue between white and black characters compared to how it is done in this novel The music Whitehead listens to while writing, when he listens to Purple Rain from Prince and Debut Nation from Sonic Youth and how David Bowie is in every book How Whitehead felt about being selected for the Oprah Book Club The adept characterization and relationships of the kids in Whitehead's novel Sag Harbor and how the characters evolved from inspiration from real people into their own unique fictional characters within the novel KWL Director Mark Lefebvre talks about the concept of writers listening to music while working and then asks KWL listeners to share their own habits and practices when it comes to listening to (or not listening to) music or other ambient noises while writing.

Described as "One of the most harrowing, powerful, and imaginative books of the year" Affinity Konar's MISCHLING is a novel about twin sisters fighting to survive the evils of World War II. As part of the experimental population of twins known as Mengele's Zoo, the girls experience privileges and horrors unknown to others, and they find themselves changed, stripped of the personalities they once shared, their identities altered by the burdens of guilt and pain. Affinity is interviewed by Kobo Merchandising Coordinator, Nora Parker during an intimate Kobo Café gathering at Kobo just a few weeks ago. During the interview, Nora and Affinity discuss: The genesis of the story and how it was in the author's head for at least 10 years before she wrote it The intersection between research, historical accuracy and the creativity of the fictional writing How many times Affinity had "put the book down" and then other elements in her life kept bringing her back to it How Affinity struggled for a long time on the manner by which to depict Josef Mengele in the novel The question of justice which both twins end up struggling with at various points throughout the novel and the role that memory plays in that The manner by which beauty figures as an antidote to the horrors of the world and how the author spent a lot of time dwelling on what exactly beauty was and is Concepts of how language might be able to express, or perhaps even fail at expressing the atrocities and the author's desire to have the reader consciously quibble with the particular word or words that she chose within particular passages as a way to illustrate, in a concrete way, that challenge The origin of the title (Mischling) as a word Affinity came across when she was young, thinking it was a very pretty word and then, later, learning it's horrific definition and use How the book began with the voice of Stasha, and, when Pearl, her twin came along later, how conscious Affinity was regarding her voice and the satisfying challenge that came from that How the moments of light and joy within the darkness of the novel came quite naturally to Affinity while writing the book (and the manner by which they both add to the experience of reading novel and were among Affinity's favorite moments to write) The real-life twins, Eva and Miram Mozes, who were very inspirational to the author Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre then talks about two specific points from the interview that he wanted to draw attention to for writers. First, he draws attention to the mention of the use of humor in this text and then outlines some things to consider when implementing humor into an overall serious or dark and disturbing narrative. Next, Lefebvre talks about the "ten years" that were behind the creation of this novel and reflects on the fact that there is no one way for authors to write. That some writers can write a book in an extremely short time period while others might take a significantly longer amount of time to write a book. He reflects on the writer ailment of "comparisonitis" (as described by Joanna Penn) that can happen and cautions writers not to feel bad if their own process or timelines are different than other writers. There's no one answer, there's no one solution, there's no single path to one's own personal goals or successes in a writing career, and different books might call for different approaches. They key is not to compare and despair, but to discover what works best for you to make it the best possible book that you can. Affinity Konar's Books on Kobo Mischling The Illustrated Version of Things Affinity Konar on Instagram

Executive Vice President of Publisher Relations and Content at Kobo, Pieter Swinkels introduces a live on stage at Kobo "Kobo in Conversation" interview of Robert Harris about his latest book, Conclave. (As an interesting aside, Pieter was, at one time, Robert's publisher in the Netherlands). Robert is interviewed by Toronto pop culture columnist, film journalist and television personality, Johanna Schneller. In the interview Johanna and Robert discuss: Brexit and how, though the public events surrounding Brexit are possible fodder for a forthcoming Robert Harris novel, he prefers to wait perhaps 10 or 20 years after such an event, because after such time, you can more properly see the patterns a lot more easily when you're not as involved in them The research involved in writing about a papal conclave, the oldest, most secretive election in the world, starting with the request for permission to see the places that aren't normally open to the public The overwhelming majesty of the setting of the Sistine Chapel and the Apostolic Palace The bunker-like setting that the cardinals are sequestered in and the similarities to an Agatha Christie cottage mystery setting The enormous power of the internet when it comes to researching a book such as this one, and how the entire process of gathering that research being hugely sped up The writing routine that Robert Harris employs, starting with research How this particular novel was written between January and July of this past year Harris's daily writing routine of starting sometime around 7 or 8 AM and then finishing at about half past noon, and his belief that one can do only about four hours or so of hard creative work A reference to the Stephen King quote about the "boys in the basement" who are hard at work for a writer when the writer is not sitting at their writing desk Harris's strong belief in deadlines and how the fear and adrenaline helps him produce A look into one of Harris's earliest books, the non-fiction title Selling Hitler, an investigation of the "Hitler Diaries" scandal, which was published in 1986, and how it led to the author's evolution into writing novels Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre then talks about something Robert Harris mentioned in the interview – the concept of the deadline and how he saw that fear and adrenaline as important elements in the creative process for him as a writer. Lefebvre talks about his own experience writing to deadline on his own non-fiction works and then considers the concept of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and that 30 day deadline to write a prescribed number of words (50,000). He talks about the critical nature of that imposed "deadline" and how it can help a writer actually sit down and get words written. LINKS OF INTEREST Robert Harris's website Johanna Schneller on Twitter Robert's books on Kobo

In episode 70, Christine Munroe interviews bestselling romance author Melissa Foster. Over 7 years of self-publishing, Melissa has tons of insightful advice to offer, including why authors should stick to their passion instead of chasing trends, and why she will always manage her own social media and all public-facing marketing efforts. Tune in to hear them discuss: Melissa published her first book in 2009. She's now released over 50 English-language titles, including 15 last year, and 13 in 2016 She started by approaching agents, and could paper her walls with rejection letters Her first published book was Megan's Way, and she sold over 100k copies of it over the first year Today she works with a literary agent for her work in translation. She submitted one book for traditional publishers recently, but decided to not make a deal because they couldn't offer more than she could accomplish on her own. "I'm pretty much indie to stay now unless something fabulous comes up" One major concern about using a traditional publisher is the high list price – she wants to keep her readers happy with a price they can afford. That's more important to her than getting a traditional publisher. They also can't keep up with her publishing schedule – the best publishers could offer is once every 4 months, which isn't enough for all of her series she has going right now She's a "chat-a-holic" on social media and does all of her social media herself EverAfter Romance is handling her paperback distribution for her into bookstores She works with a developmental and copy editor, then a group of 5 copyeditors, to make sure every book is clean before it hits the market Why and how she has incorporated LGBT romance into her Harborside Nights series. There's a lesbian couple and a gay couple – it never occurred to her to separate out a couple because of their sexual preference. Some authors warned her that she might alienate her core audience but that hasn't happened "I would encourage any author who feels passionate about a story not to hold back on writing it simply because other people think it's not a good idea…my thought going into this is that I trust my readers" Best advice for launching a new book: 1) Be everywhere. 2) Advertise outside of the typical avenues for your genre – look to the subthemes of your book and get a wider audience Think of branding in a broad way. For example, imagine your covers being identifiable by site on a shelf. Also, brand at a price bracket - don't start by putting all of your books at $.99; brand at the price where you want to end up What she wishes she would have done differently along the way – she handed off managing her social media to someone for a little while, but that did not go well. She gets significant value from connecting with them directly, herself She also doesn't advise trying to chase trends and figure out what made other people successful. Publishing changes so quickly that if you're writing for a trend, it may have shifted by the time your book is ready to publish. Also, often marketing efforts are happening behind the scenes, and you can't know from external research what went into making a book or author successful "Every authorship is different…. You have to figure out your readership and how you fit with them" It is absolutely essential to get your book edited – you are a representative of independently published authors and books. Don't rush to publish; if you can't afford a good editor, wait to publish until you can Your best marketing plan is always writing your next book Melissa Foster writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Readers adore Melissa's fun, flirty, and sinfully sexy, award-winning big family romance collection, LOVE IN BLOOM featuring the Snow Sisters, Bradens, Remingtons, Ryders, Seaside Summer, Harborside Nights, and the Wild Boys After Dark. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic, perfect beach reads, and always family oriented.

In a slight twist to the normal format for the podcast, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who is interested in getting involved in podcasting interviews Mark Lefebvre, Joanna Penn and J, Daniel Sawyer about podcasting for authors. Some of the questions that Kris asks in the discussion, are: --> How did you get started in podcasting? -->What schedule(s) do the podcasts come out on? Monthly, Weekly, Daily. --> Has podcasting interfered with writing or has it augmented it? In the course of the discussion, Kris, Mark, Joanna and Dan talk about: --> How podcasting allows them to network, learn, and connect with others --> How the podcast needs to become a "habit" for listeners. Joanna, for example, shares stats about how moving to a weekly format increased her listener engagement --> the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value when you add a transcrpt of the show on your website --> How Joanna almost gave up podcasting a couple of years ago because of the time it took away from her writing and how having a monetization strategy helped with that --> Authors like Scott Sigler and Terry Fallis who used podcasting to build their audiences and kick-off their writing careers --> Time management challenges, tools used and how the use of "batching" (pre-recording a number of episodes in a single sitting) has benefited Joanna Penn and J. Daniel Sawyer --> The value of adding a personal side to a podcast, and the way that has benefited The Creative Penn podcast --> Bundlerabbit- a service that allows people to curate their own bundles --> The use of ad space swapping with other podcasts in order to expand one's audience --> Podcast distribution options --> The importance of listening to a podcast before pitching yourself to them as a potential guest In the wrap-up, Mark talks about the importance of constantly learning. Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an industry veteran who teaches and mentors writers directly and on her amazing blog "The Business Rusch" But even after all those decades of experience, she still has an open mind and is willing to learn, because the publishing industry is constantly changing and evolving. Links to other interviews with the same guests: Episode 16 - Joanna Penn Episode 29 - Kristine Kathryn Rusch Episode 54 - The Uncollected Anthology (with Kris) Episode 56 - J. Daniel Sawyer Other Links of Interest: Joanna Penn's HOW TO PODCAST The Creative Penn Podcast J. Daniel Sawyer's Full Suite of Audio/Podcasts BundleRabbit

In Episode 68, we check in with Ethan Jones, a spy thriller author who decided to go wide with his novels and focus on growing his Kobo sales. His 2015 sales were up 260% over 2014, and every month has broken his sales record from the preceding month. Kobo is now Ethan's leading retailer, bringing him healthy four figures each month and rising. How did he accomplish this? What advice does he have for authors considering publishing to KWL, or just starting out? Tune in to find out! Ethan has three spy thriller series currently on the go His inspirations: Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, Baldacci, Tom Clancy, Bourne series He feels it's important to not only know the market, but to know the basic story lines of major authors in his genre and not repeat them; "Readers are more likely to believe that Ethan Jones copied Brad Thor than the reverse." Why he switched from exclusive with another retailer to wide distribution. Since then, his Kobo sales have grown in a big way. He saw a 260% increase in sales for 2015 over 2014. Every month is higher and higher, now bringing in healthy four figures per month, more than all other retailers combined. It took perseverance in terms of both time and effort When you upload to Kobo, give the books time. Inform your readers that they are available in that channel. Think of your career as a marathon – you are laying the groundwork to establish a readership globally, across multiple retail channels Sold books in 30 countries so far through Kobo, including Fiji and Turks and Caicos Ethan still works a full-time job, and does his writing during his commute and lunch break. He catches up on email and marketing on the weekend Connects with the writing community through online forums, cross-promotions, and attending conferences On Mailing Lists: he manages two lists. 1) 2 emails a month, goes to everyone who has expressed interest in him and his books. Brief update, new releases, any deals, offers that include cross-promoting 2-3 other authors. 2) ARC readers, 1 email a month about review copies and a reminder about posting reviews Releases a new book every 3-4 months Average cost of producing each book: $200-$300 per book for editing/proofreading. $200 for a cover. Under $500 per book total Beyond BookBub, his promotional strategies include: tell readers about all new books, price pre-order lower than launch price. Send occasional flash sales to his mailing lists. Hit some of the smaller promotional website opportunities beyond BookBub Something his readers might not know about him: English isn't his first language (it's Albanian), and Ethan Jones is a pen name A few overall words of wisdom: Start right away with building a mailing list. Invite anyone and everyone you know – it might surprise you to learn who is interested in your writing. Distribute widely; think about your career as a long-term gig, and give yourself 18 months to work on promoting new channels. LINKS OF INTEREST www.ethanjonesbooks.wordpress.com Author Ethan Jones on Facebook AuthorEJones on Twitter Ethan Jones is the author of the wildly popular Justin Hall spy thriller series, featuring Canadian Intelligence Service special agents operating mostly in the Middle East. This series has nine books so far. The first four books in this series have reached the Amazon's Top 10 Best Sellers lists. Ethan has also started a new spy series: Carrie Chronicles, which features Justin Hall's partner, Carrie O'Connor, in solo adventures. The first two novels in this series, Priority Target and Codename: Makarov have already come out and more are expected to be released in 2017. He is also working on a romantic suspense series, featuring Jennifer Morgan, set in New York. The first book in this series, The Secret Affair, is already out and the second and the third will be published in fall and winter 2016. Ethan is a lawyer by trade, and he lives in Edmonton, Canada, with his wife and son.

What if some of the artists we feel as if we know – Meryl Streep, Neil Young, Bill Murray – turned up in the course of our daily lives? That's the basis of this collection of linked stories that follow Rose McEwan, an ordinary woman who keeps having extraordinary encounters with famous people. Nora Parker, Merchandising Coordinator at Kobo, interviews Marni Jackson, author of Don't I Know You? Published by Flatiron Books in New York. In the interview, Nora and Marni discuss: Marni's turn to fiction from her previous books such as Pain: The Science of Why We Hurt and Home Free: The Myth of the Empty Nest The accidental manner by which these stories ended up converging into the linked-stories novel that it became, starting with a short story Marni wrote called "Bob Dylan Goes Tubing" which was originally published in The Walrus in September 2012 How that same "Bob Dylan" short story was inspired by a painting that her son created one afternoon when they were at the cottage How Jackson choose who to include in the stories and how Rose McEwan's relationship to celebrity evolves throughout the tales How Bill Murray is a great character in the book because of the carefully curated and crafted persona of "Bill Murray" that he deftly manages and uses to connect with his fans (or, to use a very Canadian term, as Marni does: "Stick-handles" his fame in a really interesting way The interesting relationship between celebrity and audience and how the audience or fans actually "author" a celebrity's fame The manner by which celebrities don't necessarily exist "out there" in the distance, but that they are very much a part of our creative lives (ie, we may put on one of their songs while we are having sex – a perfect example of how they are incorporated into those intimate moments) The juxtaposition of the journalist in Jackson who enjoyed documenting real elements from the celebrities in this book with the fun and fictional encounters with Rose Jackson's interest in our relationships with celebrities and our relationship to fame rather than in the cult of celebrity The Al Purdy stage show project that Jackson is currently working on based on the film al purdy was here which she co-wrote that her husband, Brian D. Johnson, directed The concerns regarding the mention of famous people in the book and the fact that Jackson's lawyer went through it with her line-by-line to ensure there was nothing that could be construed as libelous or defamation of character After the interview, Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life and Author Relations, shares some thoughts regarding Author Branding, outlining some ways in which an author can ensure that they are curating and presenting a consistent author persona or brand out into the world. He draws upon a couple of examples that, like in the Bill Murray reference Marni Jackson uses, are Canadian. He uses his own example of the use of the life-sized skeleton Barnaby Bones that he employs for his Mark Leslie horror/paranormal/ghost story author persona. He also explores Hugo and Nebula Award winning science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer who uses the "Dean of Canadian Science Fiction" element throughout his persona, including the name of his website: SFWRITER.COM. As a final example, Mark looks at the fonts uses in the title for the Netflix original STRANGER THINGS and how that makes a promise to potential viewers. Other links of interest: Marni Jackson's Website Marni Jackson's Books on Kobo Flatiron Books The Walrus Magazine Branding for Writers – from Joanna Penn's The Creative Penn

Recorded at Kobo's headquarters, this episode features Toronto-based literary agent Sarah Heller, from the Helen Heller Agency. Why did Sarah become an agent? What are some benefits to being an agent in Toronto? What are some key tips for authors planning to query an agent? Tune in as Sarah and US Manager Christine Munroe discuss all of this and more. Sarah has a background is in fine arts, but her mother (Helen) started the agency in 1988 so she grew up with publishing in the background. Sarah joined the agency 11 years ago. Growing up she always loved reading, was surrounded by books, and all of that fell into place when she started agenting. Why Sarah loves working in Toronto; it offers the benefit of being easily accessible to other international publishing centres, New York, and London, but is separate enough that there's a vibrant Toronto/Canadian writing and publishing community. Why she loves being an agent. She can wear many hats – introduce people and projects to one another, dig into the creative process with edits, negotiate contracts. "With the advent of being able to publish quickly online…it's a very viable way of publishing your book and doing well with it financially and critically." She helps her authors make best use of all of their work. Many authors have projects stowed away that haven't been published, or have gone out of print, so there's great new potential in digital publication. Their agency manages a KWL account and helps authors publish digitally to Kobo. "The landscape is so fluid that you can publish a book online…that can then retroactively be picked up by a publisher if that's ultimately what an author wants… There are also cases of certain territories not having access to a book that now they do." They want to take advantage of all opportunities to help their authors advance their careers. How to stand out when querying an agent: Get the name of the person you're addressing your query to. Never, "Dear Sir or Madam" (no "sirs" at their agency, for example!). Research what kind of books the agency handles – and does not handle. Brief and to the point query letter, synopsis and your background. No gimmicks necessary. Sarah Heller has developed an internationally and New York Times bestselling list. She specializes in establishing new authors with a focus on front list commercial YA and adult fiction. Sarah received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University, and is a graduate of the Advertising Design program of the Ontario College of Art and Design.

Reedsy's ambition extends beyond just being a place where authors can connect with publishing professionals; it's a place for collaborative tools and with an ultimate goal of assisting the publication process right from the first written word of an author's manuscript right through the typesetting, publishing and marketing of the final book. Mark Lefebvre, Kobo Writing Life Director, interviews Matthew Cobb, co-founder and lead designer of Reedsy regarding the platform and the amazing online Book Editor tool. In the interview Mark and Matthew discuss: What Reedsy is (a marketplace for authors and editors, designers, etc to meet and collaborate as well as an online tool that allows authors to both collaborate in the creation process, but also produce production ready ePub and print on demand files) How the filters allow an author to find the right professional to provide the right editorial services to them, and the quote request process where you can request a free quote from up to 5 different matching professionals The curatorial process by which editors and other professionals apply to be within this ecosystem and are vetted and approved by the team at Reedsy How Reedsy doesn't only handle the introduction to the publishing professional but also the transaction (ie, payment to the editor), but also the file transfer, as well as customer support and assistance Details about the online book editor and how it was born out of the frustration inherent when one of the founders wanted to publish a book The issues inherent with trying to use WORD to typeset and prepare a book for print-readiness along with how an author can simply copy and paste their WORD file document into the editor and it'll preserve all the formatting, including headings, alignment, etc The ability for editors and authors to work together collaboratively online using the Reedsy Book Editor The use of templates that authors select, when they're ready to export their print ready or ePub format file Whether or not this free editor is good for other formats such as children's books, cookbooks, or other fixed layout types of book formats A bit about the four co-founders of Reedsy and the internal Reedsy family of employees Matthew's favourite advice for a beginning writer to get on the right track for success Mark then talks about the importance of finding the right person for the right job (ie, an author looking for just the right editor) and relates that to both the story of Goldilocks (how she kept trying things until she found the one that was just right), as well as the concept of asking a more detailed question in order to get the most optimum answer for you. Links of Interest: Reedsy Reedsy Book Editor The Reedsy Blog Reedsy on Twitter

In Episode 64 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Robyn Baldwin, author of Love Lost, Life Found: 8 Practical Steps to Heal a Broken Heart. In the interview, Mark and Robyn discuss: Robyn's past work as a Senior Integrated Marketing Manager How the book itself has been three years in the making – first and foremost as a journaling experience; and then, later, in response to others, who, in reading her journal, thanked her for sharing it as it helped them The specific identification of the target audience for this book: someone who has called off a wedding, gone through a divorce or left a toxic relationship The additional target for this book might be younger women for whom this book might help them to identify what a difficult relationship looks like so they never have to put themselves in that situation How the book might also be targeted at a "13 year old Robyn" as something that she wished she could have had The underlying message of the book that there is a life to be found after all the "broken bits" The role of social media in both her demise as well as in her healing: Such as the "false picture" that she was actively portraying even while in the midst of the dark depths of the toxic relationship and then how The role of Pinterest in the time leading up to the wedding, and then, later, the more important role of how she used Pinterest to find motivational quotes The significance of the release date for this book, August 25th, and how a comment from her mother led her to wanting to change, or take control of that date as a positive thing Robyn's identification as an Alpha Female and the inspiring Alpha Female Podcast that she hosts Her definition of an Alpha Female: An Alpha Female is a powerful and assertive woman. Her confidence is due to being an intelligent and intellectual problem-solver. Being an Alpha Female is a State of Mind based on choosing ambition and being proud of it. She strives for a happy and healthy work/life harmony How Robyn's background in marketing helped her with the aspect of planning out the book and the book launch path The timeline, schedule and check-lists that Robyn managed within Asana for the both the self-publishing steps as well as the marketing efforts leading up to the launch of the book Robyn's advice for other first-time authors for where and how they should consider starting How a lot of the promotional efforts Robyn is participating in aren't about promoting the book, but about sharing valuable pieces from the book with various online sources: such as the "calling off a wedding check-list" An interesting revelation of how, when Robyn reached out to literary agents regarding the book, she was told her platform reach (which was in the realm of 20,000 people), wasn't large enough and that she should consider self-publishing it The authentic and organic way that the book itself was woven into Robyn's personal and social media presence Robyn's use of Gary Vaynerchuk's concept of "Jab Jab Jab Right Hook" - from his book of the same name Other links of interest: Robyn's Website - http://robynbaldwin.com The Book: Love Lost, Life Found Robyn on Facebook Robyn on Pinterest Robyn on Twitter Robyn's Instagram - http://instagram.com/RobynBaldwin Robyn on YouTube

Episode 63 features NYT bestselling author Melody Anne, who began publishing in 2011 and has published forty (!) books and sold over 7 million copies since then. What strategies helped her get to where she is today, and what's working best for her now? How has becoming a bestselling hybrid author changed her life? Tune in and get inspired by Melody Anne's incredible journey, which she shares with US Manager Christine Munroe. At the end of the episode, Christine shares some reminders for planning your new releases as we head into fall. Melody Anne never grew up dreaming of being an author, because she couldn't have imagined the tools that exist today and empower authors to self-publish She's self-published 40 books in 5 years Her first conference was RWA in Anaheim, when self-publishing was spoken about more negatively. She stayed quiet but met Ruth Cardello, who became her mentor and inspired her to make her first book free Melody was horrified by this strategy – it took her a year to write the first book. But her sales exploded, with 40,000 downloads in the first day, followed by a huge spike in her paid books Another important moment was when a NYT bestselling author sitting next to her at a signing told her that she had done a great job and had a successful signing – that validation meant a lot to her Market changes from 2012 to now, from her perspective: more volume, more books priced at free, more niche genres. Marketing strategies have completely shifted to adapt to these developments Another huge moment was when she hit #3 on the NYT Bestseller list. She still finds it hard to believe that so many people want to buy her books when there are so many others to choose from nowadays "My day to day life is horrifyingly boring." Half the time she's in her pajamas at her computer for 12 hours a day, and forgets to brush her hair Her release schedule these days: self-publishing, and publishing with Montlake and Pocket. She has a release every month for the remainder of 2016 How she gets it all done: she currently has 6 people working with her, 3 of whom are full-time She works hard to engage with fans on Facebook, Goodreads, over email, but from her perspective the best way to connect with fans is face-to-face at conferences and readings. But when authors are out meeting fans, they need to remember that first impressions are crucially important. You can't take back a bad first impression The importance of writers getting out into the real world, away from their computers at home. "When you sit at home too long, you kind of forget… When I'm out, I watch how people talk and interact, and all of those things go in my books." RELATED LINKS http://www.melodyanne.com/ @melodyanneauthor Facebook @authmelodyanne twitter @melodyanneromance Instagram NYT and USA Today bestselling author Melody Anne wrote for years, then published in 2011, finding her true calling, and a love of writing nonstop. Holding a Bachelor's Degree in business, she loves to write about strong, powerful, businessmen and the corporate world. When Melody isn't writing, she cultivates strong bonds with her family and enjoys time spent with them as well as her friends, and beloved pets. A country girl at heart, she loves the small town and strong community she lives in and is involved in many community projects. To date, Melody has over 7 million book sales and has earned a spot on multiple best seller lists, including being an Amazon top 100 bestselling author for 3 years in a row, as well as a Kobo and iBooks best seller. But beyond that, she just loves getting to do what makes her happiest – live in a fantasy world, 95% of the time.

In a KWL Podcast first, we checked in with an editor from a major publishing house, Tessa Woodward from HarperCollins. In her eleven years at Harper, specializing in editing romance, women's fiction, and historical fiction, Tessa has seen the industry go through the parallel changes in the emergence of eBooks and self-publishing. Tune in to her Tessa and KWL US Manager Christine Munroe chat about: The range of genres Tessa edits: women's fiction, romance (historical and contemporary), some mystery and non-fiction. She is specifically always looking for great romance, especially historical What the submission process is like at HarperCollins. Avon Impulse has an open submission policy – it's one of the few remaining imprints that offers that opportunity for authors without literary agents. They receive 100-400 submissions a month What Tessa looks for in a new submission: a great voice She had no background in romance before she started at Avon. How she fell in love with the genre, and the "classic" romance authors she read first in her self-education when she first started: Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Rachel Gibson, Stephanie Laurens, Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Now, Tessa is a big-time romance book lover who rarely reads outside the genre During a typical workday, Tessa doesn't have time to do much reading or editing. She reviews covers, marketing and publicity, writes and approves copy, takes editorial calls with authors, and answers a lot of emails Why Tessa doesn't expect an unpublished author to have a social media platform established when they approach a publishing house Her one big pet peeve when it comes to authors who do have social media already in place When she's looking at self-published authors interested in a traditional deal, she's much more interested in the potential of this specific story than eBook sales track record for previous books. She still has to pitch the new book to bookstores, who won't be very interested in hearing just about eBook sales or free download numbers The main benefits, from Tessa's point of view, of working with a publisher today. You get an experienced support team who share the publishing burden with you, so that you can focus on writing your next book. Tessa joined HarperCollins 11 years ago, and has seen the industry undergo changes in digital publishing and self-publishing, particularly in romance. She thinks new digital opportunities have opened up the chance for publishers to experiment and publish a lot more books, and a wider range of voices How she feels about hybrid authors – "As long as we're working together, I think it's great!" Hybrid authors bring new insights, and can create opportunities for new hybrid marketing models and more Senior Editor Tessa Woodward edits a wide array of romance, women's fiction, and historical fiction. On the romance side, she edits authors across all genres, including the New York Times and USA Today bestsellers Tessa Dare, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Jennifer Bernard, and Maya Rodale. Her women's fiction titles range from USA Today bestseller Shelley Noble's beach-set novels, to Molly McAdams' New York Times bestselling New Adult stories, to Lisa Turner's psychological mysteries, and the darker, historical ORPHAN #8, a debut from Kim van Alkemade. She is the US editor for international bestseller Paullina Simons. On the nonfiction side, she is publishing THE WORLD OF MR. SELFRIDGE. She is looking for more women's fiction with strong characters, both historical and contemporary, as well as all genres of romance.

Episode 61 features an interview with Peter James, an international best-selling British writer of crime fiction, which took place at Kobo in June 2016 in front of a live audience. Peter is interviewed by Kobo Writing Life director Mark Lefebvre. In the interview, Mark and Peter discuss: Peter's work on the Canadian television program POLKA DOT DOOR in Toronto in the 1970s where he worked as a "gofer" and was asked by a producer, when a regular staff writer called in sick, to write an episode. After that he ended up writing for the show for a year. The original "Agatha Christie" style crime fiction that Peter was weaned on which had very strict rules and conventions: A dead body in chapter one; preferably in a country house; a bit of culture; a bit of sex; a little bit of violence and the hilariously fitting opening line that he has come up with which inserts all those elements How Graham Greene's Brighton Rock (one of two of the best crime novels ever written, in Peter's eyes – the other one is Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs) is a book that changed Peter's life, because it threw all of those rules out the window. How Brighton Rock taught Peter 3 important things about novels: A great opening line. Where the central character is a villain that you can care about. How some of the most enduring characters in all of literature have been villains. How the villain in LOVE YOU DEAD was inspired by a woman Peter met on a prison visit How having his house burgled let to Peter finding great friends from the police force who have invited him to learn directly from them for the past thirty years, inserting the authenticity that he so carves in his crime fiction The dedicated police officer who, upon first meeting Peter, pointed to a mountainous stack of crates of manila folders and introduced them as his "dead friends" and how he eventually became the inspiration for Roy Grace Two traits that really good detectives have: They are incredibly anal and capable of incredible out of the box thinking Peter's belief in the inseparable trinity of character, research and plot in creating writing The great extremes that Peter has gone to in the name of research for his books, including being locked in a coffin for half an hour, held a live scorpion in his hand, been submerged in an overturned van The book DEATH COMES KNOCKING: Policing Roy Grace's Brighton that Peter is co-authoring based on long-running respect for the real police and the many years of research he has done with them The haunted house that Peter lived in which partially inspired his novel THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL The real character (Hayden Kelly) from Peter's last three books who is a real guy and came up with forensic podiatry, the measurement of the unique gaits of different people Mark then talks about the great ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) that he received from Peter's Canadian distributor (see blog post here) as a great example of author branding and grabbing a reader or reviewer's attention as well as another important resource that authors can rely on for digital branding: PERSONALITY. He uses the example of Peter's YouTube channel and how it helped add a new layer a new dimension to Peter's author brand, and how watching several videos of the author helped Mark, as a reader, feel connected to the author. Mark discusses the importance of that connection which can be achieved through digital mediums.

In this week's episode, we're focusing on book blogging. Vilma Gonzalez, the all-star blogger who runs Vilma's Book Blog, shared her journey with us, along with tips for how authors and bloggers can work together to help one another succeed. Tune in to learn: How Vilma developed the aesthetic and brand of her blog. She is a marketing expert by day, so she knows the importance of a website that is easy to use, clean, and represents her The growth of the blog over three years, growing her audience from 100 followers to over 33,000 today How did she make that happen? Hard work, dedication, time. She applied the rules of business, being professional and staying focused on what readers want to see, and who she wants to be as a blogger Vilma targets various social media outlets differently based on the typical users for each – for example, Snapchat and Instagram skew younger than Facebook – so she tailors posts appropriately Her typical day: she essentially works two full-time jobs. She's worked in marketing and technology for 20 years, and still does that full-time. Then she comes home, takes care of her kids, and works late nights on the blog, reading books, scheduling social media posts for the next day, often until 1am How to monetize a blog. Affiliate links and ads are the primary ways to build steady income, but the affiliate side especially recently has been unstable On average, Vilma reads 3 books a week plus an audio book. She keeps things on a very organized schedule – one book Monday-Wednesday, one book Wednesday-Friday, and one on the weekend. What is the value to authors for building relationships with bloggers? You're getting access through a trusted source to a dedicated audience. Bloggers have built a level of trust with their followers, so that recommendation is a powerful tool. Authors can also use the opportunity to learn about how readers are reading and connecting with bloggers #1 advice for authors approaching bloggers: pay attention to what they're looking for. Understand who they are and what they like. #2: don't approach too aggressively and come in with big expectations. For example, Vilma's review schedule is booked 4-6 months in advance, so there's not much she can do for an author hoping for support for a launch with short notice How she balances her friendships with authors, and what she's trying to accomplish on the blog, for example if she reads a book by a friend that isn't a good fit for her Why she has a policy to only post positive reviews (3-3.5 stars or more) on the blog. She wants to remain focused on sharing books that she loves The parallels between bloggers and authors, including struggling with breaking through the clutter of volume and staying focused on a strong brand and solid marketing The benefits to bloggers of attending conferences and connecting with authors and industry professionals in person Advice for bloggers wanting to start today: figure out who you want to be, and keep everything centered on that primary value or identity Vilma Gonzalez is a marketing professional by day and book reviewer by night. She's been devouring books since she was very young and in early 2013, created Vilma's Book Blog, a website dedicated to reviewing books of all genres. In addition, she also writes for USA Today's HEA blog, penning a column entitled Love In Suspense, which focuses on thrillers and mystery novels. Vilma also blogs about fashion and style trends and is determined to own every Alex and Ani bracelet every made. She currently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their two young sons.

Nathan Maharaj, Kobo's Director of Merchandising, interviews Tom Vanderbilt, the best-selling author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, about his latest book You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice which is an interesting exploration of our personal tastes and what it says about us. During the interview, Nathan and Tom discuss: The role that red pants came to play in Tom's book when he was living in Madrid and how that relates to the "mere exposure" effect The role of context in how we experience things The language element involved in a dining experience (and a callout to Dan Jurafsy's book The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu The effect by which the guided "headphone" tour through an art museum can alter the user's experience within a gallery, including the cognitive tunneling that can occur A unique book that was created with a built in camera and facial recognition software entitled The Cover That Judges You that was designed to only open if the person looking at the cover displayed a completely neutral face. The effect on social liking and music, musical tastes, how the long tail got longer and how popularity has gotten more hierarchical rather than less so The phenomenon of "guilty pleasures" and the difference between guilt and shame How taste can be a more taboo subject than sex or money The idea of not trusting the "easy like" The interesting juxtaposition between "freedom of choice" and "freedom from choice" KWL Director Mark Lefebvre then speaks about the concept of reviews and refers to something Tom mentioned in the interview regarding how both five star and one star reviews are sometimes interpreted by consumers and the importance of having a wide spread of reviews to make the product reviews seem more "natural" OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST: Tom Vanderbilt's website Tom Vanderbilt on Twitter

Episode 58 features an interview with Kobo Merchandisers Liz Hilborn (Manager of Merchandising) and Sarah Smith-Eivemark (Canadian Merchandiser). In the interview, KWL Director Mark Lefebvre, Liz, and Sarah discuss: What a merchandiser is and what they do at Kobo How merchandisers work with publisher sales reps to determine which books get featured in different lists such as "New and Hot" A look at the daily, weekly, monthly schedule and routine that merchandisers follow How merchandisers in different territories connect, collaborate, and share best practices How the merchandisers work with the Vendor Managers in various countries The benefit the merchandising interns have in of hearing about global publishing trends and activities during the daily merchandising team meetings The preferred timelines that merchandisers need in order to plan out a promotion or feature and how that might be different in various global territories based on how much progress that country has already made in terms of digital publishing The average number of books that a merchandiser might look at on any given day Solid book cover design advice from a merchandiser's perspective The important role that a proper price (and a flexible price) plays from a merchandiser's perspective The pricing promotion sweet spot (anywhere between 99 cents and $4.99) How not rounding your pricing up to .99 in a local territory means you're leaving money on the table Recent publishing trends that Liz and Sarah have recognized and are excited about The WRONG things to do (AKA Merchandiser pet peeves or, the right thing to do if you never want to get a book featured on Kobo) Mark then talks a bit about the Alliance of Independent Authors "Indie Author Fringe" events and why they are important and then reflects on how the Kobo Writing Life team are internal 'sales reps' for KWL authors at Kobo, working collaboratively with the merchandising team and always looking for new opportunities to help authors find new customers at Kobo.

Christine Munroe interviews Helen Hardt, an author and editor, about her publishing journey in terms of both sides of her career. This month, Helen launched the Steel Brothers Saga series with Waterhouse, an "untraditional" publishing house headed up by indie author all-star, Meredith Wild. Christine and Helen discuss: Helen's publishing path, starting with small presses, and most recently with Waterhouse Press. She became an editor before she became a published author. Her work editing Meredith Wild, starting with Hardwired. "In this industry, it's all about making contacts" – Meredith later started Waterhouse Press, and hired Helen as Managing Editor and took her on as an author. Waterhouse describes itself as an "untraditional press." From Helen's point of view, they focus on building the author and brand, more so than on each individual book, which she appreciates. They have a virtual office, with a small staff and authors spread out across the US. The Waterhouse team is very accessible to their authors, and open to author feedback on all aspects of the publishing process. Helen's advice: write the best book possible. Learn, learn, learn about the art and craft of writing. Then hire a professional editor. She wishes she could have known that there's more to writing fiction than just knowing your grammar. It would have saved her a lot of heartache in the form of rejections and bad critiques from contest entries. Is it harder for Helen, as an editor herself, to find an editor for her work that she can trust? "You can't have an ego in this business" – there is always so much you don't know about. The Steel Brothers Saga, which just launched starting with CRAVING and is heating up the bestseller lists. The next book, OBSESSION, comes out July 19th. This is Helen's first series in which she'll stretch the story of her characters across multiple books. "All of my heroes are a little bit tortured – this one more tortured than most!" After the interview, Christine talks about the huge success of small independent publishing houses like Waterhouse in recent years. Another great example is Bookouture, based in the UK. They're bridging the gap between self-publishing and traditional publishing, and maximizing the best opportunities offered by both paths. We will likely see more and more of these presses emerge, and it will be very interesting to watch authors navigate these new opportunities.

Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life, interviews, author, podcaster, film-maker, photographer and audio-book producer, J. Daniel Sawyer. In the interview, Mark and Daniel discuss: Dan's publishing production schedule which include 5 books currently in the queue, 8 mysteries in a single series (The Clarke Lantham Mysteries) 6 science fiction books spread across two different series (The Antithesis Progression & Suave Rob's Awesome Adventures) and stand-alones, a couple of short story collections and two long form writer's guides (Making Tracks: A Writer's Guide to Audiobooks and How to Produce Them and Throwing Lead: A Writer's Guide to Firearms and the People Who Use Them) How four of the books in Sawyer's Clarke Lantham series started off as short stories, but then "escaped" into full sized novels Dan's book Idea's Inc. that was inspired by science fiction legend Harlan Ellison's snarky response to where he gets his ideas from. His goal to write 3000 words each and every day Dan's Nanowrimo Daily Podcast project Nanowrimo Every Month The three pillars of writing: Craft, Business, Law Examples of incorrect weapon use in stories, which Sawyer addresses in his book: Throwing Lead: A Writer's Guide to Firearms and the People Who Use Them How poorly researched use of something like weapons can kick a knowing reader out of the story The differences in weapon terminology use, such as a clip and a magazine, an automatic and a semi-automatic The Weaver stance, originally created in the 1950's and how it remains one of a number of popular shooting stances in handgun training today because it taught police officers how to shoot quickly, accurately and without accidents Why the "clicking" of a gun when it is out of ammunition is an inaccurate Hollywood convention when it comes to most modern firearms Why Doc Brown would NOT have survived the AK-47 attack in the movie Back to the Future, even with a Kevlar vest on Why being shot typically won't send someone flying backwards or even stop them while rushing forward Dan's life-long passion for theatre-radio and audio-books How Scott Sigler inspired Dan into podcasting his fiction. A look at the minimum standard equipment an author would need in order to produce their own quality audio book How Dan has created full-cast / multi-voice audio productions The rough number of hours it takes to produce each hour of finished audio product and the differences between single narrator recordings and full-cast productions The importance of learning from one's own blunders while finding your way through the business aspect of writing Links: Daniel Sawyer's Website Twitter: @dsawyer

In this episode, Christine takes you behind the scenes at Kobo to hear from colleagues on five different Kobo teams who each play a different role in getting eBooks to customers and analyzing data post-publication. Tune in to hear from: Chris, KWL Development "Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for our users to publish their content, and then after that do as much as possible to drive the success of those published titles." How does the dev team manage to wrangle KWL's seemingly never-ending list of features and ideas we want to implement? He has to balance new projects with maintaining and testing the current platform, and evaluating the necessity and value of each new idea. With each new to-do item, he needs to collaborate with the rest of the broad Kobo team to make sure we can support these changes from a data and software perspective. Sarah, Content Analytics Why and how you should measure the halo effect of promotions and price changes. Learning what prices sell well in different countries - certain geos are more price-sensitive than others, and you can adjust your territory pricing accordingly. For example, US and UK shoppers are used to paying less for eBooks, while readers in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada are more willing to pay more. Ben, QA & Content Display Ben's main responsibility involves seeing content coming in and deciding whether or not it's ready to go for sale to customers. When the answer is no, his team works to problem solve, find bugs, and support fixes. Common errors found during the QA process: all content lumped in chapter 1; mismatched file uploaded for the title (ex Book 2 in a series instead of Book 1); missing or out of order chapters; low image quality. Ben's favourite QA lingo. Aren't you dying to know what an obfuscated font is? Patricia, Publisher Operations The detective work of PubOps, who are always working to answer a question from a publisher, another internal team, or retail partner. Why hasn't a price changed? Why isn't a book for sale? Why has this eBook failed QA testing? Why Patricia likes projects that involve launching in a new territory - a large cross-functional team basically gets to recreate Kobo, and rebuild the catalogue, in a short period of time. Jared, Big Data Reading data that Kobo collects and analyzes. How we're currently using it for our readers - to show them patterns in how they read, when they read, and help them set reading goals. How we hope to share it with authors and publishers to help improve content and sales. Do you have a question about what it takes to run a digital retail company that we didn't answer here? Leave a comment on our blog at www.kobowritinglife.com Thanks for listening!

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews 6 of the 7 writers who make up the core writers of the Uncollected Anthology project: Phaedra Weldon, Leslie Clare Walker, Annie Reed, Leah Cutter, Dayle A. Dermatis and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. (Absent from the interview, but a core member is Michele Lang) The Uncollected Anthology of Urban Fantasy, is an ongoing project where, every three months, the authors pick a theme and write a short story for that theme. But instead of bundling the stories together, they each sell their own stories. So you can buy any one of them, or all of them. No fuss, no muss. But the tales are packaged using templates that bring them together thematically, and the authors have found the anthology as helpful for new readers to discover these books. In the interview, Mark and the writers discuss: How they get together annually for a meeting and have planned the themes out until May 2018 How the idea was born out of the Fiction River anthology workshops that Kris runs with her husband Dean. Dayle looked around the room at the talented authors and knew there were enough who wrote urban fantasy to put something like this together The process which includes deadlines for when the stories, the blurbs, the covers are all due each quarter The cross-promotional aspect of marketing each "issue" or theme of this ongoing series that includes the website and links embedded within each author's books How, even though they are calling them "short stories" some of the stories go as long as 20,000 words or novella length The way Allyson Longueira of WMG Publishing designed the cover template for the group for them to have a consistent brand, look and feel (such as the consistent color that each of the themes employ) The inherent trust each writer has to have, above the existing contract which includes terms such as the fact that each author owns all the copyright on each of their respective stories The common request from readers about how they might be able to get all the stories together How every Feb the theme is urban fantasy romance How Leah doesn't enjoy writing romance and yet, facing the challenge of that theme wrote a story that she loves the most – "The Midnight Gardener" How the themes help the writers explore different concepts and stories they never knew they had in them The brilliantly organic meeting that was the genesis of this collective, and the importance of community and an in person presence at writer events. How Kris is sometimes known by the nickname "Tom Hanks" derived from the movie "Big" because of the storm of ideas that she has Emails, yearly meeting and a closed yahoo group they use to communicate and share files A discussion of some of the challenges that have faced the group Some of the guest authors which include Dean Wesley Smith, Anthea Sharp, Rebecca Senese, Ron Cillins May's "out of the woods" theme . . . . The Fiction River workshops, how they originated based upon what used to be called the Dennis Little workshops at conventions The Importance of being with other writers, the support they offer one another, the pep-talks, the understanding . . . . After the interview, Mark talks about the importance of what can happen when writers come together to share, to communicate and to network. Links of Interest Uncollected Anthology Main Website Uncollected Anthology Books at Kobo Click here to subscribe to the Uncollected Anthology Newsletter

Have you ever worked with a literary agent? What benefits can an agent offer to authors navigating their options: self-publish, sign a traditional deal, or take a hybrid approach? We delve into these questions and more in this interview, our first on the podcast focusing on literary agents. Amy Tannenbaum from the Jane Rotrosen Agency offers the agent's perspective, chatting with KWL Manager Christine Munroe about: Amy's background as an editor at Simon & Schuster for many years. She had begun to acquire self-published authors, but they always asked her if they should work with an agent. When she replied yes, they always asked for a recommendation. Eventually, she decided that she wanted to fill that role. As part of a bigger full-service literary agency, Amy is able to offer her clients support in pursuing opportunities in foreign, audio, and film and TV rights. The majority of new clients she takes on are self-published authors looking for a traditional deal. That's how she started out building a client list as an agent, and she takes on most of her new authors through recommendations from her existing clients. That being said, the industry changes constantly so the picture may look different a year from now! Does she approach working with authors different based on their publishing path? No - it's all about career management, and what the right option is for each book. "Most readers don't care about whether a book is self-published or traditionally published. They just want to read a great story." A few years ago, publishers were hungrily acquiring self-published titles, and you could more easily sell a book based on sales track record. Now, publishers are more selective, and the emphasis has shifted back more to the quality of the voice and writing. Sales numbers and social media presence certainly help, but they're not enough. That being said, if your ultimate goal is to be traditionally published and you're having difficulty getting the attention of an agent or publisher directly, then trying to build your own successful sales track through self-publishing will definitely help build your case to make it happen. With every author looking to switch from indie to traditional, Amy extensively discusses the pros and cons of that decision. Authors won't be able to use their cover designer, choose their editor, set their prices, set a release schedule, etc. On the plus side, though, they're gaining a support team taking the business side (and the pre-publication costs) off their plate. The major thing traditional publishers still offer is print distribution - this is the typical tipping point for indie authors wanting a publishing contract. In the reverse direction, traditional authors often go indie when they have a book that their traditional publisher isn't interested in publishing. Christine's experience working as an agent before self-publishing became a viable option for writers, when a publisher saying "no" was potentially the end of a writing career. We're in an exciting time now, when authors have many options. When Amy is looking at a potential new client, she looks primarily at the writing. Then, she looks at social media - and not necessarily just reach, but engagement level with fans. Most common error to avoid: submitting to an agent who doesn't represent the genre you write in. Most successful way to get an agent: get a recommendation from one of their current clients. So make friends with other authors, engage with them, check the acknowledgements of similar books where authors will thank their agents.

There has never been more opportunities for writers and storytellers than ever in the history of publishing, and Episode 52 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast demonstrates yet another amazing opportunity that exists for writers. KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Jean Leggett co-founder of One More Story Games, a company from Barrie, Ontario that has developed a storytelling platform with a team of gamers, geeks, storytellers and programmers that creates a community for collaborative story game opportunities. In the interview, Mark and Jean discuss: Jean's background as a recovering Haiku addict and recovering stand-up comedian How Jean's love of storytelling combined with her husband's similar love and a computer science background and background working in the games industry led to the formation of One More Story Games The underlying concept of bringing more reading into the game space How the experience of these games is similar to the "Choose Your Own Adventure" branching narrative experiences StoryStylus – the story creation platform that helps creators break down the elements of story (such as people, places, things, relationships, conversation and dialogue, etc) that publishes to an interactive games marketplace The fact that you don't need to be a programmer to be part of creating an interactive story game and how virtually any writer could participate in this process. (With a reminder that "Beta" means "patient, early adopters") A writer, photographer and graphic designer in Tillsonburg, Ontario (Dan Wilkins) who is writing an 8 part series for One More Story Games and involving real people, such as the town's mayor as characters in the story The manner by which a platform like this seems ideal for mystery stories, but the manner by which science fiction and adventure stories have already been built for it The exciting announcement that One More Story Games will be working with New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris (author of the Sookie Stackhouse - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sookie_Stackhouse - novels which have been adapted into the True Blue television series) to adapt her novel Shakespeare's Landlord How the Charlaine Harris project will include a "behind the scenes" look at breaking the book itself into various plot points and how it was developed into the interactive storytelling experience (https://onemorestorygames.com/2016/02/16/lily-bard-online/) The idea of making smarter more casual games available to the growing demographic of women consumers in their mid 30's who are interested in and playing these types of games The concept of how a game like this demonstrates the progression of writer to narrative designer for a storyteller Recommendations on how authors who are interested in exploring these opportunities might get started Links of Interest: One More Story Games One More Story Games on Twitter One More Story Games on Facebook Story Stylus FAQ Charlaine Harris Website YouTube Tutorial Videos from One More Story Games

Known as the "Wizard of Storytelling," David Farland (who also writes under the name David Wolverton) is the author and editor of more than fifty books, including his Philip K. Dick Award winning novel On My Way to Paradise and the well-known Runelords series. A long-time mentor to writers, David spend many years teaching writing at Bringham Young University and has also mentored such writers as Stephanie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, Eric Flint and James Dashner. KWL Director Mark Lefebvre had the chance to sit down and chat with David about these things and much more at the 2016 annual Superstars Writing Seminars conference in Colorado Springs where David is one of the founding faculty members of a group of international bestselling authors who spend several information-packed days teaching newer writers the business of writing and publishing. In their conversation, Mark and David discuss: David's love of writing, which started when he was nine years old and had his first writing published in a local newspaper The fact that David had planned on becoming a doctor and was taken aside by a very astute teacher when he was seventeen who told him, "Dave, you're a writer. You don't it yet, but you're a writer and you can't get away from that. It's going to come out some day." When he was studying pre-med and spent three days working on a poem that just wouldn't leave his mind. Winning third place in a college writing contest for a short story and how that inspired him to write more and submit them to other contests, where he won first place in all of them, including first prize in the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest How winning that contest led to a three novel contract with Bantam right there at the Writers of the Future ceremony David's current role in helping to kick-start new writers careers as the lead editor for the Writers of the Future annual contest Tips on what David is looking for when reading submissions to this contest David's role as a writer coach and how, as an advisor to Scholastic Books in the United States, David had suggested they take a serious look at a then-unknown author of the Harry Potter series The secret to how David can intuit a writer's chances of success without even having to have read any of their work How his real name of David Wolverton became associated with his science fiction novels (starting with his first award winning novel, and how he landed on the pseudonym of David Farland by standing in a bookstore and looking at the placement of books on the shelves and determining the best "eye-level" last name to employ David's natural storyteller ability as a Dungeon Master taking care of twenty to thirty people at once for role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, and how that led to his interest and participation in game development David's work doing screenplays and movie production, and the difference and similarities between writing novels, writing video games and writing screenplays David's work writing in the Star Wars universe, including The Courtship of Princess Leia as well as the YA and middle grade books for Scholastic The collaborative spirit and mentality required when working on licensed properties, video games, etc The differences between "Hollywood" and "New York Publishing" for a writer David's advice for writers and on being a professional writer: Deciding what you want to be and then beginning to live and BE that part As part of his dedication to helping other writers, David writes the David Farland's #WritingTips, an email bulletin for writers. Many authors rave about how it has helped them. Out of devotion, he provides his #WritingTips for free. You can subscribe to David's #WritingTips here. LINKS OF INTEREST David's Website: http://davidfarland.com/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/authordavidfarland Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidfarland David's Great Resources for writers, including a signup to his "Daily Kick in the Pants" emails: www.mystorydoctor.com YouTube Video mentioned in the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWEP3aBVpAw

For our 50th episode, we're featuring over a dozen all-star indie authors offering an amazing wealth of information about publishing and writing. Tune in to hear from HM Ward, Diane Capri, Melody Anne, and more! You'll learn: How this multi-author signing event came together What Diane Capri has learned while serving on the board of the International Thriller Writers Ruth Cardello's tips for becoming a successful author How Melody Anne got started as an author, and why she loves this job. "If somebody ticks me off I get to kill them in my series! So my life is awesome." Raine Miller's tips for translating your novels Why Michelle A. Valentine works with a literary agent How HM Ward manages to write over books per month. "I always have multiple books in the pipeline at a time. So I'll come up with an idea and I'll start a book, and then when I'm not really feeling it anymore I put it down and then I pick up something else." Why CC MacKenzie joined the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) Steena Holmes describing what ALLi has taught her about marketing to a UK audience Chris Keniston's "pantser" writing method What Fabio Bueno has learned while writing from both male and female perspectives in his SINGULARITY series How Lee Strauss found her German translator Rebecca Donovan's thoughts on working with a traditional publisher, Grand Central. She's also heavily involved in the production process turning her BREATHING series into a movie The KWL team is always on the road attending writer's conferences and publishing events, so Christine lists off just a few that we have coming up in the next few months. We hope we'll have the chance to meet you in person soon!

Is your work managing the business side of your publishing taking away from your time writing your next book? Are you feeling overwhelmed? It might be time to hire an Author Assistant. In this episode of the KWL Podcast, US Manager Christine Munroe interviews Kate Tilton, founder of Kate Tilton Author Services, LLC. Christine and Kate talk about: What do author assistants do, exactly? Kate says, "I give authors more time to write and spend with their family, by doing tasks that they may be able to do themselves, but they don't have time for." Kate started as an author assistant in December 2010 – it was her first job, while she was still a high school student. A typical day for Kate might include these tasks: organize email inboxes, send review copies, run to the post office to mail out prizes, scheduling their blog posts and social media, beta reading, matching audiobooks to the written text. It's a diverse job; every day is different. Why should an author hire an author assistant? Every one could use help in some capacity. If you feel overwhelmed and work is piling up. Willing to delegate. Have the finances to afford the help. What projects can be outsourced? Anything, really, that is taking up time that you wish you could be using to write. You can also consider hiring a personal assistant instead, who will help with non-publishing daily chores (picking up dry cleaning, grocery shopping) to make your life more manageable. The job is really flexible – you make your own schedule and choose your author clients. It's great to work with multiple clients, because authors are not in competition with one another. Kate can bring them together for joint efforts like prize giveaways, and each is helping the other find new readers. How much should authors expect to pay for an assistant? Rates vary greatly, depending on the assistant's experience. For example, you can get a college-level intern and pay very little, but you'll need to take the time to teach them how to do what you need. With an experienced assistant, you'll pay around $40/hour, but it may be more efficient because they'll draw on their expertise to get the job done quickly. It's a decision to make based on your budget, time, and needs. For someone hoping to become an author assistant, check out Kate's resources on her website: http://katetilton.com/author-assistants/ For an author looking for an assistant, start with word of mouth – ask your author friends who they work with. There are many resources online, for example http://www.authorsatlas.com/ Kate recently contributed two sections to The Self-Publisher's Ultimate Resource Guide, edited by Joel Friedlander and Betty Sargent, which is available for pre-order on Kobo. Her biggest advice for tackling social media and marketing: figure out who the #1 die-hard fan of your book is going to be, and market to that kind of person. This thought process will help you really appeal to your ideal market. Kate also teaches by doing; she works on her own social media and branding to exemplify what she thinks authors should do. Her brand: Books. Cats. Tea. Nerdy stuff. Food. One great resource for learning more about marketing is CopyBlogger. You need to build a group of people who "know, like, and trust you," because those are the people who are going to help you grow (and buy your books). #K8Chat is Kate's weekly Twitter chat, with the goal of connecting authors and readers. Every Thursday 9-10PM EST.

Kobo recently held a special event in downtown Toronto for some of its best customers, avid readers and fans of Michael Connelly. Special guests had a chance to meet one another for cocktails and snacks, mingle, get books signed, and listen to an on-stage interview with Michael Connelly, who was interviewed by by Johanna Schneller. Some of the fascinating things you'll find out in this entertaining interview with Michael Connelly include: How Michael's mother gave him his first book to read, how, as a child he was introverted and loved to read and earned the nickname "the book addict" The perspective that a writer's job is often being "the observer" Michael's role as a journalism and crime reporter, including the months he spent interviewing survivors of the Delta 191 Crash (131 people died and 29 people survived) and the quote from one of the survivors that still sticks with Michael today The first two books that Michael wrote, which he considered part of the learning process before crafting his third novel, which was the one he knew was good enough and was sent off to be published (and which ended up winning the Edgar Award for best first novel The advice from Michael's agent and editor to keep his head down and write his next novel, which allowed him to have his second novel already turned in by the time the first novel (The Black Echo) came out How Michael waited until several novels had been published before quitting his day job Michael's thoughts on the 150 newspapers that ran stories on then president Bill Clinton walking out of a bookstore carrying his novel The Concrete Blonde Having an iconic actor like Clint Eastwood involved in the creation of the movie Blood Work, based on one of Michael's novels The "fourth wall" mention in The Crossing of the movie version of The Lincoln Lawyer Reflections on being one of the guest authors (along with Stephen J. Cannell, James Patterson, and Dennis Lehane) who makes semi-regular appearances on the ABC television series Castle as one of Richard Castle's poker buddies The mosaic by which Michael's most popular character, Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch is, in many ways, similar to the complex and multi-compositional paintings by the famous painter of the same name Michael's approach towards writing every single day, particularly when he is going through the process of a first draft The casting of Titus Welliver in the lead role as Harry Bosch in the Bosch series, Michael's role in suggesting him, and the manner by which Welliver may not "look" like the outer Harry Bosch Connelly has written about, but how he definitely looks like the "inner" Harry Bosch and how he very effectively displays the angst and internal turmoil that makes Bosch who he is Collaborative writing and Michael's reflections on having done that in the past (both in text writing as well as in working on the Bosch series) Where Michael writes most often and the answer to the question of whether he prefers a typewriter or a computer when writing a novel How Michael knows the beginning and has a really good sense of the end when he sits down to write the first draft of a novel, and the intriguing discovery process that the writing becomes for him The fact that Michael is a major re-writer, who usually writes three drafts of a novel How he knows whether a novel will be a "Haller" or a "Bosch" novel The aural inspirational process that Michael uses to write. How Michael has aged Harry in real time, leading to natural progressions, such as his recent retirement The reason why Harry Bosch continues to remain alone and single, despite many highs and lows of relationships over the years Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre then talks about Michael's mention of one of his sources of inspiration by connecting with lawyers and police officers. He reflects on how a writer who is open to connecting with and listening to professionals not only has the resources to create better writing, but also brings a sense of community to the overall writing and overall proces Link to Michael Connelly's books on Kobo Michael Connelly's Website

For the month of November, a brave team of Kobo staff joined forces to give NaNoWriMo a shot. We blogged about our efforts throughout the month, then several of us (Mark, Christine, Bessie, Sophie, and Wendy) sat down to chat about our experience. Listen to this week's episode to hear our roundtable discussion about how Team KoBoWriMo fared in 2015. How many of us "won" by writing 50k words in 30 days? What are we writing about? Everything from epic fantasy, to a horror novel about an abandoned hippie commune, a thriller about a bitter author, race car driving, and an animal migration. Why did we take on this crazy challenge? What worked for us, and what didn't? Wendy did all of her writing within GoogleDocs, so she could write on any device throughout her day, especially during her commute. Mark gave dictation a try, so he could write as he drove (!) to work. Dealing with avoiding cross-contamination when a book with a similar subject or approach is published while you're still writing yours. Sophie's book has parallels with Andre Alexis's FIFTEEN DOGS. Would we do it again? Our goals as writers, and with these projects specifically. We represent a broad range of perspectives. Wendy is keeping her work very private, especially in its current, raw state. Bessie is motivated by public/social media feedback. Kobo Writing Life is a proud sponsor of NaNoWriMo. We love that it inspires writers of all levels to try to sit down and write, set word count goals, and prioritize making creativity a part of your everyday life. As we reach the end of the year, we want to take the time to thank all of you so much for tuning in to the KWL podcast. It's given us the opportunity to interview amazing authors and service providers, and share their stories with you. We love hearing your feedback. If there is a topic you'd like us to cover or writer you'd like us to interview next year, let us know in the comments or email [email protected]

US Manager Christine Munroe interviews Ashleigh Gardner, Wattpad's Head of Writer and Publisher Partnerships. Wattpad is a social media app with over 40 million monthly users around the world and growing. How can you take advantage of this community as a writer and reader? Listen in to learn about: What is Wattpad all about? A social media app for telling stories, all user-generated content. Currently attracts 40 million users per month, growing at a rate of over 1 new user per second. It's mostly readers – 90% of site users. Writers can use it to build reading communities. The longer a user is onsite as a reader, the more likely they are to become a writer. User demographics: 45% of users are 13-18. 40% are 18-30. Fastest-growing segment is women 25-35. A common misconception is that it's just teenagers. Wattpad is strong internationally. #2 country is the Philippines, where Wattpad is the #1 website and they have their own TV show 4 nights a week. A lot of the content is unfinished when it's first uploaded. The encouragement and acknowledgement from the Wattpad community inspires writers to keep going. It offers a very supportive, encouraging environment and culture. Readers are used to a rawness – think of it as a "digital campfire" more than a digital book – so they aren't critical in the same way as you see on other social media platforms. Why should authors post free content? Learn your audience. Grow your audience. Post a portion, or the first book in a series, then encourage readers to buy the rest elsewhere. What is a Wattpad success story? It's different for everyone, as every author is writing for different reasons. The most traditionally successful author is Anna Todd, who has become an internationally bestselling author. Tons of other young writers are gaining confidence every day from having tens of thousands of followers encouraging them to pursue writing opportunities. Brands are sponsoring stories, for example SourPatch Kids and Ouija Boards. How to succeed on Wattpad: follow other writers in your genre. See what they're doing, how they talk to their fans. Find your network – share on other social media outlets that you're posting on Wattpad. What does Wattpad do to combat piracy problems? They don't allow copy/pasting. Duplications are detected, reported, and removed quickly. Everything on Wattpad is date and time stamped, so it's very easy to prove the origin date. Ashleigh's favourite kind of fan fiction: high-brow commentary on contemporary events. Finding that line between real life and fan fiction when the line starts to blur is really interesting. At the end of the episode, we showcase a speech that Michael Tamblyn, Rakuten Kobo President, delivered at FutureBook 2015. FutureBook is an annual digital publishing conference that took place last week in London on December 4th. Tamblyn outlines what he sees as a "reader's bill of rights." We should be able to read: 1. Easily 2. Shamelessly 3. Freely (not meaning no cost, but in terms of time - free time to read in the midst of the distracting world) 4. Publicly 5. Privately In addition to analyzing, trying to understand, marketing to, segmenting, collecting information about readers, publishing professionals (including authors!) need to step back and think about how readers want to read. "Earn the right to the reader's attention… and we'll get to keep doing what we love."

Episode 45 features an interview with USA Today Bestselling author Julianne MacLean, author of THE COLOR OF HEAVEN series, THE HIGHLANDER series and THE PEMBROKE PALACE series. Julianne is interviewed by Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life and they discuss: Julianne's first visit to Kobo HQ in Toronto, Ontario How Mark fell into Julianne's first contemporary novel, THE COLOR OF HEAVEN during a flight, and could not put the book down The manner by which Julianne adapted what she learned from James Patterson in structuring THE COLOR OF HEAVEN and her desire to create a book that was suspenseful on an emotional level, producing what she likes to think of as: "Women's Fiction for Thriller fans" The fact that THE COLOR OF HEAVEN was released in 2011 and how Book 9 in the series (THE COLOR OF TIME) was coming out in September 2015 How, immediately after the success of THE COLOR OF HEAVEN Julianne couldn't immediately return to writing in that universe in order to fulfill a traditional publishing contract How Julianne is breaking things up in 2015 and writing both historical romance and contemporary fiction The fact that THE COLOR OF HEAVEN was originally written with the intention of being sold to a traditional publisher, that it was meant to be a stand-alone, and how readers often assumed that the novel was based on a true story The very "meta" manner by which the rest of the novels in THE COLOR OF HEAVEN series are about fictional characters reading the book THE COLOR OF HEAVEN How a traditionally published series Julianne had written was cut-off by the publisher before the end of the series (The Pembroke Palace Series), and how, to please fans, she continued the series. That's how the first three books were released by the publisher and books four and five are controlled by Julianne. How, on release day of Book Five for The Pembroke Palace Series, Julianne made Book 4 FREE, which not only boosted sales of the new release: Book Five, but how the publisher also sold a signifiant amount of Books 1 through 3, backlist titles that hadn't been expected to see such a dramatic increase in sales. Julianne's perspective on how her "New York Published" titles can help lend credibility to an author's platform The adoration Julianne has for her agent, who she has been with since 1999 (Paige Wheeler) Interesting facts about Julianne including the fact she was a dance club DJ in the 1980's (and the only female dance club DJ in Halifax at the time), how she has to dance when she hears the song called "Cheerleader" and what she is listening to when she wears headphones while writing Julianne's thoughts about the cadence and rhythm of the sentences while she is writing The fact that Julianne still enjoys writing the first draft of novels in long hand, how, when starting a novel she always has to write the first sentence long hand in pencil and the way she uses different forms/methods of writing to help "unstick her wheels" when in the process of writing How she will sometimes set a book up for pre-order before a book is even started in order to keep her on track What she might do differently if she were starting again but without any regrets Mark then talks a bit about some of the new features on the KWL Dashboard, specifically, Author Services and the two new types of Notifications added.

This episode features Mark Dawson, the bestselling UK author of the John Milton and Soho Noir series. Mark has become a go-to expert on Facebook ads and building your mailing list, so we dig into each of these topics and more. Listen as Mark and KWL Manager Christine Munroe discuss: In 2001/2002, his first novel was published traditionally in the UK and Russia. Mark secured nice advances, but no marketing from sale date onwards. The whole experience soured him to writing – he stopped for 6 years. Given what happened, would he do a traditional deal again? "All options are on the table." But he can work out with relative accuracy what the books are worth, and it's hard to imagine a traditional publisher delivering that amount upfront. He is, however, interested in working with publishers in foreign markets. Mark is currently lining up translation deals with the help of an agent. Translations are expensive and time-consuming, and he's not confident in his knowledge of each foreign market to recoup the loss of time and money. The benefits of BookBub. The day of this recording a BookBub ad landed Mark at #8 in his category in the Kobo store. He does them as often as they'll take him. His extensive knowledge of Facebook advertising. Spends $600 a day on Facebook ads, earns $750-$800 back per day, every single day. To find out more about his strategies in this workshop website, www.selfpublishingformula.com Advice for facebook advertising: use it for two objectives 1) build your mailing list 2) sell books Study carefully. Use Power Editor and figure out the intricacies of how it works - it's not an easy process. Dawson worked tirelessly at it for 6 weeks, losing money at first as he learned how to calibrate the ads. Starting at $5 a day, invest the profit, growing gradually and reinvesting as you go. The strategy behind his recent cover redesign. His designer looked at trending designs for his comp titles, and created several options within that spectrum so his books will both fit in and stand out alongside authors like Lee Child. When he writes about a city he hasn't visited himself, he uses resources like Google street view to make it as accurate as possible – when his books say a building on a certain corner looks a certain way, that's factually correct. How he uses free today. It is a fundamental part of his sales strategy. First in each series is a free novella. That free novella also includes a call to action to join his mailing list. Speaking of mailing lists...a mailing list is the most important marketing tool an author has today. You can get a free package from a service like Mail Chimp. For those just starting, or hoping to grow your list: Broadcast a call to action as widely as possible. He advises giving away a free book—even if you only currently have one book ready—so you can build your platform and have a few hundred people on deck to buy your next book. A subscriber is worth more for your career than one sale. Competitions and giveaways are not a very good way to build a quality mailing list. You want your mailing list to be people interested in your books, not in a free eReader. Dawson doesn't message his mailing list very often. Only messages when he has a new book out, or if there's a significant deal happening. How his craft has developed. In the early days, he desperately wanted to win literary prizes, and was much more immature as a writer. Now his goal is creating page-turning books that readers can't put down. The best validation he gets is notes from readers saying they love his books. ] Last advice: you cannot just upload your book and leave it there. You have to put your business hat on. Build your platform, build your readership. If you're diligent, the book will stand a much better chance of getting discovered by additional new readers. "It's an amazing way to make a living." Mark Dawson's books are available on kobo.com. For more information, visit www.markjdawson.com or www.selfpublishingformula.com.

Marie Force, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of more than 40 contemporary romance novels was recently in Toronto and spent an evening with Kobo, Harlequin and an intimate group of lucky fans to celebrate Marie. Mark Lefebvre, Director of Kobo Writing Life, interviewed Marie in front of the group. In the conversation, Mark and Marie discuss: How Gansett Island, a fictional island is based on Marie's favourite real island, Block Island, is a spot that Marie goes to regularly The next Gansett Island book (Celebration After Dark - coming December 1st) which will feature Big Mack and Linda The READER WEEKEND summer retreat that Marie runs for her fans, (limited to 300 people) which is co-ordinated and plann by Julie, Marie's Executive Assistant How Marie has been with a Harlequin imprint (Carina Press) since 2010 when Fatal Affair was launched and the recent deal for books 10 through 13 which is, so far, the biggest deal of her career A reveal that Sam is not going to get pregnant any time soon in the Fatal series (because of how significantly that might change everything in the series) How new ideas are constantly flowing through Marie's mind and the amount of time she ends up spending thinking about fictional people in her life The six people that Marie employs full time The fact that Gansett Island is Marie's favourite series and how Sam from the Fatal series is her favourite character to write. The manner by which Marie embraces both traditional publishing and self-publishing and how she enjoys the collaboration of working with publishers How self-publishing allows her to do things such as bring out three books in three weeks (something that is a rare feat when it comes to traditional publishing) The reality of the punishing writing schedule (writing 8 or 9 books in a year) that Marie keeps in order to meet the demands of the publishing that she does How the first books from the Fatal series sat on the shelf for a full year before Carina Press came along, wanting to do something different about the way that romance was presented to readers Marie also answers questions from her fans about: If Skip might ever recover from his paralysis Whether or not she will write until Scotty becomes an adult Her most memorable fan interaction Whether or not fans will see more of Shelby and Avery The hardest part of writing romance The best ways to keep informed about Marie's new works and the new Marie Force app that is available to keep fans informed and connected Whether or not she plots out books ahead of time Where she writes most often and whether or not she writes longhand or via a computer If Doctor Harry Flynn might ever have a love interest Her influences for writing After the interview, Mark goes over a few tips for those about to embark upon NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), conjuring up a few tips derived from articles on the Kobo Writing Life blog by Kevin J. Anderson and Chris Mandeville.

Kelley Armstrong, New York Times Bestselling author Kelley Armstrong is interviewed by Kobo's Nora Parker about the hot serialized summer release CITY OF THE LOST. In the discussion, Nora and Kelley discuss: How Kelley has always enjoyed the serialized format and how the project came about at the request of her Canadian publisher The changes required to the finished manuscript in order to optimize it for the serialized format (including the fun "previously on" snippets that Kelley has always enjoyed that are like the one minute clips you get on a serialized television program) How Kelley credits her agent for the underlying idea behind CITY OF THE LOST with the comment "enough people in the US go missing each y ear to populate a small town" Kelley's preference for setting and how if she CAN logistically set something in Canada, she will. (ie, in the setting of this novel in the Yukon rather than Alaska) Building a character like Casey Duncan who is both sympathetic and complex by using such an intriguing opening line "I killed a man." The emphasis on the different forms of female relationships in this novel rather than just a simple BFF type friendship and how that made the book more interesting to read How CITY OF THE LOST began as a NaNoWriMo project about 3 years earlier and the various re-writes Kelley engaged in to get the novel to its final state How Kelley LOVES writing and has become accustomed to write every single day, even when she is on vacation The "Secrets" YA project and Kelley's continued experimentation with form, including novels, short stories, novellas, graphic novels The manner by which characters and their background come to Kelley as she is building characters and their back-story How writing characters who are not similar to Kelley has become easier over the years (and, for example, how Elena, the hero of her first novel, was similar to Kelley in many ways) and the original fears of whether or not she could get the POV correct How Kelley uses the writing of short stories between novels as a pallet cleanser for getting into a different character's perspective Her love of research and how it can be something Kelley gets willingly lost within The interview is followed by a commentary discussion between Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre who interviews Director of Merchandising, Nathan Maharaj regarding the huge success of CITY OF THE LOST. Nathan breaks down the various elements that made it such a hit and the two talk about: What Nathan does at Kobo and the responsibility of the global merchandising team How Penguin Random House Canada approached Kobo with the idea for promoting a new serialized Kelley Armstrong novel and why the pitch was appealing to the merchandising team (Six parts published in six consecutive weeks from a key name Canadian author) The permanent low price of Volume 1 at 99 cents as "on ramp pricing" and a way to get as many people into the series funnel and the remainder of the volumes (5 through 6 at $2.99) How the cover design's strong visual coherence established an extremely strong branding The importance of metadata in setting up a series, including the "series drawer" on Kobo's item page and the automated guidance that allows Kobo to help readers move along to the next book in a series How, prior to the launch of this series, the entire series was produced to completion and ready to go and set up for pre-order, so once it was launched all of the calls to action to keep readers going through the series were all in place Stephen King's unfinished serialized "The Plant" which he released in 2000 via six blog installments How, if you consider CITY OF THE LOST as a single volume in terms of sales, it sits among one of the most bestselling titles on Kobo in Canada this year How the branding on this project down-played the "brand" of Kelley Armstrong and played up the branding of the series itself, so as not to confuse Kelley's existing fans and to entice completely new and unique fans Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the hugely popular "City of the Lost" series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets. You can find out more about her on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

Christine Munroe interviews #1 NYT bestselling author Barbara Freethy in this episode, which is filled with stories about Barbara's publishing journey and great advice for new authors: How Barbara came to publishing as a voracious lifelong reader, then decided to try writing in her late twenties. How she carved time out when working and raising small kids. She dedicated small chunks of very focused time every single day - if you just write a page a day, at the end of the year you'll have a book. Getting through the writing process is hard work, and unfortunately it never really gets easier. Leaning on other excuses can be a way of coping with fear of the blank page. You have to persevere and work through it. She remains very involved in every aspect of the self-publishing process, because she knows her brand better than anyone. Barbara's 80/20 rule: Spend 80% of your time writing, and 20% on everything else. Marketing takes up a huge amount of that 20% - so you shouldn't be spending all of your time on every single social media outlet available. "Once you have a stack of books to sell (5-6), you can do so many things. You can change your prices, do free giveaways." New writers: the best thing you can do is write 3 books. Don't even waste time really marketing the first one, until you have the next books available. Writing is not a get rich quick scheme. Building your brand and developing a following takes a lot of time. The digital revolution has brought many people back to reading, and made it easier for them to enjoy great books. Barbara's unique print partnership with Ingram. She usually publishes 4-5 new books per year. However, she advises, "Everyone should set their own expectations for their own process. It just doesn't really matter what other people are doing." "You can't sell something that isn't good." Worry about the craft, don't forget about your writer self – then think about discoverability. Take a breath, slow down, think about the long term. This is a viable publishing path that will be around for many many years to come. Participate in writers groups, attend writers conferences, try to connect with retailers. "Retailers are your partner. We're all doing the same thing. We're all trying to sell books, and that's a great relationship to have." Her author mentors: Debbie Macomber and Susan Elizabeth Phillips both helped her early on in her career. "I think writers are better served by going wide… really what you want to do is spend a lot of time and build your network and your relationships and reader base at every single retail site that you can." Plus: What you might not know about Barbara! After the episode, Christine talks about Kobo's great program with indie bookstores that's happening right now: eReadLocal. US readers and authors, check out www.kobo.com/ereadlocal to sign up and get $5 credit when you affiliate your Kobo account with an independent bookstore. The bookstore also gets $5, and will be eligible for great prizes like free eReaders and a party featuring a bestselling author. From that point onward, the bookstore will get a percentage of every eBook you buy! The $5 credit offer ends November 29th, so sign up today. Please help us spread the word on social media with #ereadlocal. Thank you!

While every author has heard the age old advice that it's important to have a professional looking and beautiful cover that appeals to the target audience, not as much attention has been paid to the blurb, description or "sales copy" that helps inspire the potential reader to click that all important BUY button. This interview with Bryan Cohen, author of the TED SAVES THE WORLD series, podcast host and man for all seasons includes an in-depth look at the importance of a strong and solid blurb. Also included are two different amazing prizes for writers. Contest 1 -- Win one of three carefully crafted book description services valued at $149 USD. Giveaway ends Sept 31, 2015. ENTER HERE Contest 2 -- $1000 Copywriting for Authors Giveaway. Giveaway Ends October 9, 2015 - ENTER HERE Bryan is interviewed by Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre. During their chat Mark and Bryan discuss: The great work that Bryan and Jim Kukral do putting together the SELL MORE BOOKS SHOW podcast and how that keeps Bryan on top of things for his own writing The non-fiction works that Bryan has written to help prompt writers to get started, which include the first one that Bryan wrote in 2010 (1000 Creative Writing Prompts), and how these books are still often among his best-selling titles How, if Bryan himself is ever stuck doing his own fiction writing, he can often turn to his own prompts Bryan's site Build-creative-writing-ideas.com which has about 700 articles and sees significant traffic on a daily basis How writing something timeless will ensure its long term viability and sales Bryan's YA podcast co-hosted with Robert Scanlon about reading and writing called The Split The work that Bryan does writing "sales copy" blurbs for writers (BEST PAGE FORWARD) -- and how the demand for those services has recently exploded How a solid writing blurb can work as effectively as a good cover at helping convert those looking at your book's landing page into buyers THE CONTEST BY WHICH a KWL LISTENER CAN RECEIVE A FREE BOOK BLURB FROM BRYAN How Bryan is looking into also helping writers with drafting email campaigns for auto-responders, helping with Facebook ad copy, author bios and similar communications The importance of priorities when it comes to maintaining a balanced life while producing as much content as Bryan produces Knowing your own strengths and weakeness for performing different types of tasks at certain times of the day and what makes Bryan a fantastic husband (he may love his readers, but he loves his wife more) How TED SAVES THE WORLD came from watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and asking the question: "What if Giles and Buffy were the same person? (ie, combining the intelligence & wisdom with the power and ability)" When Bryan, who used to do improv comedy, changed himself from a "panster" to a "plotter" while developing TED SAVES THE WORLD from a novella into a full novel and series. And the seeming contradiction in how Bryan often feels like he is "pantsing" in the discovery process of plotting out a novel. The replacement of the original terrible cover and the local photo shoot with actor friends that helped Bryan to produce a well-branded and consistent series. http://robotbraindesign.com/ Bryan also shares his favourite advice for beginning writers Mark then provides a quick summary of some of the advice and examples regarding a strong professional product as gleaned from the interview and then provides further details about the aforemention contests. Other links: Bryan's website Bryan on Twitter Bryan's TED SAVES THE WORLD BOOKS on Kobo Bryan's non-fiction writing on Kobo Sell More Books Show Podcast

Episode 39 features the one and only... Bella Andre! Bella is a self-publishing superstar, one of the original KWL beta testers when we started off in 2012, NYT and USA Today bestselling Romance and New Adult author, and all-around lovely and fun person to talk to. Christine Munroe hosts this episode and chats with Bella about her publishing journey, including (listen up!) her secrets for success. In this can't-miss episode, Christine and Bella discuss: The turning point in Bella's career in April 2010, when she put eBooks up for sale and several days later checked and realized she had sold several hundred copies. Her work creating the visual brand of Bella Andre. She recommends that authors treat themselves like the bestseller they want to be. In her case, that started with making her name prominent on her covers. Bella's learn-by-doing approach, including creating her own covers, which she does to this day. There is a great virtue in putting in blood, sweat, and tears and understanding how to do everything yourself before passing it off and outsourcing part of the publishing process. The origins of the pen names Bella Andre and Lucy Kevin. Her promise: she will never disappoint her readers. Bella's unique 7-figure, print-only deal with Harlequin MIRA. Her translation partnership with KWL, creating French editions of five Lucy Kevin titles. The opportunities Bella says no to - including a reality TV show. Why Bella enjoys collaborating with other authors (including Melissa Foster and Jennifer Skully), and her best advice for making a collaborative relationship work: "always be nice." Will she ever run out of Sullivans? (Thankfully, no!) At the end of the episode, Christine catches up with KWL Director Mark Lefebvre. They discuss why it's so important for authors to network with retailers - from the very beginning, Bella impressed Mark and he wanted to help her succeed on Kobo. They also talk about KWL's recent third birthday and the most exciting new projects we have in the works for our authors. Thanks for listening!

For this episode, we focus on small presses and the business side of publishing. US Manager Christine Munroe interviews Angela Bole, the Executive Director of IBPA (the Independent Book Publishers Association), about everything from distribution to metadata. As a bonus, we include excellent advice from Kobo's Canadian Merchandiser, Sarah Smith-Eivemark, who recently joined Kobo from a small press. She shares the most important advice she's learned from her unique perspective of this transition from small press to digital retailer. You don't want to miss it! Tune in to hear about: IBPA's history and mission. It was founded in 1983 – one of the oldest trade associations for publishing in America. Most of its members have come in as self-publishers, even as early as 1983. Many of them learned the trade, then took on the work of others. IBPA is a publishers' association, not an authors' association. They serve the publishing side of the business. IBPA won't take a point of view on authorship, editorial, craft. Instead, it focuses on marketing, publishing standards, covers, etc. Who should join? Those working independently – that is, outside of the Big 5. Small presses, university presses, even aspiring authors considering self-publishing. Anyone wanting to learn more about the market and business of self publishing. It's $129/year to become a member. Benefits: receiving a monthly magazine and email newsletters, and IBPA acts as a bullhorn sharing good news and success stories of its members. Additionally, it's a connection to the community going through the same process, helping each other succeed by sharing best practices, sharing warnings. Publishing University is their annual conference, which has been happening for 27 years. In line with IBPA's mission, it focuses on publishing and marketing books. 30 expert speakers come, 300 attendees. 2016 will be in Salt Lake City for the first time. Publishing University also offers an opportunity for feedback and workshopping on your content, cover, and more, adding an experiential element. Best practices for getting a distributor: transition from pitching a book, to pitching your business. Publishers need a 6-month plan for your business and book, editorial calendar with more books in the pipeline, and marketing plan. Why Angela keeps talking about metadata and its importance. Find about more about IBPA at www.ibpa-online.org.

This week's podcast is essential listening for all authors: Victoria Strauss from Writer Beware is joining us to share her most important advice for how writers can avoid being scammed. Writer Beware was co-founded by Victoria and Ann Crispin in 1998, is sponsored by SFWA, and its mission is to "track, expose, and raise awareness of the prevalence of fraud and other questionable activities in and around the publishing industry." Listen in as Victoria speaks with US Manager Christine Munroe about: The origins of Writer Beware in 1998. SFWA put a call-out for someone to monitor scams aimed at authors, and Victoria and Ann Crispin joined forces. At that time, literary agent scams were prevalent. Victoria says she rarely sees them nowadays - self-publishing has shown many authors that they don't need an agent to publish. Unfortunately, self-publishing has also created a new frontier in writing scams, from digital publishers charging exorbitant fees for their services to would-be experts offering services they're not capable of providing. The craziest scheme she has heard of to date (you'll have to listen to find out!). How she and a team of volunteers find the time to maintain the website and blog. Also, why their investigations need to be so detailed: Writer Beware is often the target of lawsuits by the scammers they work to expose. How writers can avoid being scammed: DO YOUR RESEARCH and educate yourself. There's no such thing as a free lunch - if it sounds too good to be true, and you have a gut feeling that something is amiss, don't ignore those instincts. The best way to get started as a new author. Start broadly by reading books about the industry at large and the various options available to you. What's important is that you set goals for your writing and find the path that best serves those goals. Then you can dive into the internet as a resource for learning more about each aspect of the process, and checking that each company you're considering working with is reputable. Additional resources for researching scams include Preditors & Editors and Absolute Write. Victoria's publishing plans for the next year, which includes traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing paths. Victoria believes (and we agree!) that authors don't need to choose just one path for publishing, and stick to that path forever. Often a combination of options is ideal. Following this conversation, KWL Author Care Coordinator Vanessa Ghosh shares advice for taking advantage of our free preview function on Kobo. Customers can preview the first 5% of the beginning of your eBook, so many sure to give them a peek into your best work—and don't use a dummy file when you're setting up a pre-order, as previews for pre-orders are also visible to customers. If you have questions you'd like us to answer on the podcast, email [email protected]