Kobo Writing Life Podcast

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

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 nove

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

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 f

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

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 los

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 preg

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

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

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

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

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. I

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'r

KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Nancy L. Baumann about Bookarma, a platform that allows authors to leverage the community in their social media endeavors. In the interview Mark and Nancy discuss: How Bookarma, an international marketing platform, allows you to break beyond your own personal marketing network and allows you to reach further The user friendly manner of creating an account, adding social media and importing books simply by entering the ISBN How Bookarma came out of Nancy's business as a non-fiction book coach as a way to help authors once their books were out in the market The multiplier effect of authors supporting other authors by sharing one another's efforts in reaching people through social media How the author queue works in terms of authors finding appropriate content to share with their followers The importance of book covers and how a bad cover doesn't help a good book The weekly webcasts that help authors with tips and suggestions on the best way to leverage Bookarma The ability

KWL US Manager Christine Munroe interviews Carla King, a travel writer and self-publishing expert. Tune in to hear them discuss: What self-publishing was like when Carla started out in 1995. Self-Publishing Boot Camp, the program of books and workshops that Carla co-founded and continues to manage. Balancing writing travel books and how-to guides. Tips for effective social media presence. Highlights from Carla's latest book, The Self-Publishing Boot Camp Guide for Authors. After the show, KWL Author Care Coordinator Vanessa Ghosh offers tips for creating reflowable ePubs.

KWL US Manager Christine Munroe interviews Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo. They discuss: *National Novel Writing Month, the creative challenge in which authors write 50,000 words during the month of November, or 1,667 words per day. *The origins of NaNoWriMo, which began with 21 people in 1999 and has grown to support hundreds of thousands of writers each year. *Why November? If you can write a novel in November, you can write one anytime. It's a busy time of year leading into the December holidays. *NaNoWriMo's other initiatives, including Camp NaNoWriMo and the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. *Even if you don't "win" by hitting the 50k word count, every participant is a winner for choosing to make creativity a priority. KWL is a proud sponsor of NaNoWriMo for the third year in a row. Stay tuned as we embark on this challenge in November with our annual KoBoWriMo team! www.nanowrimo.org

This episode, recorded in collaboration with the Northern Colorado Writers Conference, opens in a conversation with Rich Keller, Assistant Director and Electronics Media Manager of Northern Colorado Writers, as well as an author, editor and the publisher of Wooden Pants Publishing. Rich talks about: the use of humor in his writing and publishing and how specific humor can be for different audiences the "Wooden Pants Readings" programming being used to help build this up how Rich has learned more in the past three months than he did the entire other year the difference between IngramSpark and CreateSpace and how Rich has been using each for print books use of Embedded Fonts and TrueType Fonts in a print/POD file the five year plan that Rich has set up to be doing writing and publishing full time and the importance of time and patience The second part of this podcast features a panel conversation between Kelly Baugh, Carrie Visintainer and Mark Leslie (aka KWL Director Mark Lefebvre, with his author hat on)

Director of Global Merchandising at Kobo, Nathan Maharaj interviews Dan Rubinstein, author of Born To Walk: The Transformative Power of A Pedestrian Act. Nathan and Dan discuss: ·         The fascinating manner by which we are pre-disposed to bipedalism ·         How, when he travels, Nathan prefers walking to get to his destination rather than figure out foreign transit systems ·         The physical, psychological and social implications of having pushed the walking activity out of our lives and how “sitting is the new smoking” ·         Treadmill desks and how the experiment with that didn’t work so well for Dan. It was in the basement, thus dank and dark and without a window. Physically, it was okay, but Dan learned he was far more productive at his desk and would rather get the work done more efficiently to leave more room for walking. ·         How it’s not just about walking, but also about the environment and the mind paying “effortless” attention to the surroundings, the serenity and the be

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Alex P. Berg, author of the “Daggers and Steel” sci-fi mystery series. In the interview Mark and Alex talk about: Meeting at the Superstars Writing Seminars in Colorado Springs, CO. What Alex calls “The Superstars Effect” How, when Alex had finished his novel and started querying agents and publishers, he ended up getting nowhere fast. That was when his wife gave him a proverbial kick in the pants, telling him that if he was serious about this writing thing, he better figure out a way to get it done. The effect of seeing how hard the pro writers presenting at the Superstars Writing Seminars worked to achieve their success combined with their passion for it and how that inspire Alex to keep at it. Starting out as a fan of science fiction and fantasy, then watching Brandon Sanderson’s online workshops, and following David Farland’s online and daily email writing tips as a way to get started The commitment to finding and making the time to write while bala

Mark Lefebvre, Kobo Writing Life Director, in conversation with Dean Wesley Smith, a USA Today Bestselling author of books in multiple genres including Science-Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers and Westerns. Currently producing novels in four different series, Smith is also the co-publisher of WMG Publishing along with his partner Kristine Kathryn Rusch and runs a series of workshops designed to help writers become smarter not only about the craft but also about the business of publishing. During their conversation, Dean and Mark talk about: ·         The fact that Dean wasn’t born into writing, actually loathed it when he was in college (He has a Masters in Architecture) ·         The various careers and roles that Smith played during his life, including his past as a Pro Golfer and hot dog skier ·         How his goal of being a Golf Course Architect led to writing via an English course that he had to take. ·         The English Professor who told Smith that his writing was too commercial ·         The