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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Episode 88 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast isn't the more typical interview, but rather, KWL's Director, Mark Lefebvre, outlining five strategies that successful authors use to build their sales, raise their author profile and get readers to sign up their author mailing lists with Free eBooks. First, Mark talks about the updates to FREE tracking. If you've been paying attention to the updates in the Notification header of the Kobo Writing Life dashboard (which link to this VERY HANDY - hint, hint, nudge, nudge - part of the KWL Community) throughout July, you may have noticed that the Web team and the KWL Team have been working at revisions to the broken free tracking that we've been dealing with for quite a while. Currently FREE TRACKING is being refreshed and updated. But in the meantime, there's something important you should know about the FREE DOWNLOADS numbers you're seeing. The most important has to do with PREVIEWS.  First, please don't worry, we are NOT giving your non-free books away. At Kobo, readers have the opportunity to preview the first 5% of eBooks. Whenever an ePub file is loaded into Kobo's database, the catalog generates a unique new ePub file that is comprised of the first 5% of that full eBook, then it tacks on a final page with a "BUY Button" for the full book into the end of that ePub. And whenever a customer clicks on the "Save Preview" button on a book's item page, it adds that preview ePub file to that customer's library. Since there isn't currently any filtering that distinguishes the preview ePub file from the full ePub file, it appears as if that eBook was given to a customer, and is tracked as a "free download" in the dashboard.  (The KWL, Web and UX Teams will be adjusting and fixing this, but having that information can be extremely valuable, because it allows you to see how many customers have PREVIEWED your book. IE, if you have a huge number of PREVIEWS but not a huge number of sales, that could tell you something important about the conversion from free preview to sales) 1) First Free eBook in Series (Perma-Free) Although this isn't a new practice, it continues to be something that works quite nicely for authors looking to increase their sales and author profile at Kobo. Authors can set any book on Kobo to free at any time for as long as they want with no restrictions and no requests for exclusivity. The concept is creating a funnel to get a lot of people to grab the first book for free and hopefully converting them into buyers because the worlds, characters, settings and situations they are reading about in your series are so compelling that they HAVE to keep on reading. Below are some stats that are typical of the conversion rate from FREE to SALES via studies done on multiple different first book in series promos.   2) Free Book/Novella/Novelette Kept Perma-Free that ISN'T the first in the Series The same technique used above can be used for other books in the series (rather than the first book), or perhaps for interstitial stories in the series universe. Remember that, with Kobo Writing Life, you can enter Series metadata using decimals. IE, imagine you have a novella that takes place between Books 1 and 2 in your series. Entering 1.5 into the Volume Number value in your Series metadata connects those book. (See this post on how that works at KWL) 3) Free related/connected Short Story hook into a novel or series Mark shares a personal anecdote about using a short story to entice readers to want to learn more or explore more about characters that appear in a full novel. His example is how the FREE short story, This Time Around, a 10,000 word short story, has been successful at helping new readers discover his main character Michael Andrews, who is a werewolf attempting to live a normal life in the midst of one of the world's largest metropolitan centers in the novel A Canadian Werewolf in New York. 4) A Free eBook that is a stand alone novel / NOT part of a series For those of you who do NOT have series books, don't despair. There is still a correlation between the "funnel" of free eBooks and readers going on to buy more books by the same author (rather than books in the same series) Mark shares how his friend Sean Costello, a thriller/horror writer he works closely with, uses free to build a readership, not based on the book being part of a series, but based on readers discovering the voice of a brilliant author who they feel compelled to read more books from. Costello's SQUALL has garnered almost 3300 reviews on Kindle and more than 800 reviews on Kobo with a 4 star average. Again, good news for authors who don't write series books. Free works for gaining new readers and selling more eBooks for you too.  :)   5) Using FREE eBooks for Newsletter sign-ups While it's great that retails can help authors sell more using algorithms and targeted emails to their customers making recommendations, it is important for authors to get readers to sign up to their author newsletter. Folks like Nick Stephenson (Your first 10,000 Readers) and Mark Dawson (Self Publishing Formula) have been helping authors use techniques to help get readers signed up for their newsletter mailing lists which allow authors to better control their own success. (Being able to let your best fans know when you have a new release or have a promotional price available has a direct correlation with sales success) The way this works (and you can get FAR BETTER details by clicking the links above), authors set up a newsletter sign up at the end of their eBooks or via targeted social media ads (Facebook, etc) and when a customer signs up, they can get a free eBook sent to them from the author. These are typically eBooks that are NOT free on the various retail websites. So these readers who become newsletter subscribers get something of value directly from the author which helps built brand trust and loyalty. Other authors, such as M.L. Buchman don't ever make their eBooks free nor do they give free eBooks away. But, instead, they create unique, fresh and interesting new stories and content specifically FOR their best fans, via either an author newsletter or directly on their own websites. (They will sometimes release this material via regular retail channels at a later date) This ensures that their best fans get access to reading fresh and exiting new material before anybody else can read it.   That, in a nutshell, are just five different ways that authors are using FREE to help build their sales and their author brands. We would love to share more strategies that work well, so if you have a strategy that works for you, please free free to share that in comments on this podcast's show notes on the KWL Podcast web page under Episode 88.   Related Links: Free eBooks on Kobo - curated from KWL titles and updated weekly. You can apply to be featured via the PROMOTIONS tab, which is currently in beta release. If you don't have it, simply request it by emailing [email protected]  

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

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