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The beauty of self-publishing is self-permission

May 9, 2013 By 1 Comment

Joanna Penn, author and blogmistress, writes a powerful piece about permission and publishing. “I’m done with taming the crazy,” she writes, and challenges writers to give themselves permission to plumb the depths of their talents and stop limiting themselves.

There are enough obstacles and limitations in the world. Why make yourself one of them?

Read the whole article here.

Remember that today the 3rd book in Penn’s Sin series is now available, and it’s not too late to enter the “Kobo presents The Descent” contest.

JoannaPennNew27-248x300Joanna Penn is a British author, internet entrepreneur and international speaker whose books have appeared on Thriller and Action Adventure bestseller lists.

Check out her author site here.

Filed Under: Contests, Promotion/Event, Self-Publishing Tagged With: ,

Announcing the 2013 Kobo Writing Life Scholarship

April 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

WebHot on the heels of our wildly successful Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge, Kobo Writing Life and Curtis Brown Creative are partnering once again – this time giving three writers the chance to take courses run by Curtis Brown Creative, the agency’s unique creative writing school.  The scholarship is aimed at talented writers without the financial means to attend a Curtis Brown Creative course, and will provide one fully-paid place on each of 3 courses to run at Curtis Brown’s London offices over the next year.

Admissions are based on a writing sample, and the Curtis Brown Creative team will award the scholarship to the writer whose material shows the greatest potential and who can demonstrate financial need.

Further scholarship places will be offered on the 3-Month Novel-Writing course (Sept-Dec 2013) and the 6-Month Novel-Writing course (Feb-July 2014) – applications for those courses aren’t yet open, but more details will be available on the Curtis Brown Creative website soon – and we’ll certainly let you know when they are!

Kobo Writing Life and Curtis Brown Creative are both dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in writing and are united in our goal of helping aspiring writers learn not only the craft of writing but the ins and outs of the publishing industry. We couldn’t be more excited about helping three talented authors who couldn’t otherwise take advantage of such a fantastic opportunity.

Filed Under: Promotion/Event, The Craft of Writing Tagged With:

Kobo Writing Life at the London Book Fair

April 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

April 15-17 in London, England, is the London Book Fair, one of the largest book-centric events in the UK.  This year, Kobo Writing Life is there!

AuthorLounge

The LBF AuthorLounge, presented by Authoright and sponsored by Kobo and others, is the portion of the fair that concentrates on writers and the things that matter most to us.  Network, attend seminars, and participate in events that put you and your craft in the spotlight.

KWL Writers in Residence

If you’re in or near London, do drop by the London Book fair between April 15-17 to visit with your very favourite KWL writers:

Monday April 15 2pm – 3:30pm Jeffrey Archer
     
Tuesday April 16 10:30am – 11am Orna Ross
  11:30am – 12:30pm C. J. Lyons
  1:30pm – 2:30pm Abbi Glines
  2:30pm – 3pm Lindsey J. Parsons
  3:30pm – 4pm Karen Inglis
     
Wednesday April 17 10:30am – 11:30am J. F. Penn
  12pm – 12:30pm David Gaughran
  2:30pm – 3pm Roz Morris

 

You can also drop by the KWL booth just to say hello – if you’re an author, let your fans know to meet you there!

Don’t forget that our own Mark Lefebvre will be speaking at a ton of events, including:

  • Key Skills for Success as a Hybrid Author
  • I Win, You Win, We All Win: Winning Through Collaboration
  • Super Q&A with Industry Experts
  • e to Eternity

And more!

Filed Under: Promotion/Event Tagged With:

Enter the Pitchapalooza Contest!

April 3, 2013 By 3 Comments

Are you wondering if y44516_142975332409383_137689529604630_212602_3356938_nour book idea has any merit? Searching for the right words to get your idea across to a literary agent?

Do you ever wonder how on earth all the published authors out there made it happen? They learned how to pitch, and you can too!

Enter the Pitchapalooza Contest to win the chance to pitch your book idea to The Book Doctors and a panel of expert judges during a live webinar.

25 lucky winners will get their 1-minute pitch critiqued and the lucky author with the best pitch will win the grand prize – an introduction to an agent or publisher appropriate for his/her manuscript!

To Enter

Fill out this form to enter the Pitchapalooza Contest.

You must have at least one title published through Kobo Writing Life in order to enter. You must also have a book idea to pitch during the webinar.

Entry Deadline: May 10, 2013.

Learning to pitch a book idea effectively is a valuable skill for any author. It’s about proving your book’s value and appeal and can come in handy when trying to get book reviews, expanding your fanbase, appealing for promotional space from retailers, as well as when looking for the right agent or publisher. The ability to pitch isn’t just for the author looking to be traditionally published.

Be a Spectator!

25 authors will be selected at random to take part in the Pitchapalooza, but anyone can watch!

So, come on down to your computer desk to watch authors pitch their ideas and listen to the critiques during a live webinar!

Where: http://shindig.com/event/kobopitchapalooza

When: May 23, 7pm

What: Pitchapalooza (2 hours)

What is a Pitchapalooza?

Five years ago, The Book Doctors created an event that has drawn thousands of people into bookstores, writing conferences and book festivals all over the United States. It’s called Pitchapalooza, the American Idol for books (only without Simon) and it works like this: Anyone with an idea for a book has the chance to pitch it to a panel of judges. But they get only one minute. The Book Doctors team up with two guest industry insiders to form the judging panel. The Judges critique everything from idea to style to potential in the marketplace and much, much more. Whether potential authors pitch themselves, or simply listen to trained professionals critique each presentation, Pitchapaloozas are educational and entertaining for one and all. All attendees come away with concrete advice on how to improve their pitch as well as a greater understanding of the ins and outs of the publishing industry.

Enter the contest today!

Full Contest Terms and Conditions.

The Contest is open only to legal residents of the forty eight (48) contiguous United States, District of Columbia, the United Kingdom and Canada (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their respective jurisdiction at the time of entry (each entrant, an “Entrant”). Void in Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and where prohibited by law. The Prize consists of an introduction to a literary agent or publisher.

Filed Under: Contests, Promotion/Event, Uncategorized Tagged With:

Exclusive Pre-Order Sale on Seduced at Sunset by Julianne MacLean!

March 19, 2013 By 3 Comments

Image.ashx2Get Seduced at Sunset by Julianne MacLean for 50% off!

The latest title in the Pembroke Palace series is now available for pre-order exclusively on the Kobo site.

Until the official release date of March 31, Seduced is also available for 50% off the regular price.

Get it here!

And that’s not all!Image.ashx1

Married by Midnight, a novella in the Pembroke Palace series is also available for FREE for a limited time.

Get the free title here!

About The Author

Publicity photo 300dpi (1) (2)Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of numerous historical romances, including The Highlander Trilogy with St. Martin’s Press and her popular American Heiress Series with Avon/Harper Collins. She also writes contemporary mainstream fiction, and her recent release The Color of Heaven was a digital bestseller. She is a three-time RITA finalist, and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Book Buyer’s Best Award, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times for Best Regency Historical of 2005. She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter, and is a dedicated member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. Please visit Julianne’s website for more information.

Coming Soon from Julianne MacLean – The Royal Trilogy series conclusion, THE PRINCE’S BRIDE, available April 30 from St. Martin’s Press.

Pick up both titles and get started on the Pembroke Palace series today!

Filed Under: Promotion/Event, Uncategorized

The things I wish some pro had told me

March 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By Kevin J. Anderson

kanderson_narrowWhen I was starting out as an aspiring writer, I tried to figure out the business, but I felt like an explorer stranded in a strange land where I didn’t speak the native language. I read Writer’s Digest every month, I took creative writing classes (which were usually taught by professors with few, if any, writing credentials), I went to the library to read Publishers’ Weekly.  I gathered a group of fellow writers who shared discoveries with one another (made with great effort and often after many mistakes).  I learned by taking two steps forward, one step back, two steps sideways.  I figured it out, little by little.

Now that I’ve become a very successful writer, with over 120 books published in 30 languages, I spend a lot of time giving talks with my wife, bestselling author Rebecca Moesta, lecturing at writers’ conferences and at science fiction conventions, a talk we call “Things I Wish Some Pro Had Told Me When I Was Starting out.”  They’re popular events, often standing-room-only.

But that isn’t enough to cover the material.  Finally, four years ago, five of us bestselling writers decided to put together a more extended, intensive three-day workshop, the Superstars Writing Seminar, to go over all the nuts-and-bolts business and career advice that serious writers need to know.  Rebeccca and I, along with Brandon Sanderson, Eric Flint, and David Farland, created a curriculum that covers Economics of Commercial Publishing
; How Editors Look at Manuscripts, Novels, and Short Fiction; Dissecting a Book Contract; How to Read and Understand a Royalty Statement; Dirty Secrets: What You Need to Know About Being a Professional Author;  How to Leverage Your Intellectual Property; Balancing Acts: Writing World and Real World; Agents
, Networking and Self-Promotion for Authors; Understanding E-Books
 and Indy Publishing; Pitching the Big Proposal
; Two Heads Are Better than One: Collaborations
; How to Get an Edge with New Media and Social Networking;  Movies, TV, and Authors; and How to Increase Your Writing Productivity.

Superstars Writing Seminars have been held in Pasadena, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and the upcoming event (May 14–16) will be in Colorado Springs.  In addition to the five original bestselling authors, our instructors have included Hollywood producers and scriptwriters, mega-hit authors Sherrilyn Kenyon and Tracy Hickman, comics writer Howard Tayler.  This year’s guest speakers include Baen Books editor Jim Minz, bestselling romance author Joan Johnston, and Kobo Writing Life’s own Mark Lefebvre, to reflect a growing emphasis on eBook and indy publishing.

This is exactly the sort of thing I was desperate for when I was starting out as a new author.  I didn’t want a creative writing class, not a critique group, but something that could de-mystify the industry for me.  We hope you can join us.

superstars

Check out some of Kevin J. Anderson’s books on Kobo!

Resurrection

Fallout

Unnatural Acts

The X-Files Vol. 2

Or just check out all of them!

Filed Under: Promotion/Event, Self-Publishing, The Business of Writing Tagged With: ,

Press releases: the next step in self-marketing your eBook

March 6, 2013 By 23 Comments

by PR Newswire

With the shift to self-publishing, many more authors have the exciting opportunity to diversify the virtual book shelves, however they are then faced with the challenge of capturing the attention of new readers looking for their next adventure.  No longer just responsible for transferring their creative works onto “paper,” independent authors now have to play the part of editors, literary agents, publicists and marketing professionals to promote their books- and usually without much of a budget.  And while word-of-mouth can certainly boost the visibility of an indie author, this word of mouth can be difficult to get going.

So how does one build an online presence?  There are a number of tactics – creating an optimized website chock-full of relevant information, being active on social channels, publishing a robust blog with interesting and engaging content to entice your readers and…online press releases.

Yes, press releases.

The traditional, tried-and-true tool is no longer simply used by the powerful brands and agencies to reach the media with the hopes of landing a media mention.  Today, online press releases help strengthen one’s online presence, support search engine visibility, and is a catalyst to drive website traffic.   The internet is the first stop a reader will go to research a new book or topic and by distributing an online press release, you can increase your chances of being discovered online, growing your potential readers exponentially.

PR Newswire has been helping brands and organizations tell their stories for nearly 60 years.  And with iReach, its self-service, budget-friendly online press release solution, independent authors have the opportunity easily upload and syndicate their content to some of the Internet’s most visited websites.

iReach lets you:

  • Syndicate your content to 1500+ website such as Yahoo! and AOL, making your content available to the thousands of people visiting these websites every day.
  • Host your press release on PRNewswire.com forever with a keyword-rich URL.  PRNewswire.com is the industry’s most trafficked website and is built on an optimized platform helping you get found on the largest search engines.
  • Make it easy for your audience to share your message and expand your reach through social media with multiple, targeted Twitter feeds and an embedded social toolbar on your release
  • Include multimedia with your release to engage your readers even more.

Authors send online press releases to:

  • Announce the availability of a new eBook - this is an obvious one.  Let your readers know that your book is available for their enjoyment.
  • Highlight and publicize great reviews.  Readers have an endless number of platforms to share their thoughts about your book, so when the positive reviews flow in, utilize an online press release to propel the positivity forward.  It will help make sure your audiences discover the great reviews when they are searching for their next read.
  • Promote book milestones – Were you included in a best-seller list, recognized by a blogger, receive media attention or attain a certain number of downloads?  Highlight your big wins and let your readers know about your successes.
  • Announce a book signing or book tour – If you are hitting the road or holding a reading, let your readers know where they can find you.  Online press releases can help you boost your presence offline, too.

A KWL author recently put iReach to the test. Here’s what she has to say!

“I love PR Newswire!  Not only was the iReach platform incredibly easy to use, but PR Newswire’s PR Toolkit taught me everything I needed to know about how to write an effective press release.  My iReach release appeared on hundreds of sites which greatly impacts my presence online and helps new readers find me when they are searching.    And did I mention the thrill of seeing my book cover up in lights in Times Square?  I never imagined that could be possible, but PR Newswire made it happen.  I will definitely use the service again as soon as I have more news to share. ”

–USA Today bestselling author, Julianne MacLean

***********************************************************

PRNewswire logo DEC 2012PR Newswire is the premier global provider of marketing and communications solutions that let you produce, optimize, target, distribute, and measure content across all channels. Combining the world’s largest multi-channel, multicultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and multimedia platforms, PR Newswire enables the world’s enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire, a UBM plc company, serves tens of thousands of clients across the world.  Follow @PRNewswire and @PRNsmallbiz on Twitter for the latest PR and marketing news and information.

Filed Under: Contests, Promotion/Event, Self-Promotion, Uncategorized

IndieReCon – a free online conference for independent authors

February 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Indierecon-logo4What happens when six incredible authors and editors get together? They get amazing ideas to help anyone who’s curious get into indie publishing! So started IndieReCon, a free online conference founded and hosted by S.R. Johannes, Ali Cross, Heather McCorkle, Laura Pauling, Cheri Lasota and Jessie Harrell.

Between February 19 and 21st, the conference will post on various topics every hour (sometimes more frequently) for 8 hours a day. They’ll include interviews, live chats, blog posts, vblogs and more, on all sorts of topics around indie publishing. Learn about online marketing, self-promotion, pricing, formatting, cover art, branding, building a business plan, and everything else, all from bestselling authors and industry experts.

Sign up now to receive updates, attend the conference, and be eligible for fantastic giveaways, including a Kobo Glo and a Kobo Mini!

Five great reasons to register now:

1. Find out the future of digital publishing with our key note speaker: Bob Mayer.

2. Identify the biggest mistakes indie authors and how to avoid them.

3. Find out all the nitty gritty details on self publishing basics like pricing, distribution, and formatting.

4. Create a business plan and understand your costs.

5. Find out what is in a great book and how to make your book stand out in a pile through editing and covers.

Check out 15 MORE great reasons here!

IndieReCon is FREE and ONLINE. Register now!

Filed Under: Promotion/Event Tagged With: , ,

It’s dangerous out there; don’t go alone

January 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

aliiance-of-independent-authors-asset-508ff8844c6a7The road to self-publishing success can often feel like quite a lonely one, but “independent” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “alone.”  There are entire communities built around self-published authors and aspiring writers coming together to help one another, be it with advice, resources, or simply a place to vent one’s frustrations to sympathetic ears.

If you’ve decided to pursue the self-publishing route, you might want to look into what’s out there in the way of support for you and your endeavours, such as the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) – a global, non-profit organization of authors working together for each other.

Membership comes with many benefits, including access to legal advice, an author helpline, and the wealth of collective experience of all its members, which include successful self-published authors, teachers, and other industry professionals.

ALLi is also offering an online event:  the ShinDig “Cracking Kobo,” an exclusive online interview with Mark Lefebvre, Kobo’s own Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations, held Wednesday (tomorrow!) at 4pm EST.

Register for the event, and check out ALLi’s blog, How to Successfully Self-Publish for great self-publishing information and advice.

Filed Under: Promotion/Event, Self-Publishing Tagged With: ,

Enter the Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge!

January 16, 2013 By

Are you in the process of writing a novel? If so, the Jeffrey Archer Short Story Challenge sponsored by Kobo and Curtis Brown Creative is the contest for you! One lucky winner will be awarded the grand prize of free enrolment in an upcoming Curtis Brown online novel writing course.

How to Submitja (2)

Authors should submit a 100-word short. The short can consist of any genre of fiction, as long as it stays within the 100-word limit.

Submit Here

Submission deadline: February 15, 2013.

What Happens Next

The Kobo Team will select 20 semi-finalists whose submissions will be collected in a free anthology available on the Kobo site! (Author names and photos will be included here as well, so get ready for your close-up!)

Contest judge and bestselling author Jeffrey Archer will evaluate the 20 semi-finalist submissions and choose three finalists. The finalists will be announced by Jeffrey Archer himself at the London Book Fair on April 15th, 2013.

The three finalists will be requested to submit a 3,000-word excerpt of their novel-in-progress to be judged by Curtis Brown Creative and will receive written feedback.

The lucky grand prize winner will be awarded free enrolment in an upcoming Curtis Brown online novel writing course! The winner will be announced on April 29th, 2013.

Tutors and guest speakers of past Curtis Brown creative writing courses include Jojo Moyes, Tracy Chevalier, Tony Parsons, Harriet Evans and Anna Davis. Find out more about Curtis Brown Creative here.

Full Terms and Conditions

The Contest is open only to legal residents of the forty eight (48) contiguous United States, District of Columbia, the United Kingdom and Canada (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their respective jurisdiction at the time of entry (each entrant, an “Entrant”). Void in Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and where prohibited by law. The Prize consists of free enrolment in one (1) Curtis Brown writing course. The voucher is valid until December 31, 2013.
 
Filed Under: Contests, Promotion/Event Tagged With:
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