When Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre has been speaking to authors lately, he has regularly recommended they all check out a great new book.
“Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant & David Wright is a solid and well-rounded book that outlines what it takes to be successful in self-publishing,” Lefebvre says. “One of the things I love best about this book is that it doesn’t make false promises. Instead, the authors repeat (and it definitely bears repeating) the fact that making a living off of writing takes a LOT of work, a lot of hard work. And that it takes time. And patience. Their book beautifully illustrates this through the authors’ own examples.”
Lefebvre has mentioned this book during recent talks to author groups in the east in Toronto and New York and in the west in cities such as Seattle, Portland and Colorado Springs. He says he’ll likely continue to mention that authors read this book because it offers a comprehensive look at one simple fact; that there is no secret trick, except for writing a great book and keeping at it.
“When I talk to writers,” Lefebvre says, “I usually offer what I call The Three P’s of Self-Publishing Success. Patience, Practice and Persistence. Keep writing, every day and never stop working at becoming better at the craft. Hang in there, because this isn’t a short-term game, but a long one that takes time, a lot of time. And one of the best ways to sell your first book is to write your next book rather than losing time focusing on how to sell and market your first book. Your target audience, if you understand who they are, takes time to grow; and the best thing you can give them is more great writing. These guys get it, and that’s part of the book’s main message. The message is that there is no secret or trick. There is strategy, for sure, but this book isn’t about tactics or gimmicks. It preaches an important element consistent in self-publishing success stories. Do the work.”
A writer himself, Lefebvre has read dozens of books on the craft and business of writing and publishing. “And this one goes to the top of the list for relevant content,” he says. But he’s not the only advocate. The book has been well received around the world. J.F. Penn (speaker, mastermind behind the amazing writer resource The Creative Penn and author of The Arkane Thrillers says: “I’ve read a lot of books about writing, and this one stands out as being both practical and aspirational.” Speaker, editor and thought leader Jane Friedman says, “It’s tough to find more honest and straight-forward marketing advice than what you’ll get from these indie authors.”
Lefebvre interviewed both Platt & Wright (who have written multiple serialized thrillers such as Yesterday’s Gone and Available Darkness) as well as Truant (author of Fat Vampire and co-author with Platt of The Beam) for the Kobo Writing Life Podcast in Episode 3 and Episode 8 respectively. Lefebvre jokes that while The Self-Publishing Podcast that Truant, Platt & Wright host (which Lefebvre is a fan of) is definitely not safe for work due to some four letter words the three occasionally pepper in their impassioned discussions about writing and publishing, “the guys all managed kept it clean and 100% on topic for the KWL interviews”)
Check out Write. Publish. Repeat at Kobo.
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Did not realize Kobo Writing Life was on WordPress. Awesome. I’ll be back. Enjoyed all the times Kobo came to the Self Publishing Podcast.
WordPress allows us to have the blog in a more interactive environment where a lot of writers operate, Ciara – so we like that. And glad to hear you enjoyed Mark’s “visits” to the Self-Publishing Podcast.
Balmers! Tried downloading the book since you piqued my interest and the coupon code Kobo sent out in their newsletter doesn’t work!
Hi Anna – the code is live. When you add the book to your shopping cart and then go to enter the code, then hit “Apply” what error are you getting?
Tried to use the code dothework and get this error message:
There was an error with this gift card. Please re-enter the number and try again. Tried it with and without the “” I filled out the other information but it won’t apply the discount.
Tried the code to get a free copy and get this error message: There was an error with this gift card. Please re-enter the number and try again. I’ve tried several times.
Hi Barbara – it’s not a gift card, it’s a coupon code/promo code. Full instructions on how to do this appear here. Apologies for the confusion.
http://bit.ly/1lQpqZ7
I’m having the exact same problem. It’s not working, even with your “How to” link. I’m beginning to think this isn’t a genuine offer. The word promo doesn’t even appear anywhere.
Once you add the book to your shopping cart you should see a box with the words HAVE A PROMO CODE? above it and a blue “Apply” button to the right. Enter the code (without the quotation marks and with no spaces) and click the button – that will apply the promo (and reduce the price to $0.00) If you’re having further issues, please email writinglife@kobo.com. It’s a genuine offer and we want to help you get this great book.
I get the the code is invalid when I hit apply.
Unfortunately it just isn’t working. I’ve tried several tomes. the words promo code do not even appear anywhere. I will email you as I ma anxious to get the book. I hope we can resolve this.
You need to click the “Buy” button, and a screen will pop up
with a prompt: “Have a promo code? Use Standard Checkout.”
1) Click the “Use Standard Checkout” link and you should see a box with the words HAVE A PROMO CODE? above it and a blue “Apply” button to the right.
2) Enter the code (without the quotation marks and with no spaces) and click the button – that will apply the promo (and reduce the price to $0.00)
If you’re having further issues, please email writinglife@kobo.com.
Tech support provided these instructions to me. They worked. (Note: you never have to actually go to Paypal. You just have to choose PayPal to use the promo code.)
-Go to the book product page on kobo site. http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/write-publish-repeat
-Click on “Buy Now.” You will be asked to fill in your billing address.
-Instead of choosing credit card, choose “paypal” and hit “continue.”
-Input your promo code in the box below the phrase “Have a Promo Code?”.
-Hit Apply. The discount will be subtracted from the total on the right-hand side.
-Complete your purchase by hitting “Buy Now.”
-Proceed to paypal to complete your transaction.