http://kobowritinglife.libsyn.com/kwl-ep-120-going-global-with-kobo-writing-life
In this episode, we sit down with the European Manager of Kobo Writing Life, Camille Mofidi. Camille shares her thoughts on why authors should go global, the questions they need to ask themselves before going global and why they should consider translations. She also gives listeners tips on translations, metadata, pricing, countries they should consider publishing to and how authors can reach these potential new markets.
- Camille describes her career beginnings in publishing and her journey to Kobo, going from editorial to digital.
- She talks about why authors should be focusing on international readers, how translation can be beneficial for breaking into new markets, and the misconceptions of thinking that English versions are enough.
- Camille discusses about cultural bias and how it sometimes reflects on self-publishing, the changes over the years and how authors are embracing it.
- She shares some great tips on how to get the best out of the KWL dashboard when publishing in a new language and territory, looking into metadata, pricing, configurations, and cultural norms for typography including what goes on the cover!
- She talks about hybrid authors and how they sometimes prefer to enter new markets on self-publishing platforms, even when their titles are traditionally published in their home countries.
- Camille and Chrissy chat about the different trends in consumer preferences in Europe, and how genres and book covers are only a part of the overall consumer research an author should be looking into when curating content to a market.
- Steph asks Camille to talk about some promotions that may be popular in Europe that authors should be aware of when marketing and pricing for promos in different territories.
And we end the episode with a super exciting announcement: the KWL Podcast is now posting weekly!
Links of interest:
Literary Translations with Athina Papa: https://literarytranslations.us/
Kobo Writing Life French Blog: https://kobowritinglife.fr/
Kobo Writing Life Italian Blog: https://kobowritinglife.it/
She has an MA in publishing from ESCP in Paris and her favourite book is Romain Gary’s La Promesse de l’Aube.
She loves the variety of working with Kobo: from communication to editorial activities, data analysis to project management and meeting with authors and speaking at conferences—it’s everything a book and publishing nerd could dream of!