Setting Up for Publishing Success – Looking at the Year Ahead
The Kobo Writing Life team is excited to announce our latest Live Q&A on January 26th, 2023, from 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EST. KWL Director Tara will be chatting with all of our viewers, alongside author engagement manager and KWL podcast co-host Laura, about how to set up for a successful year of publishing in 2023. If you can’t make it to the event, feel free to comment on this post with your questions and we can ask them for you!
Hi authors!
In our first live Q&A of the year, we are going to feature Tara, Kobo Writing Life’s director, Laura, author engagement manager, and Rachel, promotions specialist, as they discuss relevant topics and answer questions sent in by all of YOU, our wonderful community of authors, regarding how best to set up for success in the coming year!
This AMA-style chat is a great opportunity to hear about developments at KWL, learn some new tips and tricks, and gain some inspiration for the publishing year ahead.
We’ll be discussing and answering questions related to the following:
- How to make the most of your pre-orders
- Reaching new readers – with Kobo Plus and OverDrive
- Audiobooks and audiobook marketing
- Setting up a successful release schedule
- New series, new releases, and opportunities for new authors in 2023
- Market research – staying ahead of the seasons
- And much more!
We will also have time for questions at the end, so be sure to join the live event and bring your questions! And, as always, happy writing.
Tara runs Kobo Writing Life (KWL), Kobo’s independent publishing platform. As a subject matter expert in all aspects of indie publishing, her aim is to make KWL the greatest and most user-friendly self-publishing platform available and always looking for ways for indies to reach a new audience of readers.
Laura is Kobo Writing Life’s Author Engagement Manager. In her role on the KWL team, she works closely with indie authors to help them reach new readers on Kobo. She has a B.A. in English from York University and a post-grad certificate in book, magazine and electronic publishing from Centennial College. When she’s off the clock, you can find her curled up with a romance book or binge-watching a new reality show.
Rachel left her hometown at seventeen to follow her love of literature to the English department at York University. After graduating with her B.A. in English Literature, Rachel spent some time working odd jobs in both Manhattan and Sydney before returning to her true geographical love, Toronto, and working with the wonderful team at Kobo Writing Life. Rachel is a huge nerd, and will talk your ear off about Buffy the Vampire Slayer while also giving you advice on how to make the most of your promotions at Kobo.
I’m confused. I don’t see a way to register for this event. I’ll place it in my calendar and trust the registration method will be provided soon. Thanks
Hi there – there is no registration required! The event will be broadcast on our YouTube and Facebook pages:
https://www.facebook.com/KoboWritingLife/ – Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp2oHNLJ-zY-47Iq9gUYReg – YouTube
Simply head over to one of these pages at the event start, and you’ll be able to tune in live. Thank you!
I’ll love to join you live ❤️
Awesome, thanks so much.
I am unable to attend the event but I have a couple of questions that I hope you may be able to address:
1. What are your recommendations for promoting literary fiction on Kobo and Kobo Plus?
2. How can authors access their books’ Kobo Plus statistics (number of downloads, reading time, completion rates, etc.)?
Thank you!
Hi Joseph – thanks for your questions! There will be a recording of the event posted on our YouTube channel at a later date, so be sure to check it out when you can.
Hello Tara Laura or Rachel,
I enjoy these multilogs. But I will not be able to see this one. But i shared the event and will share it again ,after.
My questions,i infex by topic.
1. To be blunt, i only made a preorder for one of my books. I do not have a grand readerbase.
Can you state the most successful genre for preorder of books?
do videos or other media elements help preorders?
a more successful writer commercially said that having an online community aids in preorders,is that true based on your experience?
2. I have been on overdrive for years,like bookbub,but do either of them work for audiobooks? I dont recall an overdrive option for audiobooks nor does bookbub in my experience accept audiobooks?
Am i wrong,or do any of you know a workaround?
3. Will KWL setup audiobook pages to load on websites with an audio excerpt if available?
All my audiobooks have excerpts. It will be nice for the book cover plus audio excerpt to be accessible in places like facebook?
4. Please speak on whether release schedules need to change based on readers in various geographic zones?
for example,if a writer is popular in china plus the usa, does market research or experience say it is better to have a schedule one for all places or to each its own?
Can not wait to hear about new opportunities and staying ahead of the seasons. Thanks again to all three of you.
for anyone else who reads this my newsletter can be accessed at rmnewsletter.over-blog.com
I’d love to learn more about working with Kobo on making the most of a new release.