by Tara Cremin

Long time, no dispatch! Kobo Writing Life was back on the road again, this time in Florida at beautiful St. Pete’s Beach for the annual Novelists, Inc. (NINC) conference.

Novelists, Inc. is a group of the savviest multi-published fiction writers in the business. There are a couple of requirements for membership: indie authors need to have published at least two works and earned $5K+ over 12 consecutive months. For more details, visit NINC’s membership page.

The Novelists, Inc. conference has become a mainstay for top indie authors and also has a strong industry presence. Alongside Kobo Writing Life, there were also reps from Amazon, Google, Barnes & Noble, BookBub, Vellum, Reedsy – to name but a few.

NINC runs over 4 days and there are lots of networking events and presentations with a focus this year on how authors can elevate their careers. KWL sponsored Saturday’s breakfast, Wake Me Up Before You Kobo (you’re welcome for that earworm) which was a great opportunity to network with authors over coffee and croissants. The highlight for me personally was the Meet Our Sponsors Happy Hour event where we got to show off some new KWL swag and chat to so many authors. I love building relationships with authors and it’s been wonderful to see careers flourish since the last time I was at NINC in 2019.

There was a lot of interest from authors about Kobo Plus, Kobo’s non-exclusive subscription program, and it was great to be able to use our presentation to announce new promotional opportunities in KWL for Kobo Plus. We want to highlight KWL authors in new places to help them reach new readers and we’re so thrilled to offer Kobo Plus promotions as another way to reach Kobo’s global audience. Throughout NINC, I felt a renewed interest from authors in publishing widely – meaning on multiple sales platforms – which is exactly the strategy that we at KWL encourage. We want to help authors reach readers widely, however they like to read.

Between busy meetings and events, I got to spend one morning watching the sunrise on the beach and it was thoroughly refreshing, and paired with great author discussions, I left NINC energised and optimistic.

Are you attending any events in-person this year? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned to more dispatches from the KWL team.