Book Awards for Indie Authors: Fall 2019/Winter 2020
Winning the right book award can be a catalyst for discovery. And with this type of discovery a self-published author and their work out of obscurity and into the spotlight.
How to Get Book Reviews and Generate Buzz as an Indie Author
KWL has compiled a list of budget-friendly book review platforms that will help get readers talking about your book.
NetGalley Promo Opportunities
Are you an indie author looking to promote your titles and grow your readership? Kobo Writing Life and NetGalley have partnered to benefit authors and publishers looking to do just that.
KWL Ep 131 – Ricci Wolman
KWL EP 131 – Ricci Wolman In this episode, Chrissy chats to Ricci Wolman the founder and CEO of Written Word Media. Ricci talks about why…
Setting Up a Multi-Author Bookstore Event
When my debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, was published in 2015, one of the first things I did was set up a bookstore event at my local Chapters. Visions of eager customers lining up outside the door danced through my head.
The reality was considerably different.
Building Your Street Team
Folsom is one of the many indie authors who has the benefit of a secret weapon—a street team of ardent fans who are devoted to her and, perhaps more importantly, to her ongoing success as a writer.
My Title Was Rejected From a Kobo Promotion – Why?
By Elyse Daniels, Global Audiobooks Merchandiser *If you don’t yet have access to the Kobo Promotions tool and your titles are uploaded directly through…
What Makes A Good Author Bio?
Like yodelling on a mountaintop, when I say the words ‘author bio’ I can hear the collective author groan echo from every corner of the globe. Like eating your vegetables or doing your taxes, writing your author bio is unfortunately an inescapable part of literary life.
How to Reach Readers on Kobo
By C.J. Archer C.J. first started publishing independently in 2011 and was an immediate success—making enough to become a full-time author within her first year. She…
Be Authentic: How To Build Relationships With Readers
By Julie Strauss Julie Strauss wanted to maintain control of marketing and distributing her own titles. She spent considerable time doing research on self-publishing—seeking out articles,…
Go Wide, Go Big—Go For It!
KWL is a team of 7 strong women running a major pillar of Kobo’s content catalogue. We LOVE hearing stories about how self-publishing empowers female writers to build booming independent publishing businesses, making enough money through writing to quit their day jobs, and even hire their partners, family members, or friends to support them. Here Julia Kent shares her tips for success.
How Going Wide Helped Me Quit My Day Job
by Tracy Cooper-Posey Here’s a question for you: Why did you get into indie publishing?
Are You “Shoulding” on Yourself? An Author’s List of Shoulds
As authors we are constantly under pressure to do so much that we’re left with little time to actually write. How to find that balance and use our time wisely?
Kobo Writing Life Podcast – Episode 099 – BookBub
The episode you can’t miss: how to sell more books with BookBub.
Single-Focus Marketing (or How to Write Better Email Newsletters)
We all want to increase our reader engagement, right? More social media comments, more newsletter opens, more purchases. But did you know that offering more choices might actual result in less action from your readers?
Multi-Layered Readers and How to Reach Them
When I thought about my readers, I lumped them all into one huge bucket. When I sent an email newsletter to my 500 readers, I couldn’t understand why some didn’t open and others didn’t click. . .As an indie author, identifying your readers offers opportunity to brainstorm new ways to connect with her.
How To Show Facebook Love In Just 20 Minutes A Day
Whether you’ve been avoiding Facebook like the plague or are fighting a social networking addiction, you can benefit from trying a schedule like this. You’ll be able to make the most of your time online and save valuable hours for writing!
Making the Group Effort
By Michelle M. Pillow I’m considered a hybrid author. I’ve been with big publishers, smaller e-first presses, and now indie. In my experience, the only certainty…
Be A Smart Indie
If you’ve been an independent author for any length of time, you know the market has grown more competitive. So how can your books stand out in such a crowded marketplace?
YOU Are the Brand!
By putting your name front and centre, even if you’ve only sold to family and friends, you’re making a statement that you deserve to be discovered.
Making Promotional Videos on the Cheap
I started making videos last July to promote my first novel, A Time and a Place, published October 1st 2017 by Five Rivers Publishing. I chose videos as a primary means of promotion because I believed they could make the biggest impact, and I could distribute them via multiple platforms for free.
5 Habits of the World’s Most Successful Writers
by Justin Osborn Every writer dreams about the moment when their work hits the bestseller list. We wish for the perseverance and inspiration to churn out…
Five things I learned at a professional writers workshop
By Barbara G. Tarn As an introvert, marketing one’s own work is a huge challenge. Free advertising seems like a great way to get your name…
Multi-Author Bundles: Dos and Don’ts
by Donna Fasano Multi-author anthologies require a lot of hard work. However, if 100% of the participating authors pull together to make the boxed set a…
Find your next read and promote your books with Helloreads
How do you decide what you’re reading next? Checking various book lists? Asking friends? Browsing endlessly through the bottomless internet? Helloreads has built one platform to…
6 Social Media Tips Just for Authors
By Frances Caballo You’ve self-published your book, celebrated your launch, and sold books to most of your friends, family members and colleagues. Now, you’re even blogging. But…
Are you a KWL Affiliate yet?
You can earn more with Kobo Writing Life’s Author Affiliate program! This program is free to join, easy to sign-up, and requires no technical knowledge. It’s…
Let’s Get Social
Are you looking for more ways to promote your books on Kobo? Are you looking to build your author profile on social media? Kobo Writing Life…
Supporting The Survival Instinct
By Janie Crouch I write romantic suspense. Best job in the world. In every book I write there comes a moment when the main characters have…
Attention Marketing: Eye-Catching Promos
Being a writer, it’s no surprise that Vera Brook is in love with words and stories. But she has always been drawn to photography and other…
An Amazing Time To Be A Creator
“Right now writers have more opportunities than ever in the history of publishing!” This is a line that Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre often enjoys…
5 Tips for Compelling Library Programs
By Andra Watkins Are you an author who’s interested in working with libraries? Whether an author has one book or twenty, libraries are still one of…
ATTENTION MARKETING: Red Hot Romance
Patricia W. Fischer writes Red Hot romance. It’s true. We found that out when we met her at the Romance Writers of America annual conference in…
ATTENTION MARKETING: Bookish Swag – Glynnis Campbell
Glynnis Campbell is one of those writers who not only really knows her audience and writes books that her readers love, but she also really knows…
ATTENTION MARKETING: Packaging Print Books
Standing out in a crowed marketplace is something that smart authors and publishers do. We have raved about it in the past, and here’s another example…
The Author Website: Not Just a Digital Business Card
by Chris Mandeville An “official author website” is, like a business card, a tool for providing customers (readers) with information about you. But unlike a…
How My Sales on Kobo Topped All Other Vendors
SALES ON KOBO TOPPED ALL OTHER VENDORS DURING MY FIRST GLOBAL DISCOUNT-PRICE PROMOTION By Diana Deverell This result surprised me. I’m an ex-pat American living in…
Your Book Launch Toolkit
by Joel Friedlander Launching your book can be one of the most exciting—and most stressful—parts of publishing a book. Carefully preparing, timing, and executing just the…
Kobo In Conversation on Zoomer Radio: Episode 3
We’re very pleased to be partnered with Zoomer Radio to present a weekly Kobo In Conversation! In our third installment we have an interview with Canadian…
Build Your Global Sales with Kobo Writing Life
NOTE: This piece originally appeared on The Book Designer. By Christine Munroe Why should self-published authors and small publishers distribute directly to Kobo? And how can…
Kobo In Conversation on Zoomer Radio
We’re very pleased to announce that we’ve partnered with Zoomer Radio to present a weekly Kobo In Conversation. In this new half-hour radio show, we’ll chat…
Picture This: The Author Photo As A Tool
By Chris Mandeville Your “official author photo” can be a powerful tool for drawing in and connecting with potential readers. Like your author bio, your photo gives…
Attention Marketing: Packaging
In this industry where thousands of new titles are published every week, it’s in a publisher’s and author’s best interest to do everything they can to…
From $50 a day to $3,000 a day in 2 months: My top tips for self-publishing success
By Adam Croft December 2015 seems like a lifetime ago to me now. At the beginning of that month I was earning somewhere in the…
The Author Bio: a Tool for Boring…or for Bonding
by Chris Mandeville An author bio can be a valuable tool for connecting with readers. Or it can bore them to death. Too much info,…
Kobo Writing Life Podcast – Episode 060 – Book Blogging with Vilma Gonzalez
In this week’s episode, we’re focusing on book blogging. Vilma Gonzalez, the all-star blogger who runs Vilma’s Book Blog, was kind enough to share her journey…
Free Webinar: 5 Steps to Selling More Books Through Copywriting
Writing a rich, compelling book is just one step toward the goal of a successful writing career. Selling your books is a challenge no matter how…
Best Practices for Building Sales
By Toni Anderson I was a little taken aback when asked to write a blog about how I’ve grown my sales on Kobo over the last…
Building Your Author Mailing List
By Mark Dawson I can still remember it, even three years later. I had published my first indie novel, The Black Mile, and had arranged a…
Get Your Reader Hooked With These 8 Tips
By Linda Craig Readers think it’s easy for a writer to complete and publish a new book, so they are usually impatient when waiting for a…