Six Tips on How to Write Sizzling First Love Scenes
Prize-winning author, former BBC journalist, bookseller and magazine editor Helena Halme shares her wisdom on creating gripping, sexy, and heartfelt first romantic encounters.
The Broken Union of Narrative Voice and Story (and how to bring them back together)
Narrative voice and story content are intricately bound together, and the two must be compatible for your novel to work. Recognize the four most common issues with narrative voice and how to overcome them.
Commonly Miscategorized Genres and Subgenres: Why These Mistakes Matter
Incorrectly categorizing your books can keep them away from your target readership. Worse still, this could lead to bad reviews, when readers do not get what they expect. Are your novels in the right category?
5 Steps to Standing Out and Selling More in Your Genre
So, you have a concept of the tale you want to tell. Is the story truly of your own design? Follow these five steps to creating an original story.
Empowering Wisdom from Female Authors
A follow-up to our last infographic, which did not give women authors the love they deserve!
Podcast Ep 159 — Best Practices for Indie Writers with David Wind
This week, Steph and Joni sat down with David Wind, author of The Indie Writer’s Handbook. Wind has written 59 titles and started his author journey with a traditional publisher, before becoming a very early adopter of indie publishing in 2008.
How to Immerse Readers in Setting + KWL Fantasy Writing Playlist
Creating a vivid and realistic setting for your readers is a complex process. KWL breaks down the nuances of setting, from its relation to characters, plot, and symbolism, writing with the five senses, and figurative language. Plus, some musical inspiration for setting: get lost in your fantasy world with our playlist of the month!
Writing Tips From Famous Authors
When it comes to writing, people who learn this craft – both for professional or personal use – can benefit from advice. When this advice comes from notable authors, those that have produced some of the best books and stories ever written, their words are worth taking into account. Assignment Helper provides an inspiring infographic featuring advice from famous authors.
The Essential Storytelling Ingredient That Makes Your Story More Addictive
Simply put, stakes are the negative consequences of failure. If your protagonist fails, bad things will happen. Unlike an intriguing hook or compelling protagonist, stakes put readers under tension.
Why is Little Timmy’s Face on Fire?(or how to write a good book description)
One of a potential reader’s biggest “sell” points is your book description. Sadly, it’s also one of the things that I most often see get mangled by authors. But fear no more! I’m going to give you a quick rundown on the elements you need for great cover copy.
The A to Z of KWL
Not sure where to start with publishing? Tara Cremin lays out the A-Z of Kobo Writing Life!
5 Pinterest Tips for Authors
Pinterest is the single-biggest traffic driver to my website, and my click-through rate on my book-related pins is higher than anything I’ve ever seen on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Here are some of my key learnings on how authors can better use Pinterest.
Telling vs. Showing When Emotions Are at Work
By Angela Ackerman Show, Don’t Tell is one of those writerly phrases thrown out often enough that many writers can’t help but roll their eyes when…
Maple to Manuka: A Visit to New Zealand
KWL Author Experience Manager Tara Cremin connects with the global indie author community all the way across the world
10 Ted Talks to Inspire You to Start Your Novel
10 great TED talks to inspire you to start writing!
Writing Tips, Marketing Advice and Book News: What’s Happening This Week?
By Joni Di Placido It’s a new year and we’re bringing this feature back: a place to share the most interesting book news and author tips…
KWL Ep 133 – Let’s Talk Podcasting with Amanda Cupido
In this week’s episode, Cristina sits down with author and podcast producer Amanda Cupido to talk about her book Let’s Talk Podcasting: The Essential Guide to Doing it Right.
In Praise of Public Speaking
How I went from petrified to panelist By Judy Penz Sheluk My earliest memory of public speaking goes back to the eighth grade, when I stood…
The Best of the KWL Blog 2018
Happy New Year from us all at Kobo Writing Life! As we leave 2018 behind, let’s take a moment to celebrate and revisit some of the…
Six Remedies for a Conference Hangover
By Linda Shenton Matchett Even though 2018 marks my eleventh year of attending Crimebake, a mystery writing conference held each November in the Boston, Massachusetts area,…
2018 Holiday Content Processing
This is a friendly reminder that as the holiday season approaches, the schedule for our regular content processing services will be adjusted.* December 21 is the…
Update: New Categories for your Book
You’ll now have the option to browse through over 2,000 categories to find the ones that best suit your book and help tell your story.
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.
10 Steps to a Bestselling Novel
By Sierra Delarosa Are you aiming for your next book to become a bestseller? Why do some books become more popular than others? While there’s no surefire…
A Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up Affiliate Links
By Joni Di Placido Affiliate income is an absolute no brainer for any independent publisher or author. Vivian Arend wrote a comprehensive guide about making the…
What, Why, and How Readers Read: 10 Fun Facts
This one is for those stat-hungry authors among you! A KWL author conducted a reader survey: here are some of the take-home messages.
4 Steps to Starting Your Novel
By Signe Pike “I’m working on a novel” If you’ve ever uttered these words you are most likely acquainted with the particular horrors of trying to…
How To Win NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is a fun way to connect with a global writing community and a great way to focus on really prioritizing your writing for 30 days
Self-Care Strategies for Authors on World Mental Health Day
While many of us work to keep ourselves physically well and look after our bodies, it’s easy to neglect our mental health. This is a gentle reminder today and every day, to be kind to yourselves and take care of you.
My 30-Year Road Trip to Indie Publishing
It’s a great time to be an author.
Overcoming Writer’s Block with Automatic Transcription
Here’s the core idea: thinking out loud is often less arduous than writing. And it’s now easier than ever to combine the two, thanks to recent advances in speech recognition technology.
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…
DIY: Designing Your Own Book Cover
By Peter Staadecker Peter Staadecker is a KWL author and illustrator whose book The Twelve Man Bilbo Choir has been shortlisted for the 2018 Kobo Emerging Writer…
5 Ways Travel Writers Earn Money From Their Craft
The most successful travel writers today are not writing for magazines on the newsstand or books on a store shelf.
KWL Podcast – Ep 107 – Sarah Wendell
In this episode, Stephanie and Cristina sit down with Sarah Wendell. Sarah is a writer, blogger and podcaster and chats to us about running her successful romance book blog and podcast.
The Lasso of Truth About Entrepreneurial Publishing
Independently publishing my books gives me freedom and empowers me to pursue my passions, connect with my fans, and create the life I always dreamed of.
The 5 Traits That All Successful Authors Share
Great authors are seldom born; instead they’re moulded, sculpted and polished over time.
Marie Force: Building a Self-Publishing Empire
My life was changed forever by self-publishing, and I’ll always be thankful for the opportunity to take control of my career.
10 Things Top Kobo Authors Have in Common
Christine will be hosting a free Bublish webinar on Wednesday, March 21 to talk about what’s new and exciting at KWL and what’s driving book sales at Kobo today.
Indie Author 101
Thinking about publishing independently? Our latest #KWLWonderWoman gives her top tips for new authors!
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.
Eight Tools That Will Help You Start Your Novel
By Joni Di Placido Sometimes the biggest challenge in writing is finding the time and the focus to just sit down and do it. Between the…
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,…
Plan To Succeed: How To Give Yourself The Best Start As An Indie Author
by Rachel Amphlett Rachel Amphlett decided to strike out on her own in 2011 after being told by a Big 5 publisher that there was no…
5 Ways to Make Your Editor Think You are Awesome
By Lisa Lepki As the Editor of ProWritingAid’s blog, I am constantly reading submissions from writers, and few things irk me more than common technical gaffes…
An Editor Is Your Novel’s Best Friend
By Carrie D. Miller If you’ve taken the self-published route, you have a little more than a hint of control-freak in you. I know I do.…
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?
Grammar Girl’s Editing Checklist
by Mignon Fogarty Some time ago, Grammar Girl distributed an editing checklist that turned out to be so popular we decided to make it widely available. Go…
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?
You’ve Got One Chance
I made many mistakes with the original cover of my debut novel, The White Raven. This self-publishing journey has been a series of learning experiences. No matter how much research you do, you’re going to screw up along the way. And that’s okay.