I’m in this business for the long term, so I’m always looking to the future and keeping an eye on the volatility of markets. The publishing industry can and does change on a dime, sometimes without notice
As announced in Tokyo yesterday, Rakuten Kobo and Walmart are entering a strategic alliance, making Walmart the exclusive mass retail partner of the Kobo brand in the US.
by Tracy Cooper-Posey Here’s a question for you: Why did you get into indie publishing?
The episode you can’t miss: how to sell more books with BookBub.
In Episode 98, Mark Lefebvre interviews bestselling Australian thriller author Rachel Amphlett, who came to Kobo HQ during her international author tour. Rachel, her husband Nick, and Mark sat down to talk about how she finds inspiration, never giving up, sticking to a schedule, and more
By Joni Di Placido I got a lot of dark glares when I asked the Kobo team for updates this week. Everyone is all out…
Mark Lefebvre interviews James Alan Gardner and Spider Robinson, co-editors of the Tesseracts Twenty: Compostela anthology. The stories in this anthology in their own way tell the tale of futuristic travelers who journey into the dark outer (or inner) reaches of space, searching for their own connections to the past, present and future relics of their time.
Today, I wanted to know where everybody has set their novels, and what inspired them to choose that setting?
It’s day 8 of National Novel Writing Month, which is perfect timing to listen to some excellent inspiration from Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo. He…
Aaaaand the big day is here at last! Here at Kobo we have an intrepid team of fifteen staff members (our biggest yet!) attempting the…
It’s never too late to start writing.
Episode 93 includes a series of short interviews that KWL Director, Mark Lefebvre conducted at the 2017 When Words Collide conference in Calgary, Alberta. Mark speaks…
In Episode 92, Mark Lefebvre interviews Charles de Lint, who is the author of more than seventy books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the…
Episode 91 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, narrated by Jim Dale, beloved actor and narrator for the Harry Potter books in Canada and the United…
Episode 90 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast features an interview with Dennis Weichman, (AKA, Mr. W.), a retired math teacher who has brought his passion…
Episode 88 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast isn’t the usual interview, but rather, features KWL’s Director, Mark Lefebvre outlining five strategies that successful authors use…
Episode 85 of the KWL Podcast contains an interview with Scacchi Koul conducted by Johanna Schneller about Scacchi’s new book One Day We’ll All Be…
KWL Director, Mark Lefebvre was recently a guest on Lit Up! with Angela Breidenbach on TogiNet Radio. In the interview, Mark talks a bit about his…
This episode continues from where episode 82 left off with KWL’s recent live interviews with attendees from RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta, Georgia in early…
On Thursday, April 20, 2017 the 6 winners of Kobo Writing Life’s collaborative publishing prize (Six Novels in Search of an Author – the name inspired…
Tom Corson-Knowles, Founder of TCK Publishing, recently interviewed KWL Director Mark Lefebvre on the TCK Publishing Podcast. In the interview, Tom and Mark discuss a wide…
Julie Czerneda, an international bestselling science fiction and fantasy author from Canada, was one of the Author Guests of Honour at the 2016 When Words Collide…
On February 22, 2017, Rakuten Kobo and bol.com launched ‘Kobo Plus’ – a new subscription service offering readers the largest all-you-can-read selection of digital books in…
In the past month, the Kobo Writing Life team has migrated our author care email system over to a new one (ZenDesk) in a move that…
THIRD ANNUAL KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS Award shines a spotlight on debut authors – includes monetary prize and marketing support for books across…
Chances are you already know Kobo is a global company. But did you know that Kobo has merchandisers around the globe creating unique web store views…
Self-Published titles at Kobo represent nearly 1 in every 4 books sold in the English language for 2016. To spotlight some of the highest selling titles…
Colson Whitehead is the author of Zone One; Sag Harbor; The Intuitionist, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award; John Henry Days, which won the Young Lions…
Kobo Writing Life is a proud sponsor of The Creative Penn podcast for a very good reason: Because of the incredible value that Joanna Penn brings…
If you write in English and have translated your books into French or some other foreign language, you’ve undoubtedly found yourself faced with the unique challenge…
Described as “One of the most harrowing, powerful, and imaginative books of the year” Affinity Konar’s MISCHLING is a novel about twin sisters fighting to survive…
In a recent media release in time for the UK’s FutureBook conference, Kobo’s PR and Communications team released some stats based on reading data that has…
by Joshua Tallent You’ve done it! You finally finished the last sentence of your book. Maybe it was the novel you wrote for NANOWRIMO (my 12-year-old…
Executive Vice President of Publisher Relations and Content at Kobo, Pieter Swinkels introduces a “Kobo in Conversation” interview of Robert Harris about his latest book, Conclave.…
You may have noticed that we’ve recently made some adjustments to our store at www.kobo.com. You now can see how our store looks in different countries,…
Did you know that when you publish with Kobo Writing Life your books are not just available for sale at Kobo, but are also available in our…
by Malcolm Neil For most of us, working as a literary agent seems like a dream. Reading books for a living, hobnobbing with incredible creators from…
Rakuten Kobo, a global digital reading company created by booklovers for booklovers, is working with Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand (part of Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s…
Taiwan’s booklovers have reason to celebrate this week, as Rakuten Kobo officially launches a local eReading service. The launch marks not only the arrival in Taiwan…
by Malcolm Neil Tony Wilson is having quite a year. Recent highlights include a CBCA shortlisted children’s picture book; the launch of his speech aggregation site Speakola; producing and…
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…
For many, reading is not just a pastime, but an identity. Inspired by that insight, Rakuten Kobo announces Kobo Aura ONE, which was designed with the…
In Episode 64 of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Robyn Baldwin, author of Love Lost, Life Found: 8 Practical Steps to…
By Ben Landau Everyone has books they can’t bear to part with. Whether due to sentimental or decorative value, or just the fear of parting with…
We caught up with Sylvia Day on her “One With You” book tour to talk about reading and writing—and then we got a bit more personal……
Toronto, ON – April 19, 2016 – Rakuten Kobo, in search for the best new books written by debut Canadian authors, today announced the shortlist for…
For this episode, we’re doing something a little different: offering you a sneak peek behind the scenes here at Kobo to share some insights from several…
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON DEBUT AUTHORS Award includes monetary prize and marketing support for books in three categories: Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction – Romance, and Non-Fiction…
By Donna Fasano I see regular sales of my independently published books in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and about a dozen other countries each month. But thanks to Kobo Writing Life…
For the month of November, a brave team of Kobo staff joined forces to give NaNoWriMo a shot. We blogged about our efforts throughout the month,…