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.
Not sure where to start with publishing? Tara Cremin lays out the A-Z of Kobo Writing Life!
10 great TED talks to inspire you to start writing!
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…
In this episode, Steph and Laura chat to author Signe Pike about her novel The Lost Queen. Signe talks to us about her time as an…
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…
The Kobo Writing Life team is excited to announce our latest Facebook takeover on October 26th 2018. From 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EST, our takeover host, Damon Courtney from Bookfunnel will be answering all your questions on the Kobo Writing Life Facebook page.
Each person who comments with a question and “likes” the Kobo Writing Life page will be automatically entered to win one of two $25 gift cards to the Kobo store.
By Victoria M. Patton First, what is an author platform? In essence, it’s a way for you to reach your potential readers, fans, followers, and ultimately…
KWL EP 117 – Kevin Tumlinson In this episode Chrissy interviews award-winning and bestselling author, Kevin Tumlinson. Kevin talks to us about overcoming the stigma of…
I’ve been writing crime fiction and psychological thrillers for a decade now, and have been self-publishing for around eight years.
I’m now fortunate enough to have sold more than 1.5 million books all around the world, and I’ve reached the position where I’m able to give something back.
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.
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.
Great authors are seldom born; instead they’re moulded, sculpted and polished over time.
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.
By Nicole S., Assistant to Vivian Arend Affiliate income can be an integral part of any author’s income. Finding a system that works best for each of…
By Stephanie McGrath Every book published through Kobo Writing Life undergoes our QA process and because no book is perfect, some will be rejected. When a…
by Chris Mandeville Arts and crafts, anyone? Get out your old magazines, some scissors and glue, and a poster board because—believe it or not—creating a…
By Gloria Kopp Trouble combating writer’s block? For many, fear is a primary cause of writer’s block. You may be afraid of failure, and that others…
By Joan Selby Exhausted. Sleepless. Stressed… Oh, you must be a writer! It’s a tough job, but you do it because it’s the only thing that…
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…
Feed Your Creativity with a Writing Retreat This time of year, it’s easy to crawl into our writing hole and disappear for a few months. We…
Creating interesting merchandising and swag to help gain attention for your products always involves a combination of creativity and business savvy. We were quite delighted to…
by Chris Mandeville Life is fast-paced and full, and we’re all busy, even during an average month. But during the holiday season, we add all sorts…
You may have noticed that we’ve recently made some adjustments to our store at http://www.kobo.com. You now can see how our store looks in different countries,…
By JD Smith I’m a sentimentalist but also a realist. Book covers are primarily about selling books. They’re prime real estate, the first billboard your book…
By Daniel Arenson Fantasy and science fiction are about other worlds. Sometimes worlds in the distant past, full of wizards and dragons. Sometimes worlds similar to…
Joanna Penn, one of the world’s leading authorities on indie publishing, proprietor of The Creative Penn Blog and Podcast (a place to learn all about writing,…
By Terry Odell This is the second of a two part article about foreshadowing. If you missed Part One, you can find it here. Without proper foreshadowing,…
The Kobo Writing Life team has recently added two types of NOTIFICATIONS to the KWL Dashboard. The first type of notification involves basic systematic information that…
by Chris Mandeville A synopsis is a document —sometimes a paragraph, sometimes several pages— that describes your book. What could be simpler? As a writer, I…
By Vanessa Ghosh Pre-orders are a great way to generate excitement for your yet-unreleased books, while simultaneously securing a few early sales! To set up a…
by Chris Mandeville A “plotting grid” is a physical chart used to lay out the components of a story in a visual way. It often looks…
This week’s podcast is essential listening for all authors: Victoria Strauss from Writer Beware is joining us to share her most important advice for how writers…
By BlueInk Review As summer kicks into full gear, many are taking the time to write that novel or memoir they’ve been planning to get to…
KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Nancy L. Baumann, CEO of Bookarma, a platform that allows authors to leverage the community in their social media endeavors. In the…
By Vanessa Ghosh Here’s a quick list of time-saving and book-beautifying tips for Microsoft Word. If you have any to add, feel free to post them…
by Chris Mandeville I’d like to share a tool that will help you talk about your book: the logline. A logline is a one-line synopsis that…
Written by Tim Inman # An essential to-do-list for independent authors from whitefox # There’s more to self publishing than just writing the book. Promotion is…
One of the best ways to enhance and increase your sales is to ensure you are providing the best quality metadata (Metadata = the data that…
When did you first discover a love of writing? Is there a particular book that made you want to become a writer? I fell in love…
Kobo and Kobo Writing Life have long been known for being open, social and collaborative. And this episode of the Kobo Writing Life podcast is no exception.…
By Joshua Essoe When November (National Novel Writing Month) is over, a writer’s “first draft done” mind often turns to editing. The is the 4th in…
By Natalia Zurawska I have been a professional makeup artist for the last 10 years. I absolutely love my career as well as making people laugh…
Reader reviews are BACK at Kobo! As authors know, reviews definitely help readers decide whether or not they are going to buy a book or download…
By Joshua Essoe When November (National Novel Writing Month) is over, a writer’s “first draft done” mind often turns to editing. The is the 3rd in…
Lucy Cuthew, an editor specialising in children’s and young adult fiction, became a freelancer in 2011 having spent several years as a commissioning editor at Meadowside…
By Joshua Essoe Now that November (National Novel Writing Month) is over, a writer’s “first draft done” mind often turns to editing. The is the 2nd…
By Mark Dawson You might be reading this on a train or a bus. If you are, have a look around. What do you see? People…
By Joshua Essoe Now that November (National Novel Writing Month) is over, a writer’s “first draft done” mind often turns to editing. The Hit List is…
By Linda Poitevin If you’re a writer and you haven’t yet heard of Wattpad (or you’ve heard of it but dismissed it), you’re not alone…and you…