5 Things to Know About Going Wide
“Publishing wide is an attitude, not just a technical choice”– Joanna Penn One of the biggest questions indie authors face is, “should I go wide or…
Public Speaking for Writers
By Sally Jenkins, author of Public Speaking for Absolute Beginners Editor’s Note: We know that most in person events have been put on hold for…
Five Things You May Not Know About KWL
We always want to make sure all of our authors are up to date with everything that KWL has to offer. Here are five things you…
What I Wish I’d Known When I Began Self-Publishing
By D.F. Hart I began this journey in March of 2019, and literally had no clue what I was doing through my first three book releases.…
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.
The A to Z of KWL
Not sure where to start with publishing? Tara Cremin lays out the A-Z of Kobo Writing Life!
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 130––Signe Pike
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…
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…
KWL Author Takeover #4: Damon Courtney
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.
How To Build An Author Platform And Why You Need One
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 Podcast EP 117 – Kevin Tumlinson
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…
KWL Author Takeover #2: Adam Croft!
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.
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.
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 5 Traits That All Successful Authors Share
Great authors are seldom born; instead they’re moulded, sculpted and polished over time.
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.
Are You Using Kobo Affiliate Links?
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…
Top 5 Reasons Books Are Rejected From Publishing on KWL
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…
Cut & Paste Your Way to Inspiration with Collages
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…
7 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block and Why It Is Important
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…
5 Tips on How to Make Your Writing Process Feel Like a Game
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…
Kobo Writing Life Community
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…
Cruising Writers France 2017 Retreat
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…
ATTENTION MARKETING: LUCKY PENNY
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…
Eat Your Words! A Tool to Carve Out Writing Time
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…
New Country Store View on Kobo
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,…
The Essentials of Book Cover Design
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…
Building Fantasy Worlds
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…
Successful Self-Publishing Advice From A Pro
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,…
How To Use Foreshadowing As A Writing Tool: Part Two
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,…
Custom Notifications Settings
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…
Synopsis: The Tool You Need (whether you know it or not)
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…
KWL Guide to Pre-orders
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…
The Plotting Grid: a Tool for Plotters and Pantsers
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…
Kobo Writing Life Podcast – Episode 037 – Victoria Strauss
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…
Writing your novel this summer? Here are 6 no-fail tips for self-publishers
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…
Kobo Writing Life Podcast – Episode 036 – Nancy L. Baumann from Bookarma
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…
MS Word Tips for Authors
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…
The Right Tool for the Job: Logline
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…
11 Tips for Promoting your Book
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…
Selling More of Your Series Books on Kobo
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…
My Writing Life: Pauline Baird Jones
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 Writing Life Podcast – Episode 026 – Important Things To Know About eBook Publishing
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.…
The Hit List: Mark 4
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…
Simple Make-Up Tips For Authors
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
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…
The Hit List: Mark 3
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…
The Role of an Editor – Interview with Lucy Cuthew
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…