Kobo Writing Life Podcast

Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks met in person for the first time at Kobo’s home office in Toronto in May 2014 and were interviewed by Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre about their individual works as well as the forthcoming collaborative graphic novel they are creating together and which will be coming from First Second books in 2016. The interview includes the following: ·         How these two “Twitter bro’s” just met a few minutes before the interview (at Kobo’s home office in Toronto in May 2014) ·         How Landline was a return to writing adult novels for Rainbow ·         The manner by which some of the travel, airport scenes and long distance phone calls to a family while traveling were somewhat predictive in Rainbow’s journey as a touring author (and what she called “having a ‘Landline’ moment.” ·         The speculative fiction element of Landline and Rainbow’s love of reading science-fiction and the “geeky time travel” elements of the novel which features a “magic phone.” ·  

In the latest episode of the Kobo Writing Life Podcast, we welcome NYT and USA Today bestselling author Diane Capri. KWL Content Manager Christina Potter and US Manager Christine Munroe speak with Diane - who offered jokingly to change her name to Christine for the purposes of this episode - about her daily writing life, the benefits of collaboration and mentorship, strategies for selling well on Kobo, and more. Tune in to hear about: The value of being part of writing organizations. Diane has been a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, and others, for many years. Diane talks about how she joined many groups when she began writing and how these groups of allowed her to receive feedback on writing and  upcoming projects. They are also a great place to connect with new writers and share information. How to find a writing schedule that works for you. Diane's advice? Try everything- it is the best way to refine your process. The importance of working closely with r

In our latest podcast, KWL US Manager Christine Munroe interviews bestselling author and self-publishing expert Pamela Fagan Hutchins. Pamela has written the book on self-publishing, WHAT KIND OF LOSER INDIE PUBLISHES, AND HOW CAN I BE ONE, TOO? In the summer of 2013, she embarked on a 60-cities-in-60-days book tour, which she organized herself (with the help of her supportive family), so she has plenty of insights and advice for working successfully with bookstores. Listen in to Episode 020 as Pamela shares her thoughts on: Her mission to serve as an exemplary self-published author, in particular when working with bookstores, so they will open the door to fellow writers. Stories from the road during her 60-cities-in-60-days book tour, including the day when a book club showed up to her Boston reading… despite tornado warnings! Keeping it in the family - her husband, the five children between them, and her mom all joined her on the road to help support her work. Looking at self-promotion with a long-term p

At a recent visit to Kobo's home office in Toronto, Hugh Howey was interviewed by KWL Director Mark Lefebvre in front of an audience of about 150 people (60 of which were local Kobo Writing Life authors) for a Kobo in Conversation video.  Here are some highlights from the discussion.             Introduction of Hugh Howey and Mark Lefebvre by Tracy Nesdoly, Senior Director of Communications at Kobo           Hugh talks about how interesting it is that history re-writes itself to fit the model of what people think happened – his first book was actually signed to a small press before he made the decision to try the self-publishing route           Hugh also reflects on how, in 2009, he was only concentrating on print books and traditional contracts for the first book, but then noticed his eBook sales were overtaking his print book sales           How Hugh was pressured by friends and family to get his book out to publishers so they could see it in bookstores           How Hugh’s Mom had been a great cr

KWL Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Moses Znaimer, co-founder and former head of CityTV, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, the current head of ZoomerMedia (Zoomer Magazine) and the author of The Zoomer Philosophy. Mark and Moses discuss:          How Moses rarely stops to look back because he is always on to looking at the next thing that he is working on           The Zoomer Philosophy (his book) and the definition of what a Zoomer is           How the Zoomer Philosophy fits in with the idea of living longer and better lives           How the words old, senior, elder and mature provide discomfort and make people squirm           Znaimer’s examination, through his essays at how Boomers, who sang songs like The Who’s “My Generation” with lyrics like “I hope I die before I get old” have suddenly found themselves at the age they originally mistrusted           How the first group of people who coined the phrase “don’t trust anybody over 30” are now 60 years old          

Camille Mofidi, European Manager for Kobo Writing Life interviews Italian author Vieri Tommasi Candidi about his Who’s Jo Spatacchia? Series and the unique method by which he had released this in two languages with a regular and enhanced version for different audiences.  During the conversation, Camille and Vieri discuss:   Developing projects along with talented artists            The concept of Who Joe Spatacchia is and the inspiration and thoughts behind the creation of this character           How Vieri has mixed the story with drawings and music in this interactive eBook as well as how he chose the music and the drawings to accompany the story           How music and images could give a choreography and elevated atmosphere to the story allowing people to enjoy it on many levels           The 7 episodes as well as the scheduled release plans of either 1 episode per month or even, perhaps 2 per month           The fact that there are two versions per episode – one with music and the other without

KWL Director Mark Lefebvre and US Manager Christine Munroe were joined by NYT bestselling author, professional speaker, and entrepreneur Joanna Penn. Joanna is an invaluable resource for indie authors through her blog, The Creative Penn, and podcast of the same name. Listen in as Joanna shares insights about: How Joanna began her journey as a fiction writer through NaNoWriMo in 2009. Why she defines herself and fellow indie authors as entrepreneurs: "I define an entrepreneur as someone who creates something of value from their own head… these days, if you're writing fiction and you're self-publishing, and you are being a businessperson, then you are being an entrepreneur." Other methods of earning income as an author: audio, print, and translation – and specifically how Joanna produced PENTECOST as an audiobook through ACX. How publishing her eBooks in English through kobo.com helped her reach readers in 30 countries and counting. Joanna's collaborative "give first" approach: if you give first, others will c

Christine Munroe interviews Brooklyn-based author Nathaniel Kressen, who took a truly unique approach to self-publishing his debut novel Concrete Fever and won over local independent booksellers along the way. Tune in to hear about:   Why Kressen decided to hand-craft hard copies of his novel, and the misadventures he encountered as he mastered the bookbinding process What he learned by meeting Jenn Northington from WORD Bookstore, which helped him to become a favorite amongst local indie bookstores The essential components of a one-sheet to give bookstores along with hard copies of your book: your contact information, ISBN, retail price, suggested discount (60%), number of copies in the box, number of copies in store that have not yet been sold, payment information, whether you are a local and available for events, image of the cover. Not helpful: a press packet trying to convince stores how great the novel is Advice for getting your self-published book into bookstores: create a great product, and be resp

Mark Lefebvre, KWL Director, interviews Melissa Yuan-Innes, author of the hot-selling Hope Sze Medical Mystery series about...     Melissa’s role as an emergency physician and the role this plays in helping develop her fiction and the character of Hope Sze Melissa’s latest book, TERMINALLY ILL which is coming out February 1, 2014 (and is available for pre-order) How the beloved yet frustrating city of Montreal is a prominent feature in her fiction How Melissa manages to find time to write on top of her demanding day job (10 to 14 hour shifts) and her family life. Melissa’s “secret weapon” otherwise known as her husband The many pseudonyms Melissa uses for the different style of fiction that she writes (sci-fi/fantasy and non-fiction medical humour fiction) under Melissa Yuan-Innes, medical thrillers and mysteries written under Melissa Yi, medical romance written under Melissa Yin, children’s books under Melissa Yuan and the reasons behind that (and how it has changed since Melissa first started) T

Camille Mofidi, European Manager for Kobo Writing Life interviewed three authors that Kobo sponsored for the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair Author Walk of Fame:  Emily Bold, Kristie Cook and Hugh Howey. This is the third in the series of three interviews and features international bestselling author Hugh Howey.  In the interview, Camille and Hugh discuss: Hugh’s start into writing, the multi-faceted journey his life took, including being a ship’s captain How Hugh was working as a bookseller when he started on the path of writing a book, publishing it, and then moving on to the next project writing the next book Hugh’s perspective on the importance of joining a writing group; in particular the group he joined (the High Country Writers) The critical role that revisions of that first draft play for a writer, whether you are self-publishing or want to send it to an agent or publisher The role being a bookseller played in helping to inform Hugh about the realities of the publishing industry Hugh’s belief that

Camille Mofidi, European Manager for Kobo Writing Life interviewed three authors that Kobo sponsored for the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair Author Walk of Fame:  Emily Bold, Kristie Cook and Hugh Howey. This is the second of the series of three interviews and features bestselling New Adult paranormal romance author Kristie Cook. Camille and Kristie discuss: Kristie's bestselling series Soul Saver An exploration of Kristie's path to writing which began at the age of 8 years when she embraced a school writing assignment Kristie's experience in business and marketing writing and how that background helped provide her with a solid understanding of good marketing strategies for her books The importance of taking a business perspective and a professional midset Kristie's POV regarding flying across the ocean from the US to Germany and the UK for attend both Frankfurt Book Fair and London Book Fair in 2013 How meeting with Kobo representatives in person at the London Book Fair was the highlight of Kristi's visit

Camille Mofidi, European Manager for Kobo Writing Life interviewed three authors that Kobo sponsored for the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair Author Walk of Fame:  Emily Bold, Kristie Cook and Hugh Howey. This is the first of the series of three interviews and features bestselling romance author Emily Bold. Camille and Emily discuss Emily's continued growth and rise not just in Germany but around the globe, something which saw a significant increase when she embraced the opportunities available to independent publishers and authors through eBook publishing. They also discuss working with agents regarding the sale of foreign rights as well as strategies for translating work into English and other languages as a way of broadening Emily's reach in the global market. This episode also includes the audio of a presentation that Kobo's Chief Content Officer Michael Tamblyn gave at Futurebook Conference November 2013 regarding this past October's "Eroticagate"  

Christine Munroe, US Manager for Kobo Writing Life, interviews Darcie Chan, author of the NYT and USA Today bestselling novel, The Mill River Recluse. Christine and Darcie discuss: Darcie's dedication to this novel, which she finished writing almost 10 years ago, and her unique experience from experimenting with self-publishing to signing a deal with a traditional publisher The exciting moments when in 2011 MILL RIVER RECLUSE sold 100 copies – and when it hit the NYT Bestseller List a few months later Why it's important for authors to read across different genres – and whether Darcie would ever write outside of what she describes as her "mainstream fiction comfort zone" What Darcie would do differently given the benefit of hindsight: hint, it involves making your book as professional as possible Collaboration with other writers – Darcie describes the group Backspace as "the most invaluable source of information" she found on her journey as an author Darcie's daily writing life, including a descr

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Terry Fallis, multi-award winning author of The Best Laid Plans, The High Road  and Up and Down.  Mark and Terry talk about: •    How they met when Mark was a bookseller at McMaster University’s bookstore, and Terry, a former McMaster student self-published The Best Laid Plans in 2007. •    Mark’s comparison of Terry’s writing to John Irving •    How Terry applied his knowledge of politics and engineering to create the characters of Daniel and Angus (the main characters from The Best Laid Plans and The High Road) •    Terry’s original nativity when venturing into the realm of self-publishing back in 2006/2007 •    How Terry used podcasting to gain a worldwide audience for The Best Laid Plans and was the first Canadian to follow in the footsteps of such podcasting pioneers as Scott Sigler •    Mark’s original reluctance as a bricks and mortar bookseller to carry The Best Laid Plans or even read this satirical novel of Canadian politics, but how, after a si

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Johnny B. Truant author of the Fat Vampire series, and co-author of The Beam and Unicorn Western.  The two discuss: How Johnny is continuing and concluding the Fat Vampire saga, which began as a joke during a discussion on the Self-Publishing Podcast, but became a series featuring a loveable, sympathetic and genuine hero (Reginald) rather than just a simple series of fat jokes. Johnny’s evolution as a writer – specifically, how Johnny’s first novel, The Bialy Pimps, described as “Clerks” in a bagel shop, took him twelve years to publish it; compared to the incredible weekly word count he is currently producing (ie, 270,000 words for the Fat Vampire series in a single year)  Giving oneself permission to simply write fast  Johnny’s first collaborative novel project (along with Sean Platt) entitled Unicorn Western, and the hilarious origin story of how the series stemmed from a research argument on the Self-Publishing Podcast that led Dave to crack a joke ab

  Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Jacqueline Garlick, author of Lumière: A Fantasy Steampunk Romance Adventure (http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/lumiere-1). Mark and Jackie discuss: Jacqueline’s background in writing and experience working with SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators - http://www.scbwi.org/ ) under the mentorship of Ellen Hopkins (http://ellenhopkins.com/) How Ellen Hopkins helped promote and nurture a beginning writer, helping them to believe that they could do it The Niagara Retreat and Conference event (http://niagararetreatandconference.com/) that Jacqueline is a driving force behind The self-publishing approach that Jacqueline’s agent suggested and supports Taking the long-term approach as a writer, in both the indie and traditional publishing spaces, determining where a project best fits in an industry that is in flux How the X-Ray machine used to be seen as a cure for everything Themes in the novel, such as:  Science created for good bein

Diego Marano, UK Manager for Kobo Writing Life interviews Chele Cooke, author of Dead & Buryd. Diego is joined by KWL Director Mark Lefebvre. The trio discuss the following: Chele’s start of writing when she moved, at the age of 14, to San Francisco, where she began writing fan fiction in the Harry Potter universe How Chele’s degree in creative writing opened her up to different types and styles of fiction The effect of being short-listed for the Wicked Young Writers Award (http://www.wickedyoungwriters.com/) Some mistakes made early in a writing career and how that helps a writer to learn Chele’s previous challenge of piles of unfinished manuscripts and HOW she overcame that during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – November) by investing some time in outlining rather than just sitting down and writing without planning OUTLINING was the key to Chele’s success in completing a novel Chele’s plans to write the sequel to Dead & Buryd during NaNoWriMo this year (and the fact that Kobo Writing Life

Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Douglas Smith, an award-winning Canadian author of fantasy, SF, horror and supernatural fiction with over 100 short story sales in 30 countries and two dozen languages. Doug and Mark discuss the following: •    Doug’s start to writing in 1995 stemming from a “mid-life” crisis •    How Doug’s new novel The Wolf at the End of the World ties back to the very first short story he wrote in 1995, Spirit Dance •    Doug’s prestigious career as a short-fiction writer (how he turned the sale of 40 short stories sold into re-selling them to 170 markets globally), the importance of taking advantage of reprint rights •    Doug’s outstanding foreign language rights sales of short fiction:  25 languages in 30 countries •    Ralon.com – online free short fiction market listings •    Doug’s strategy for hiring a cover artist, an ePub formatting conversion company to create a consistent professional look and feel to generate a catalog of eBook versions of his short story f

Check out the books we're discussing here! Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Mitch Joel, author of the books Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT DELETE: Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends on it. The conversation between Mitch and Mark involve the following: Mark’s riffing on Mitch’s regularly used consistent classic opening for interviews in his Six Pixels of Separation Podcast The importance of creating consistently delivered content (Mitch’s 6 times weekly blog content and his weekly podcast) and how that relates to author branding The nature of having an audience available BEFORE you have a book and providing value to the community that you are creating content for How publishing his first book Six Pixels of Separation was a bit of a social experiment Never making an ask unless there is something more to give/offer as part of that ask The reality that selling a book is really hard Mitch’s expression: “digital crickets and virtual tumbleweeds” Twitter perspecti

Check out the books we're discussing here!  Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews authors Sean Platt and David Wright about their Collective Inkwell properties which include the highly successful serial thrillers Yesterday’s Gone, White Space and Available Darkness. Mark chats with Sean and Dave about the following: Collaboration between writers – tools used, the logistics of how they do it and the importance of honesty with each other (ie, not pulling punches when something “sucks”) Writing a serialized story and Dave’s behind-the-scenes inspiration from the old TV series “Cliffhangers” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffhangers_%28TV_series%29) Communication with readers, reader feedback & responding to fan email Budgeting writing time, email time and the Sanelater email filter (Sanebox - http://www.sanebox.com/) Sean’s 5 sentence email rule The importance of the duality of Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Cynical A mention of Unicorn Western (co-written by Sean and Johnny B. Truant) – Free First