Kobo Writing Life Podcast

This week on the podcast we sit down with Kobo’s Content Sales Lead for North America Deandra Lalonde to talk about the new Kobo Staff Picks page and the power of word of mouth marketing. Deandra tells us why she’s decided to bring back the Kobo Staff Picks page, what she’s learned about the Kobo customer during her time with Kobo, and we discuss what new releases Deandra is excited for and the power of word of mouth marketing, especially when it comes to backlist titles.  Learn more about this episode!

Productivity strategist and author Sagan Morrow joins us on the podcast this week. Sagan tells us how she got into productivity strategy and what habits authors can implement to better fit writing into their schedule. She also talks to us about her polyamorous romantic comedy series, Polyamorous Passions, and how she’s using the romantic comedy genre to break down common misconceptions about polyamory. Learn more about this episode!

Nina Grinstead, the founder of Valentine PR, joins us on the podcast this week to share how she creates strategic marketing plans for her authors. Nina talks to us about influencer marketing, utilizing different social media platforms, and how she helps her authors reach their career goals. Learn more about this episode!

New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren joins us on the podcast this week. Skye has been an indie author for almost a decade and she tells us how her writing process and marketing strategy has changed throughout her career. Skye is also the founder of the Romance Authors Mastermind and she tells us how RAM came to be and why it is so different from other author conferences. Learn more about this episode!

Liv Albert, host of the popular podcast Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby, joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her new book Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook. Liv talks to us about her podcast and how it came into fruition, she tells us what her research and production process is like, and she tells how her podcast led to a book deal and what it was like writing her first book. Learn more about this episode! Check out our audiobook sale here. With so many audiobooks on sale for $9.99 or less, there's something for every kind of listener! 

Ricardo Fayet, the head of marketing and one of the founders of Reedsy, joins us on the podcast this week to discuss his book How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market. Ricardo uses his wealth of marketing experience to give advice and share some best practices for finding your target audience, discovering new readers on different retailers, and converting page views to book sales. Learn more about this episode!

Debut author and certified clinical hypnosis practitioner Shauna Cummins joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her book Wishcraft. Shauna has been a hypnotherapist for almost a decade and she talks to us about finding creativity during difficult times, her creative process and the experience of writing her first book, and she shares a simple technique authors can start using today to retrain their mind to register productivity and progress over negativity.  Learn more about this episode!

Kobo Writing Life’s very own Shayna Krishnasamy joins us on the podcast this week to discuss all things promotions. Shayna is the Author Relations and Promotions Strategist for KWL, and she not only manages our promotions tab, but she also helped create it! Shayna tells us how the promo tab came to be, how authors can best utilize the promos we run, and what authors should do if they’re rejected from a promo. Learn more about this episode! If you would like the promotion tab enabled on your KWL dashboard, email us at writinglife@kobo.com.

Author and writing teacher Sacha Black returns to the podcast this week to discuss her book The Anatomy of Prose and crafting fully-realized characters. Sacha talks to us about her experience as an editor and how that’s affected her reading habits, and she gives some great insight into creating effective character emotions, embodying your characters' personalities, and creating layered descriptions in your prose. Learn more about this episode!

Bestselling paranormal author Steff Green (AKA Steffanie Holmes) joins us on the podcast this week to discuss her writing career and her unique writing process of using Skeleton Drafts. Steff also talks to us about her writing community, Rage Against the Manuscript, revitalizing her blacklist, and what it’s like navigating the publishing world as a legally blind author.  Learn more about this episode!