Kobo Writing Life Podcast

In this episode, we sat down as a team to talk about everything do with Kobo Writing Life that took place over the last year! KWL Director Tara, Author Engagement Manager Laura, Promotions Specialist Rachel, Kobo Originals Lead and Content Coordinator Vanessa and Content Coordinator Terrence all shared highlights from their work in 2023, including insights into Kobo Plus, the Kobo Plus expansions, Kobo Originals, translations, conferences we attended, the Kobo Writing Life podcast, promotional offerings, and much, much more! We also chatted about what to expect from us next year, including some exciting hints as to what’s to come.

Plus, don’t miss out on the many great books we recommend to our listeners – be sure to take notes and stack your TBR piles for the coming year!

Lastly, happy 2024 from the Kobo Writing Life team. Here’s to another great year of publishing! We can’t wait to continue working with you in the new year.

Go to our site to learn more about Kobo Writing Life, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.

In this episode, we are joined by New York Times and international bestselling author Elena Armas, author of The Spanish Love Deception and The American Roommate Experiment! Elena is a life-long romance fan who got started writing and publishing three years ago. We chat with her about her latest rom-com romp, The Long Game, which is a small-town, contemporary sports romance between a soccer exec and a former soccer star who band together over the summer to help coach a struggling children’s soccer team. Get ready for a lot of laughs and a lot of love in this one! The Long Game is available now from Simon & Schuster Canada and wherever books are sold.

Learn more about Elena on her website, and follow her onInstagram, TikTok, X and Facebook.

In this episode, we are joined by Bethany Lopez, a USA Today best-selling, multi-genre author who has written over thirty books! Bethany is a prolific author with multiple ongoing contemporary romance series to her name, as well as several paranormal romance series under the pen name DJ Bryce! Her latest release on Kobo is a box set of her popular series, The Jilted Wives Club, available now.

Bethany tells us about her career as an author, getting started in YA fiction before transitioning to new adult romance, the changes she has seen in the indie publishing landscape, how she uses her newsletter, how she markets her books, all about how she reaches her readers through different avenues, and much, much more!

Follow Bethany onInstagram, Facebook, and X, or visit herwebsite to learn more.

In this episode, we are joined by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Jenn Sterling, writing as J. Sterling, whose latest series, Fun for the Holidays, features holiday romances for every season. Check out her latest instalment, The Thanksgiving Hookup!

Jenn is also the author of dozens of books across several series, and is the author of sports romances, celebrity romances, new adult romances, and many more. We had a great conversation with Jenn about all things romance writing, marketing, advice from friend and fellow author Colleen Hoover, and how the independent publishing world has changed since she first published in 2011.

We spoke to Jenn about her writing career, how she has written and published books for almost twelve years, how much indie publishing has changed, how marketing for indie publishers has evolved, TikTok and its many uses (as well as how fun of an app it is), and, of course, lots of talk about sports! We had a fun, frank, and inspiring conversation with Jenn, and can’t wait for you to listen to this episode!

Learn more about Jenn on her website, and follow heron Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.

In this episode, we spoke to Brett Riley, author of fiction, screenplays, and creative non-fiction. Based in Las Vegas, he also teaches creative writing at the College of Southern Nevada. We had a great chat about his works, writing in the horror genre, his love of comic books, and his sci-fi and fantasy YA series with elements of the otherworldly and monstrous, Freaks. We also learned so much from Brett on the craft of writing, and had a great conversation about writing processes. We know you’ll learn a lot from Brett, so don’t miss out on listening to his great advice and insights!

We discussed the beginnings of Brett’s writing career, why he loves horror, fantasy, and writing YA, some insight into how his writing process plays out, how he writes action scenes in his books, and, of course, got some great writing advice! As always, there’s much, much more, so be sure to listen to this wonderful episode in full.

Learn more about Brett on his website, and follow him on X and Instagram.

In today’s episode, we are joined by Elizabeth Barone, author of over a dozen novels, with one of her latest releases published by Kobo Originals! Stagwood Falls: Love in Ink is a contemporary romance taking place in the fictional town of Stagwood Falls and the tattoo parlour – and the women who work there – at the heart of it. A Touch of Gold and the Love in Ink series are described as “Virgin River meets LA Ink” – and if you’re a fan of former-crushes-to-lovers, small town vibes, and tattoos, this is the series for you! Plus, look forward to the release of book two in the series, coming soon exclusively from Kobo.

Elizabeth spoke to us about what it was like working with Kobo Originals, living and writing with UCTD and PTSD, how her well-being and mental health are an important part of her writing process, getting inspired to write a contemporary romance series, how A Touch of Gold differs from her grittier romances, wellness and self-care, advice on avoiding burnout, and much more! We really enjoyed this insightful conversation with Elizabeth and we know you will, too.

Learn more about Elizabeth on herwebsite, and follow her on Instagram.

In this episode, we are joined by fantasy author, LGBTQ+ sensitivity reader, and international speaker and presenter October K. Santerelli! October’s latest book, City of Day, was published this past February and is the first in a planned trilogy. We were so excited to have October on the podcast after first hearing him present on neurodivergency and the creative process at Superstars Writing Seminar in Denver, CO earlier this year! KWL's director Tara was in attendance, and she had many great take-aways from that amazing presentation.

We chatted with October about his writing career, his presentations and speaking appearances at comic conventions, writing seminars, and more across the USA, neurodivergency and the creative process, his work as a sensitivity reader, and much more! We had a fun (and very informative) time chatting with October, and are excited to present this episode.

Learn more about October via his website, and follow him onTiktok, Tumblr and Instagram.

In this episode, we are joined by author and book coach Mary Adkins, founder of The Book Incubator, a program for authors looking to write their best possible book. Mary spent six years writing and re-writing her first book before landing a book deal with HarperCollins, and as such, perfected her writing program! Now, she works to share this helpful information with other authors looking to reach their full potential. We had a great conversation with Mary and loved the many writing tips she had to offer. Be sure to check out what she can do for you over at The Book Incubator!

We learn how Mary operates her book coaching business, how she can be a “wedding planner,” cheerleader, and helpful industry guide to authors, and what her own writing career looks like. She also offers some great advice on how to give yourself permission to write that novel, as well as (gasp) writing by hand, and much more!

Learn more about Mary via her website.

In this episode, we spoke with John Gaspard, author of The Popcorn Principles: A Novelist’s Guide to Learning from the Movies, an indispensable guide to implementing tips and tricks learned from film directors and film in general into your fiction writing. John is also the author of several mystery novels across two series, as well as multiple standalone novels and non-fiction titles. He also hosts two podcasts and has directed six low-budget feature films!

We chatted with John about his new non-fiction title, his filmmaking experience, the times he spent interviewing well-known film directors, crafting a compelling mystery, what writers can learn from filmmakers, and so much more. Be sure to check out the "sequel" to The Popcorn Principles; John’s latest, More Popcorn Principles: Further Cinematic Storytelling Strategies for Novelists is out now!

Learn more about John by visiting his website.

In this episode, we spoke with Halima Khatun, PR consultant, former broadcast journalist, and author of the new non-fiction title Priceless Publicity, a book full of useful information for independent writers looking to improve their publicity and media coverage output! Halima is also the author of several highly praised rom-coms, including her award-winning debut novel, The Secret Diary of an Arranged Marriage. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post, Metro, Business Advice and StartupNation, and we can't wait to see what she writes next.

Halima shared some amazing advice regarding editing, book blurbs, writing (and lengthening) a series, writing a rom-com (and its sequels), and, of course, garnering publicity for your work! If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about publicity and PR for indie authors, this is the episode for you.

Learn more about Halima via her website, and follow her onFacebook and Instagram.