#328 – Wellness, Writing, and Working with Kobo Originals with Elizabeth Barone
Release Date: 10/17/2023
#348 – Promo Stacking and Prioritizing Your Book Marketing with Clayton Noblit
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by Clayton Noblit, senior book marketing manager at . Clayton has been a voracious reader his whole life and, after working in financial start-ups, moved to and has been there ever since. Clayton loves working with indie books and indie authors and has a lot of great advice to offer the community! As an expert in digital marketing, he had a lot to share with us. We talked about Clayton’s start in the indie author community, learned more about s services, discussed strategies around promo stacking, and got lots of great marketing advice for authors. If...
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#347 – Writing Award-winning Fiction with Nora Decter
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by Nora Decter, writing instructor and author of , her debut YA novel that won the . Nora’s latest book, , is described as an "absorbing, darkly funny story of family, addiction, and survival." We spoke to Nora about her writing career, writing YA before transitioning to writing adult fiction, what it was like winning the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, what books and authors inspired her, reading and writing "voice-y" novels, balancing humour with difficult subject matter, and more! Nora had many great insights into writing (and thinking about writing),...
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#346 – Spicy Romantasy, Podcasting, and Pen Names with Sacha Black
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we spoke to indie author, writing craft expert, podcaster, and all-around talented rebel author ! Sacha is the author of several writing craft books, host of , and writer of adult sapphic fantasy fiction under the pen name . Sacha is also a regular speaker at author conferences around the world, and offers writing craft courses with the goal of helping authors improve their descriptive writing, craft compelling villains, write amazing side characters, and more. We had such a great time chatting with Sacha about her career as an author, what being a rebel means to her,...
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#345 – Maximizing Your Book Marketing with Mal Cooper
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by Malorie Cooper, author and co-founder of The Writing Wives, where Malorie and her wife Jill offer author coaching and author marketing services! Mal writes science fiction titles under M.D. Cooper and non-fiction titles under Mal Cooper, with a focus on Facebook advertising and helping indie authors market their books for the better. Check out Malorie and Jill’s marketing book series, for more. We had a great chat with Malorie about everything from her writing career, writing a series that consists of over 120 books, co-writing with her wife Jill,...
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#344 – Committing to Your Writing Practice with Jessie Kwak
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by author, conference organizer, and ghostwriter Jessie Kwak to discuss all things writing and publishing! Jessie is the author of over fifteen books, including series like and , as well as standalone thrillers such as . Jessie’s expansive career has encompassed so many aspects of publishing and she had lots of amazing advice and insights to offer us. We chatted with Jessie about ghostwriting, writing sci-fi and paranormal thrillers, time management as an author, and what inspired her to start an author conference, as well as learned more about her career...
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#343 – From Romance Reader to Romance Author with Bal Khabra
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by Vancouver-based Bal Khabra, debut author of hockey romance novel Collide! Bal started out as an avid reader of romance and reviewer of romance titles, and after reading over 150 romance novels in one year, decided she was ready to write one! That novel, Collide, was picked up and published by Penguin Random House after starting out as a self-published work. We can’t wait to see what Bal writes next! We talked about Bal’s writing journey, her beginnings on Wattpad, how she utilizes social media and what happened when her book went viral on TikTok,...
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#342 – Academics and Authorship with Patrick E. Horrigan
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we spoke with Patrick E. Horrigan, academic and author of , published by . Since recording this episode, was shortlisted for the category. Congratulations, Patrick! Patrick is also the author of two other novels, plays, essays, and more. He and taught literature for twenty-five years at LIU Brooklyn, and was a previous winner of Long Island University’s David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching, among many other accolades. We had a great time talking to Patrick about his career as an author, his history in academia, his past experiences at Columbia and LIU Brooklyn...
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#341 – Accessibility Tips for Indie Authors with Jeff Adams and Michele Lucchini
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by Jeff Adams and Michele Lucchini, online and digital accessibility experts who work at UsableNet, whose goal is to “make the digital world more accessible and usable.” Jeff and Michele recently wrote and published their first book together, an amazing guide to all things digital accessibility, ! Jeff is the Accessibility Operations Direct at UsableNet, as well as a queer romance author and podcaster. Michele is Vice President of Delivery and Accessibility Operations at UsableNet, and has over twenty-three years of experience working with accessibility...
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#340 – Writing a Road Trip Romance Novel with Alison Cochrun
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this episode, we are joined by author Alison Cochrun, writer of the best-selling romance novels and . Her latest work, , is a “new queer rom-com following once childhood best friends forced together to drive their former teacher across the country.” is available now from Simon & Schuster Canada! We had a great time hearing about Alison’s journey to becoming an author after being a full-time high school English teacher, the ups and downs of publishing, being inspired to write a story based on personal experience, how Alison incorporates humour into her books, how she writes...
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#339 – Plotting a Dark Romance Novel with J. L. Drake
Kobo Writing Life Podcast
In this week’s episode, we spoke to Jodi Drake, a bestselling author who writes multiple series under the name J.L. Drake! Jodi’s series span over thirty books, and these include the , , and her latest, , which begins with – available to read now! For more info on her series, check out her . Jodi spoke to us about her writing career, writing dark romance, what drew her to dark romance, how she plots her novels, how she uses her “murder board” to keep track of all her characters and plotlines, and much, much more! Jodi gave us many great insights into what it’s like being a...
info_outlineIn 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 her website, and follow her on Instagram.