Kobo Writing Life Podcast

Best-selling author Patricia McLinn joins us on the Kobo Writing Life podcast to discuss the craft of writing and how to create a sustainable career as a writer. Patricia chats to us about her writing process and why discovering the methods that work for you are so important as an author. She also gives us her best advice for creating and maintaining a long-standing successful career.  Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

In this episode, we spoke to bestselling author Ruth Ware about one of her latest releases, Zero Days. Ruth's novels have been translated into over 40 languages as well as optioned for film and TV, and she has garnered numerous bestsellers internationally.  We discussed Ruth's journey to becoming a full-time writer, how she develops the plots for her thrillers, what her writing process looks like, the difference between a "twist" and a "reveal" in storytelling, and, of course, her latest, Zero Days. Ruth also offered some great advice for aspiring thriller authors, and provided us with an amazing reading list of mysteries and thrillers – from old classics to brand new hits. Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

In this episode, we are joined by cover designer Jake Clark, founder of J Caleb Design. Jake has designed over 2000+ covers since 2014, and projects featuring his work have collectively sold over 4 million copies. His cover design ethos revolves around creating "badass covers for badass stories," and that couldn't be more accurate! Jake's covers are bold, exciting, and propulsive, and we were so excited to sit down with him and talk about all things cover design. We ask Jake about his career as a cover designer, his cover design process, how he uses 3D modeling in his design process, what authors can do when collaborating with cover designers, what authors shouldn't do when working with cover designers, what makes a successful cover, and more! Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

Welcome to the Kobo ReWriting Life Podcast! Alongside your regularly scheduled Kobo Writing Life podcast episode releases, we will also be featuring some highlights from our backlist. In this episode, we spoke with best-selling author of over 30 romantic comedies, Lauren Layne! Lauren is also a proficient marketer and expert at author branding. We are excited to share her great advice on author branding yet again. Lauren Layne is a New York Times bestselling author and branding superstar. She shares her secrets on cultivating an author brand and mastering trickier social media platforms, specifically Instagram and Pinterest. Lauren demystifies author branding and explains how authors can find their own aesthetic. She also discusses why she chose to limit her social media presence to two platforms and how she has made these platforms work for her. Further we discuss the evolution of her newsletter and how it has changed throughout the years. Publish on Kobo Writing Life.

In this episode, KWL Director Tara Cremin sat down and spoke with VP of Self-publishing and Originals, Ashleigh Gardner! Both Ashleigh and Tara have been with Kobo for many years and have incredible insights and understanding into the world of self-publishing. We are super excited to share this episode featuring such a prominent voice in the development of digital self-publishing! Ashleigh tells us about her history with Kobo, her work at Wattpad, her experience returning to Kobo, her idea of what a successful indie author is in 2026, shares some great advice for indie authors entering the Kobo ecosystem, and much more. Publish on Kobo Writing Life.

Welcome to the Kobo ReWriting Life Podcast! Alongside your regularly scheduled Kobo Writing Life podcast episode releases, we will also be featuring some highlights from our backlist. In this episode, we were joined by best-selling romantic suspense author, Susan Stoker, who talked to us all about writing series books and how she grows her series sales by marketing to readers. This is a great episode for anyone looking to boost their series-writing knowledge! Best-selling author Susan Stoker joins us on the podcast this week to discuss how she creates her romance series from creating the initial layout on an Excel spreadsheet to deciding which marketing strategies to use when launching a new series or bringing a new audience to an older one. Susan also talks to us about translating her series for a non-English audience and how she's managed to sustain such a successful writing career. 

In this episode, we talked with Canadian romance author Emma Davie, whose first novel, Home to Christmas Island, was published with Kobo Originals in 2025. Emma's latest book, Good for the Summer, is available now with Kobo Originals as well! We spoke with Emma about her journey to becoming a published author, her career in journalism, drawing inspiration from the Canadian Maritimes, how she uses tarot cards to bolster her creativity, and much more. Learn more about Emma Davie via her website.

In this episode, we are joined by Jessica Ward, also known as J. R. Ward. J. R. Ward is the author of the acclaimed series, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. Over 15 million copies of her novels are in print around the world and she has been published in over 25 countries globally! Her latest release as Jessica Ward is The St. Ambrose School for Girls, a coming-of-age novel described as Heathers meets The Secret History.  We were so excited to read this book and to hear more from the phenomenal author behind this new title and dozens of others. We have a great conversation about Jessica's writing process, the evolution of her career, her new release, writing an unreliable narrator, having multiple pen names, the inspiration for The St. Ambrose School for Girls, and much, much more! We really enjoyed this conversation and know you will, too.

In this episode, we are excited to be joined by D.K. Hood, acclaimed author of the Detectives Kane and Alton series! Having sold over 2 million copies of her books, D.K. is an experienced author whose works have been largely published by the digital-first publisher Bookouture.  We spoke to D.K. about her long-running Kane and Alton series, how she plots her novels, how she makes sure mysteries stay satisfying, how she keeps her characters consistent, shares advice for writing a series, and much more. We are honoured to help be a part of celebrating the launch of the 30th book in the Detectives Kane and Alton series. Nothing Stays Buried is available June 30th 2026.

In this episode, we spoke with Karen White, an award-winning audiobook narrator who recently began writing and publishing her own works under the pen name of Karen Grey. We chatted about Karen's career as an audiobook narrator, her transition into publishing as an indie author, and much more. There was such a wealth of advice and information that Karen brought to the table that we felt as if we could talk for another hour or more! Be sure to take a look at Karen's latest novel, You Get What You Give, the first in her Carolina Classics series. In this novel, an "enemies-to-lovers, new-in-town, one-night-stand unlikely love story, a boss lady and a Hollywood bad boy find that you only get as good as you give." We hope you enjoy this great conversation on the dos and don'ts of narrating audiobooks, tips on marketing, a look behind the scenes of audiobook recording, and much love for and enthusiasm about audiobooks overall!

In this episode of the KWL Podcast, we were joined by Skye MacKinnon, best-selling author of over seventy romance novels. She also publishes children's books under the pen name Isla Wynter. She loves to help other indie authors succeed and had much great advice to share about self-publishing during our conversation! We spoke to Skye about her writing journey, how she started writing full-time, writing under multiple pen names, publishing wide, working with other authors, translating her books, and much more! Plus, listen to Skye's previous appearance on the KWL Podcast here. Learn more about Skye on her website.

In this episode, we spoke with Arizona Tape, author of dozens of books across multiple series, and collaborative writer on many more! Some of her many ongoing series include Queens of Olympus (inspired by Greek mythology!), Crescent Lake Shifters (dragon-shifter romance!), and Crescent Lake Bears (lumberjack bear-shifter romance!). We learned about Arizona's journey to becoming a full-time writer, heard more about her solo and her collaborative writing processes, asked after her favourite manga and anime series, and got some great advice for emerging writers. We also chatted about LGBTQ+ representation, readers seeing themselves represented in Arizona's books, and why Arizona wanted to write books that her younger self was never able to find. We have a wonderful conversation with Arizona and can't wait to see what she writes next!

In this episode, we spoke with Claire Taylor, author, author coach, and owner of FFS Media. She is the author of over forty mystery and humour novels. She also works as an author coach and is the developer of The Liberated Writer program, wherein she implements the Enneagram framework into her teachings! Her book, Write Iconic Characters, teaches authors how to write memorable characters using the Enneagram framework. We had a great conversation about Claire's journey to becoming an author, her Enneagram expertise, her advice for authors looking to write memorable characters, her coaching services, and much more! Visit Claire's website to learn more.

Welcome to the Kobo ReWriting Life Podcast! Alongside your regularly scheduled Kobo Writing Life podcast episode releases, we will also be featuring some highlights from our backlist. In this episode, Kobo held a special event in downtown Toronto, and part of the event involved this live interview with author Michael Connelly, hosted by Johanna Schneller! Johanna Schneller interviewed Michael about his writing career, his journalism experience, his best-selling mystery series starring detective Harry Bosch, and much more. For more information, visit Michael's website.

Welcome to the Kobo ReWriting Life Podcast! Alongside your regularly scheduled Kobo Writing Life podcast episode releases, we will also be featuring some highlights from our backlist. In this episode, former KWL director Mark Lefebvre discussed estate planning for authors with best-selling author M.L. Buchman and addressed questions around author legacies! In this episode of the KWL podcast, former Kobo Writing LIfe director Mark Lefebvre interviews best-selling author M.L. Buchman ("Matt") about his non-fiction title specifically targeted for writers and other creators, Estate Planning for Authors: Your Final Letter (and why you need to write it now), a step by step guide on how authors can make sure their legacy remains profitable for decades for their heirs after they are gone. Mark also reiterates the importance of thinking about the future and about the long term and reminds authors the importance of putting a plan in place to ensure that their heirs are equipped to properly manage their IP when they are no longer around, and much more.