Kobo Self Publishing

Kobo Writing Life Augments Author Income: It's only prudent for established and aspiring authors to make their books available in as many places as possible, and one of those places should be Kobo, a highly reputable and growing name in digital publishing.

The company has a registered user base of 10 million and sales in 190 countries. While Amazon receives the lion's share of media coverage, Kobo has quietly built a substantial foothold in the reading world, garnering almost half of the eReader market share in Canada, and also leading positions in Australia, New Zealand, France, and Japan.

Owned by Japan's Rakuten Inc., and headquartered in Canada, Kobo's U.S. share is in the single digits according to the company's CEO, but that's not inconsequential; adding any percentage of revenue to your sales is just smart.

BIG PLUSES: Kobo offers authors several significant advantages over competitors, the most obvious being higher royalties (45% & 70%) and no download fees, meaning content creators net more money for their efforts. Kobo's eBook interface,

Writing Life, is easy to use and elegant, producing high quality eBooks directly from Word documents or uploaded epub format. Content and meta-data changes are also easy to make. Another plus is the financial reporting, which is clear day-to-day, with running geographic totals for each book.

Tens of millions of people worldwide use epub readers, not Amazon Kindles, so it just makes sense to add Kobo to your marketing arsenal. If you aren't there, these eBook lovers simply cannot buy your book. Why limit yourself? Read more about the Kobo advantage in the eBook.

In addition to the guidance and advice from a veteran publisher and author, there are dozens of links to online videos and articles that bring an enormous amount of wisdom to your publishing endeavor. Learn about:

• how to research the viability of your book idea
• how to market your book effectively once it's published
• the state of eBook publishing and the growth that is still to come
• what fiction readers want, what nonfiction readers want
• what to charge (eBook prices will rise, and that's good)
• cover design
• creating a powerful sales story
• creating a YouTube video
• websites and search engine optimization
• the incredible value of blogs (start one, or better yet, three!)
• consider an audio book
• the use of social networks, bloggers, and where to get free coverage
• the importance of writing well plus
• tips on how to do so from a writer with 44 year's experience
• how to avoid plagiarism with a simple software program that does the checking for you.

Publishing eBooks is relatively easy, making money with them is not. Benefit from other's experiences and knowledge.