Ebook Sales, Subscriptions, Audiobooks And Book Marketing With Tara Cremin From Kobo Writing Life

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

Joanna Penn

Self-improvement, Arts, Books, Entrepreneurship, Business, Education

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What are the different ways you can distribute and monetise your ebooks and audiobooks through Kobo Writing Life? How can you market them more effectively and reach more readers? With Tara Cremin.

In the intro, the potential impact of tariffs and what to do about it [Self Publishing Advice]; Pep talk for authors during chaotic times [Publishing Confidential]; 8 ways to get more value from your backlist [BookBub]; Death Valley Kickstarter — and writing thrillers webinar.

Write and format stunning books with Atticus. Create professional print books and eBooks easily with the all-in-one book writing software. Try it out at Atticus.io

This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn

Tara Cremin is the Director of Kobo Writing Life, Kobo's independent publishing platform.

You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.

Show Notes

* Changes in the indie book industry over the past decade

* How Kobo Plus compares to other subscription models

* Catering to different audiences by offering different book versions

* Tips for maximizing income from ebooks and audiobooks on Kobo

* Applying for promotions to expand your potential audience

* The payment model for Kobo Plus and library books

* Kobo's stance on AI-assisted books

You can find Tara and the Kobo Writing Life team at Kobo.com/writinglife or email them at [email protected].

Transcript of Interview with Tara Cremin

Joanna: Tara Cremin is the director of Kobo Writing Life, Kobo's independent publishing platform. Welcome back to the show, Tara.

Tara: Thanks, Jo. Thanks for having me.

Joanna: Oh, it is great to have you back on the show. It's actually been four years, which is crazy.

Tara: I can't believe it.

Joanna: I know. So I thought we'd go back to the beginning. Tell us a bit more about you.

When did you get into the book business, and what are some of the changes you've seen for authors since then?

Tara: Sure. So I've been working for Kobo since 2012, which feels like a lifetime. When I started, the company had created some great, but kind of relatively simple, eReaders. They were just starting to dip their toe into really expan...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Creative Pen podcast. I'm Joanna Penn, thriller author and creative entrepreneur,
0:08.0	bringing you interviews, inspiration and information on writing craft and creative business.
0:14.6	You can find the episode show notes, your free author blueprint, and lots more at thecreativepen.com. And that's Pen with a
0:23.7	double N. And here's the show. Hello, creatives. I'm Joanna Penn. And this is episode number
0:30.5	804 of the podcast, and it is Friday, the 11th of April 2025 as I record this. In today's show, I talk to Tara Cremant, the director
0:41.3	of Cobo Writing Life, about e-book sales, subscription models for e-book and audio, how to sell more
0:48.5	books on Cobo, and how Cobo is dealing with generative AI. So that's coming up in the interview section.
0:59.5	In writing and publishing things, well, this is not a political show, but it is at least
1:04.5	partially a business show. The US tariffs may affect publishing and the self-publishing advice blog from the Alliance of Independent authors goes into it in an article.
1:15.4	The situation is volatile and uncertainty never helps, but even though many tariffs are on hold at the time of recording, the big one isn't, which is of course China.
1:25.3	The article says books are currently exempt, but it doesn't stop there
1:29.5	being issues from increased printing costs due to various tariffs, shipping delays or duties for books
1:36.2	sold into the US, potential future tariffs on publishing related materials like ink or paper,
1:42.5	and disruption of global supply chains including print.
1:46.7	So even if tariffs don't directly impact authors and publishing, they could increase the cost
1:52.2	of raw materials like paper and ink or slow down cross-border fulfilments or affect logistics
2:00.4	providers.
2:01.6	Particularly at risk are authors who print in or import from China, particularly into the US,
2:08.6	publishers relying on global paper and printing supply chains, and of course, traditionally
2:13.2	published authors whose publishers import from China, which is a lot of them. Of course, it is very
2:19.3	cheap to print over there compared to Europe or the USA. Authors selling physical books and
2:25.5	merchandise to the US readers from abroad, or in fact, if you are an author in the US and you
	...

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