Kobo Writing Life is the company’s new self-publishing platform that allows authors to employ a myriad of tools. One of the most exciting aspects of this problem is the live metrics that give you a sense of where your books are selling and how many, all in real time. You can also set prices differently in all of the countries you are targeting in your campaign. The program has been in beta testing for two months and is ready to be launched.
Mark Lefebvre is in charge of Kobo Writing Life and told us: “We’re still on track to have KWL launched in the next week or so. The beta users have been amazing and providing us extremely valuable feedback, most of which will be incorporated into a post-launch release.”
He went on to say that “Our development plan for KWL has always been to launch the product and continue to roll out improvements and updates in a 4 to 6 week cycle. Our beta users have helped us prioritize which updates should come first, which is great – listening closely to what is important to authors and the beta users has been undeniably valuable. Continuing to listen to users needs as KWL grows will be an important part of how we continue to develop it.”
Right now Kobo Writing Life will launch in English, but other countries and localizations are on the roadmap. Mark mentioned, “Once KWL is launched in English, there are plans to incorporate localized versions of the platform in other languages to serve various regions and demand from customers. As you can imagine, French is a high priority, given we’re Canadian – and the fact our retail partners in France (FNAC) have expressed an eagerness to see a localized translation of the self-pub DIY tool.”
Writing Life is currently Beta Testing different languages and already a number of authors have submitted books to be sold in the Kobo Book Store.
Spanish
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Un-Toque-Griego-Fuera-del/book-xAG4hW1oW0qLnJVx1eJCUQ/page1.html
German
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Todesradio-Eine-Kurzgeschichte/book-bhPEuAghckCEEBqJH3_svw/page1.html
French
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
