Kobo Writing Life Podcast

The Kobo Writing Life Podcast has published 436+ episodes since 2013, making it one of the longest-running indie author podcasts in the space. Produced by Rakuten Kobo's author platform team — including KWL Director Tara Cremin and author engagement managers — the show features in-depth interviews with professional indie authors on craft, career strategy, and the business of self-publishing with a consistent emphasis on wide distribution.

What You Get#

• Long-form author interviews: Each episode is a 45-60 minute conversation with a working indie author or publishing professional. Guests bring direct experience building careers across platforms, not just Amazon KDP.
• Wide-publishing perspective: Unlike Amazon-centric podcasts, KWL consistently advocates for publishing across all platforms — Kobo, Barnes & Noble Press, Apple Books, Google Play, and others. Guests are typically wide-publishing authors by choice.
• Kobo ReWriting Life: A bonus series launched in 2025 that revisits compelling backlist conversations and contextualizes them for current conditions. New standard episodes and ReWriting Life episodes alternate bi-weekly.
• Platform availability: Apple Podcasts (4.6/5, 51 reviews), Spotify, YouTube, and direct via Libsyn.

Who It's For#

• Authors publishing wide or considering it: The definitive podcast for authors who don't want to be locked into Kindle Unlimited. Every guest is a practitioner of broad-platform distribution, providing real data on what wide publishing delivers.
• Authors building long-term careers: Guests are chosen for career sustainability rather than short-term sales spikes. Conversations consistently focus on building readership that generates income across years, not a single launch.
• Romance and commercial fiction authors: A historically strong proportion of guests write in these categories, where wide publishing has proven particularly viable as an Amazon alternative.

Pricing: Free.

Strengths#

• 13+ years of backlist: 436+ episodes covering every dimension of indie publishing — distribution choices, series writing, genre pivots, business structure, craft, and reader engagement.
• 4.6/5 on Apple Podcasts (51 reviews, 2026) with consistent listener satisfaction from a focused audience.
• Platform credibility without bias: While produced by Kobo, conversations cover all aspects of wide publishing and guests discuss competing platforms frankly. The show doesn't function as a Kobo marketing channel.

Limitations#

• Kobo-produced editorial angle: The platform backing shapes the content. Kindle Unlimited success stories aren't featured with equal enthusiasm, and the wide-only perspective isn't the right fit for every author's situation — especially those in categories where KU dominates.
• Uniform format: All KWL episodes follow the same long-form interview structure. Authors who prefer solo educational content, roundtables, or shorter episodes will find the format repetitive across a large back catalog.
• Episode count discrepancy: The main episode counter reached 395 in May 2026 (latest: "Writing An Epic Romantasy with Sable Sorensen", May 12 2026), but Apple Podcasts reports 436 total because the ReWriting Life feed runs on the same listing. Don't compare numbers directly across sources.

Alternatives#

The Self-Publishing Insiders podcast (from Draft2Digital) covers similar wide-distribution territory. For a show that balances KU and wide-publishing perspectives, the 6 Figure Authors podcast features practitioners of both approaches.