#400 – Inside Indie Publishing with Kobo VP of Self-Publishing and Originals Ashleigh Gardner

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 are joined by Ramona Ausubel, national best-selling author of six books, including The Last Animal, Awayland, and more! Her latest work is the non-fiction title Unstuck: 101 Doorways Leading from the Blank Page to the Last Page, a book designed to help writers remain excited about their writing. Ramona is also a professor at Colorado State University and has experience teaching writer's workshops in the Bennington Writing Seminars, Tin House Writing Workshop, and more. If you are a writer looking for advice on how stay in love with your writing, look no further than this interview with Ramona. We discuss Ramona's writing career, her teaching experience, her latest book, Unstuck, her creative process, how she structured Unstuck, how her students inspire her, hear some great advice for aspiring and long-time authors, and more! Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti is on the podcast this week to discuss her writing process and what her experience has been like as a hybrid author. Rebecca talks to us about her decision to try indie publishing and why she chose to self-publish her most recent series, The Anna Albertini Files, she discusses the challenges of juggling multiple publishing contracts as well as her indie publishing schedule, and she gives us some great insight into why so many successful writers have a history of practicing law. Ready to start your own publishing career? Publish your book today with Kobo Writing Life.

In this episode, we are joined by Marta Molnar, artist and author of The Secret Life of Sunflowers, a historical women's fiction dual timeline novel that focuses on Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law, Johanna Bonger. Marta is also the author of Girl Braiding Her Hair, Raising the Titanic, and more. As an art history enthusiast, she has a particular passion for including art history in her novels. She also dedicates her time writing about women that often get overlooked in history, bringing their stories to light. We had a wonderful conversation with Marta about her passions and more. We spoke about Marta's journey to becoming an author, her previous publications and genre pivot, her best-selling book The Secret Life of Sunflowers, why her book is so popular with libraries, how she preps her books for book clubs, and much more! Learn more about Marta on her website. 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.