I started The Creative Penn podcast in March 2009 as a way to learn about writing, publishing and book marketing as well as make connections in the industry. I recorded the first interview with a landline phone on speaker and a hand-held recording device. It was a pretty terrible start but hey, it's improved! I had no idea the show would continue this far, or that it would help the community so much, or become a cornerstone of my author-entrepreneur business. It just shows you what can happen when you consistently produce over years 🙂 You just have to start somewhere and improve over time. There's a lesson in that somewhere … In the intro, I mention Tim Grahl's new Book Launch show, Penguin Random House derecognizes staff unions, Harper Collins uses Alexa Skills for book marketing, WordPress enables VR as part of the platform, and Amazon starts using drones for delivery in the UK. Cool! In my personal update, I give my numbers on the London Psychic crime thriller box-set promotion and how it has (positively) affected my audiobook box-set sales. Definitely something to consider for 2017 if you have multiple audiobooks in a series. This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. Mark Lefebvre is Director of Self Publishing and Author Relations at Kobo. He also writes horror and dark humor under Mark Leslie. You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below. * Looking back at the past two years of The Creative Penn * Reflecting on the changes with Kindle Unlimited in 2016 * How the paid advertising space has shifted for indie authors * What has changed for Kobo since 2014 * What Joanna and Mark have learned from in the past 2 years, including missteps and mistakes * What the future might hold for indie authors You can check out publishing options with Kobo at www.Kobo.com/writinglife and also find useful tips about publishing and book marketing at www.