Kobo Podcast featuring Sarah Williams (Bonus Episode)

I was recently interviewed by the lovely ladies at Kobo about my first audiobook production. If you are ready to get your books narrated and join the fastest growing sector of the publishing industry check out this episode. Still keen? Myles and I will be presenting a workshop on Friday 27 September 2019 at the Queensland Writers Centre in Brisbane. Check out the events tab on my website for more info.

Sarah Williams discovered romance novels at the age of 14, when she picked up her aunt’s copy of This Calder Range by Janet Dailey. After devouring it in a single day, she announced to her family that she wanted to be a writer. Her father’s advice was to go out and experience the world and use that life experience to write.

This is exactly what she did. Several countries and 4 children later, she decided when her youngest children (twin girls) were toddlers that the time was ripe to realize her writing dreams. Luck would have it that around this time, a writer’s festival was being help in the small Australian town where Sarah lived. She attended every workshop, including one on how to write a romance novel. By that evening, she had plotted out her first novel, The Brothers of Brigadier Station.

In 2016 she pitched her novel at Romance Writer’s Australia and was offered a contract. Despite the fact that indie publishing was still somewhat new in Australia, Sarah had been avidly following the work of Joanna Penn and decided she’d rather publish independently. Two years later, she has seven published titles and zero regrets.

She has published widely since the beginning and has never considered being exclusive to any platform, knowing that many of her Australian readers use Kobo. She has also started working with other romance writers to help them through the publishing process.

Following Joanna Penn’s advice, Sarah started to consider audio in 2017. Once again, she was in the right place at the right time when she happened to meet a well-know Australian actor at a charity event in her hometown. Myles Pollard is known for his role as the love interest on McLeod’s daughter, a soap opera set in Outback Australia and was perfect as the voice of Brigadier. He agreed to give audio narration a try, and they were off!

Sarah flew to Perth, where the actor lived, and she directed and project managed the recording. She was involved in every stage of the process and really loved the experience; telling us that her audiobook was the best thing she has ever done for her career.

Listen to our interview for more details, and check out Sarah’s podcast! Sarah hosts a podcast called Write With Love, in which she interviews other romance authors about writing and romance.