Kobo and Kobo Plus
(Not your typical quarterly newsletter.)
Years ago, when I traveled a lot for work, I used to lug three to four paperbacks with me, depending on how long I would be gone. (Nothing more distressing than finishing a book in the middle of a trip without easy access to buy another. LOL)
One year for Christmas, my husband gifted me a Kindle e-reader and my entire world changed. I no longer had to take up precious luggage space for my books, because I could simply load them on my tablet. And the monthly subscription model made it easy to afford the outrageous number of books I read per month. Awesome!
But here’s the thing I didn’t know about Kindle Unlimited until I started writing myself (decades later): Authors whose books are in the KU catalog are only allowed to publish with Amazon. Amazon’s terms of service explicitly state that if you are in the KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited) program, you may not publish your work anywhere else. And Amazon rigorously enforces that policy.
That’s why you don’t see your favorite KU titles on other major online retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or Google Play Books.
Enter Kobo Plus
Going back to my days before writing, I had heard of Kobo, but didn’t know much about it. Based in Canada and owned by a Japanese company (Rakuten), their primary audience is a global one. They are probably better known throughout Europe and Australia/New Zealand, but have recently expanded into Canada and the U.S.
Like Amazon, they have proprietary e-readers and an application you can download to your device(s). Also like Amazon, they have a membership program (Kobo Plus) where you pay a monthly fee and have unlimited access to all books enrolled in the program. (The monthly charge at the time of this writing is $7.99 USD for either ebooks or audiobooks, and $9.99 USD for both formats, and comes with a free thirty-day trial to check it out. FYI, that’s less than Kindle Unlimited!)
#1 Hot Take for Authors: Kobo Plus does NOT restrict its authors to only publish with them. As an author who sells wide, I don’t want to be restricted, so you can bet your bottom dollar I signed up to list my books in Kobo Plus. Other widely published authors are doing the same.
#2 Hot Take for Authors: Kobo Plus pays for rereads. As a reader, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reread books I like. I didn’t realize until I entered the publishing world that those authors I love in KU only get paid the first time I read their book.
Hot Take for READERS: Books you can’t get on Kindle Unlimited may be available on Kobo Plus. Because Kobo Plus doesn’t restrict authors and pays better, authors who aren’t in KU are flocking to Kobo Plus. You could add this subscription and access ALL the books!
Genres include: Fiction & Literature, Romance, Nonfiction, Fiction YA, Mystery & Suspense, Kids, SF & Fantasy, Biography & Memoir, Business & Finance, and Comics & Graphic Novels
YOLO with Kobo Plus
For one day only, there’s a fun promotion going on dedicated to Kobo Plus Romance binge-reading, showcasing over 450 authors and more than 600 romance books participating in the YOLO with Kobo Plus event.
Click the image below to see Kobo’s promotion page related to this event (link to the Kobo Plus store):
Or click the image below to visit the special 1-day promotion page directly where you can see a list of all the authors and over 600 books participating in the event.
And in case you want to check out my book (Left Turn) on Kobo Plus, here’s the direct link:
Your Turn
I’m curious about where you purchase your books.
What’s your go to retailer for buying books? Does it differ depending on the format (ebook, print book, etc.)?
I'd love to know. Reply to this email and let me know.
Until next time, butts in chair and ink to paper!
Lancy