I guess it is now official, the Indie Bookstores have allianced themselves with Kobo eBooks and it is about time they partnered up with an eBook Powerhouse. Maybe now they will be able to recover some of their sales by being able to offer their customers some of those great eBooks coming from Smashwords authors around the world.
I am really excited about this news.
In the past I went ahead and loaded my books onto the Google eBook site. Their site is a horror show. It is hard to maneuver and it is just plain quirky. And when they post the reviews for my books that are coming off of GoodReads, for some reason they like to grab all the lowest review ratings instead of the top ratings. I thought this to be an odd practice for a company who was looking to sell eBooks.
Now with the new Kobo deal with the indie bookstores, anyone who publishes with Smashwords and selects the distribution to Kobo will be able to have their books distributed to the US Brick and Mortar Stores.
It was not too long ago that I spoke to the owner of our local bookstore. He really didn’t know what to expect with this new Kobo deal. He was kind of apprehensive about the eBook movement and was afraid that eBooks would replace print books just as mp3 files took over the CD market.
Hopefully he decides to carry the Kobo eReader so he can actively promote eBooks from his store.
So move over Amazon, the Independent Bookstores are back in business.
Related articles
- Kobo and the UK Booksellers Association Bring eReaders and eBooks to Indie Bookstores (goodereader.com)
- Kobo ARC Unboxing Video (goodereader.com)
- Read all about it! Kobo eBooks App and New Social eReading App are coming (blogs.blackberry.com)
- E-readers make easy reading on the move (stuff.co.nz)
- Independent Bookstores Interview (underwordsblog.com)
- Hands on Review of the Kobo Glo eReader (goodereader.com)
Linda Nelson 
Yes! Now, if only I could get my hands on either a Kobo Glo or Kobo Arc here in the U.S., I’d be all set. I have been chomping at the bit for either one, as I intend to get both. However, it’s so frustrating to see both products selling just over the border in Canada, and here in the U.S., we still cannot get one. Arghhhh.
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Julie, check with your local indie bookstore. They may be able to help you aquire one or both of the Kobos you are looking for. Many of the Indie Bookstores are taking the option to sell the eReaders in hope to draw more sales to their stores.
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This is really great news, I’m all for independents cracking the market. The main problem is the reader… it seems obscured by all those Nooks, Kindles and I-tunes. So I can see why
independent bookstores are weary of this format, they’re still competing against the big boys.
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I have talked to many a reader in my area, most of which still perfer to hold a physical book in their hands instead of an eReader.
I think, when the ecomony finishes recovering we will see a resurgence of physical books being sold.
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Linda, you may be right. Nothing can replace the presence of a leather bound classic. However, upon traveling I’ll tote along an I-pad for convenience.
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I too perfer my Kindle. I can take all my books with me to work and pick and chose which one I want to read next and it doesn’t take up that much room in my lunch bag.
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