Kobo Plus US/UK Expansion: an AMA featuring the KWL Team

VIDEO STREAM

The following are selected series or works. If you join Kobo Plus you can read them for free. Read them all and tell me what you think.

• Short Story Collections series
• https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection
  • Poetry or More - a book of my poetry , from the Short Story Collections series
  • https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1
• Tip Jar Audios series
• https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios
  • Ship of Fools- a poem from the Tip JAr Audio series
  • https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/ship-of-fools-legend-to-be
  • The Golden Mirror- a tale from the Tip Jar Audios series
  • https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-golden-mirror-2
• JiHi series- Screenplay series
• https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/jihi
  • The Nyotenda- free to read screenplay with storyboards, from the JiHi series
  • https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-nyotenda
• The Gospel of Joseph - to reclaim the original intent of the gospels from christianity 
• https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/gospel-of-joseph

The Kobo Writing Life team is excited to announce our next Live Q&A on April 20th, from 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EST. KWL Director Tara, author engagement manager Laura, and promotions specialist Rachel will be answering YOUR questions about this exciting Kobo Plus expansion, as well as any questions about Kobo Plus you may have had leading up to this announcement. Bring all your Kobo Plus questions forward to this informative discussion and Q&A session.

Hi authors!  

Huge news! Kobo Plus is now available in more countries than ever before with this latest expansion. Now, Kobo Plus can be accessed by readers living in the USA and the UK.

During this live event, KWL director Tara, author engagement manager Laura and promotions specialist Rachel will be answering your questions about this latest Kobo Plus expansion, how opting in to Kobo Plus (including bulk opt in options), how Kobo Plus can increase your revenue, what Kobo is doing to advertise this service, how it all works, and much more.

Please bring your Kobo Plus-related questions to this event!

Join us on YouTube or Facebook on April 20th at 12PM EST.

ARTICLE LINK

https://kobowritinglife.com/2023/04/06/kwl-live-qa-kobo-plus-us-uk-expansion-an-ama-with-the-kwl-team/

Rakuten Kobo expands digital reading offering in the US and UK with Kobo Plus, the all-you-can-read and listen subscription

TORONTO – April 5, 2023 – Leading digital reading retailer and publisher Rakuten Kobo announces the US and UK launches of Kobo Plus, the all-you-can-enjoy subscription offering booklovers unlimited access to over 1.3 million eBooks and over 100,000 audiobooks for a low monthly fee.

“At Kobo, we’re always working to make the reading experience better and more accessible. Our goal is to be delighting readers – with our best-in-class eReaders, top-rated Kobo app, unmatched digital catalogue or curated book recommendations – but there’s nothing as gratifying as saying ‘read as much as you want for a set monthly fee,’ which is exactly what our Kobo Plus subscription offers,” said Bart Robers, Director, Audiobooks and Global Subscriptions, Rakuten Kobo.

“Kobo Plus has become one of our most popular offerings in the Netherlands, Canada, Portugal, Australia, Italy and France, and it’s our pleasure and privilege to be expanding the subscription service in the US and UK, so that readers can enjoy reading and listening without boundaries.”

US and UK booklovers can access Kobo Plus via the Kobo Books App for iOS or Android and directly on Kobo eReaders to begin discovering new authors and genres. The Kobo Plus eBook and audiobook collection features a breadth of stories, including:

• Contemporary fiction by beloved authors including Ian McEwan, Elena Ferrante and Alice Hoffman
• Renowned literary works from Philip Roth, Jim Harrison, V.S. Naipaul, Aldous Huxley and William S. Burroughs
• Contemporary sci-fi and fantasy by Anne McCaffrey, Cory Doctorow, and Jeff VanderMeer
• Classic mysteries from M.C. Beaton, Patricia Highsmith, and Elizabeth Peters
• Romance by Barbara Freethy and Beverly Lewis

The Kobo Plus catalogue is ever-growing, with more titles being added to the collection each month. The service has three budget-friendly subscription plan offers:

• Kobo Plus Read: Unlimited eBooks for $7.99 USD or €9,99 GBP per month
• Kobo Plus Listen: Unlimited audiobooks for $7.99 USD or €9,99 GBP per month
• Kobo Plus Read and Listen: Unlimited eBooks and audiobooks for $9.99 USD or €12,99 GBP per month

The Kobo Plus subscription is an ideal way to approach a bucket list of literary classics, an entire author's catalogue, or to dive into a new field of interest. With unlimited reading for one low monthly fee, the subscription lets readers sample a few pages from a genre or author they have never read, and move on to another book guilt-free if it's not to their taste. It’s an ideal option for avid booklovers who can tear through several books a month, and for those who prefer to read a few chapters before committing. There’s never been a better time to discover new authors and series on a Kobo eReader or with the free Kobo reading app.

ARTICLE LINK

https://www.kobo.com/news/rakuten-kobo-expands-digital-reading-offering-in-the-us-and-uk-with-kobo-plus-the-all-you-can-read-and-listen-subscription

Kobo Plus FAQ

How do authors get paid for Kobo Plus?

Why do Kobo Plus reads get paid per minute instead of by pages read?

We have updated our eBooks subscription service to be more fair and balanced for authors across the board. Now, authors will be paid for every minute read, including re-reads, and even if a reader reads less than 10% of the book.  

How does the free trial for Kobo Plus work?

Gaining new audiences for our self-published authors is a key goal for us, and offering free trials of our Kobo Plus subscription is a great way to showcase our offering, including your books, to new and existing booklovers. We liken this to offering a first in series free, or other types of promotions for your titles, and these terms are the same for both traditional publishers and self-published authors. Our goal is to continue building excitement for the service in order to gain reading momentum for your books, while concurrently gaining new audiences.

We truly believe that this exposure will benefit you, however it is always your choice, and if you are uncomfortable with the free trial period, we have made it easy for you to opt out of whichever territory you choose.  

Will Kobo Plus affect my a la carte sales?

For authors with books opted into Kobo Plus, their a la carte sales have remained steady (and for some, have increased); what’s more Kobo Plus reads have generated additional income on top of those strong a la carte sales. We see Kobo Plus reads complementing a la carte sales, not replacing them.

The second trend we have noticed is that Kobo Plus tends to give backlist titles a boost. When we look at sales of books published before 2016, we see a significant increase in income generated by Kobo Plus reads for books opted into the catalogue. 

We will be closely watching sales patterns, and are confident that we will see a similar increase in overall sales. 

What if I want to opt out of Kobo Plus?

We want you to feel good about what you create and how you are compensated. These are your books and your business, and it’s important that you have autonomy over how you sell your intellectual property. If subscription models aren’t for you, it is easy to opt out of Kobo Plus, or out of specific territories in which Kobo Plus operates. Opting out will in no way impede readers from buying your books a la carte. The idea behind our eBook subscription is to reach new audiences, not to take away from your existing readership--in the end, it is whatever you choose and think is best for your content.

We decided to offer this option based on customer feedback asking for an all-you-can-read eBook service; this is in line with much of today’s  digital content consumption, which gravitates toward subscription models. Our experience in other markets shows we are able to attract new readers to digital reading who had never bought eBooks before, which is the case for Kobo Plus subscribers in the Netherlands. We’re aiming to grow the total earnings for authors and publishers, and our data shows that Kobo Plus can help achieve this goal.

ARTICLE LINK

https://kobowritinglife.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058975632-Kobo-Plus-FAQ