Bookworld Aus - shifting all bought ebooks to kobobooks.com

[Lynx-lynx]

Got an email from Bookworld (Melb). Essentially it says that they are shifting all ebook purchases made from their store to kobobooks.com as a library item against your Bookworld account.

Starting 29 October.

Curious ..... ostensibly the shift is about synchronising your (Kobo) ebook purchases across devices.

Anyone any ideas?

Original message from Bookworld:

Spoiler:

Important Information: Your new eBook service.

What we are doing
Why we are enacting these changes
what are the benefits for you

Bookworld is upgrading your eBook service!
Three years ago we were proud to bring you one of the first eBook services in Australia. In conjunction with our partner Kobo, the fastest growing eBook service in the world, we have driven to keep you at the forefront of eReading technologies and to provide an enriching eReading experience. We are now taking the next step in our partnership with Kobo to offer you a bigger, better and faster eReading experience.

What does this mean for you?
On October 29 we will be transferring your eBook library to be held by Kobo. You will be able to access your eBooks via the Kobo website or the Kobo eReading applications. Your entire eLibrary will be transferred over and will be waiting for you at www.kobobooks.com for you to pick up where you left off. Once the change has been made you will be sent details on how to access your accounts and will be prompted to download the Kobo app to your device. Until October 29 you can continue to read and access your books as you currently do.

You will still be able to purchase eBooks from Bookworld, your one-stop-shop for great authors at great prices with the very best fiction, non-fiction, Aussie authors and a huge selection for kids, teens and young adults.

Why the change?
We love eBooks as much as you and are making this change to provide you with a more seamless eReading experience. This new service will mean that you can purchase books directly from your Kobo eReader and you can enjoy the benefits that Kobo offers such as more frequent updates to your eReading apps, enhanced interactivity with social media, and a freecall 24/7 customer service number with dedicated support staff.

What do you need to do?
When the transfer occurs on October 29, your Bookworld eReading apps will prompt you to upgrade. If you have been downloading your eBooks from the Bookworld website, then from this date you will be able to use the Kobo website, using your Bookworld login credentials, to access your eLibrary. We will send you a reminder email on October 29 outlining the steps you need to take.

We are really excited to bring this new service to you and we’re sure that you will enjoy the benefits of this move to Kobo. If you would like to learn more about this change to our eBook service you can visit our information page here.

If you would like to stay up to date with the latest eBook news please vist here.

Kind regards,
Bookworld Customer Service

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Got this email from Bookworld (Melb):

Spoiler:

Important Information: Your new eBook service.

What we are doing
Why we are enacting these changes
what are the benefits for you

Bookworld is upgrading your eBook service!
Three years ago we were proud to bring you one of the first eBook services in Australia. In conjunction with our partner Kobo, the fastest growing eBook service in the world, we have driven to keep you at the forefront of eReading technologies and to provide an enriching eReading experience. We are now taking the next step in our partnership with Kobo to offer you a bigger, better and faster eReading experience.

What does this mean for you?
On October 29 we will be transferring your eBook library to be held by Kobo. You will be able to access your eBooks via the Kobo website or the Kobo eReading applications. Your entire eLibrary will be transferred over and will be waiting for you at www.kobobooks.com for you to pick up where you left off. Once the change has been made you will be sent details on how to access your accounts and will be prompted to download the Kobo app to your device. Until October 29 you can continue to read and access your books as you currently do.

You will still be able to purchase eBooks from Bookworld, your one-stop-shop for great authors at great prices with the very best fiction, non-fiction, Aussie authors and a huge selection for kids, teens and young adults.

Why the change?
We love eBooks as much as you and are making this change to provide you with a more seamless eReading experience. This new service will mean that you can purchase books directly from your Kobo eReader and you can enjoy the benefits that Kobo offers such as more frequent updates to your eReading apps, enhanced interactivity with social media, and a freecall 24/7 customer service number with dedicated support staff.

What do you need to do?
When the transfer occurs on October 29, your Bookworld eReading apps will prompt you to upgrade. If you have been downloading your eBooks from the Bookworld website, then from this date you will be able to use the Kobo website, using your Bookworld login credentials, to access your eLibrary. We will send you a reminder email on October 29 outlining the steps you need to take.

We are really excited to bring this new service to you and we’re sure that you will enjoy the benefits of this move to Kobo. If you would like to learn more about this change to our eBook service you can visit our information page here.

If you would like to stay up to date with the latest eBook news please vist here.

Kind regards,
Bookworld Customer Service

Essentially it says that they are shifting all ebook purchases made from their store to kobobooks.com as a library item against your Bookworld account.

Starting 29 October.

Curious ..... ostensibly the shift is about synchronising your (Kobo) ebook purchases across devices.

Anyone any ideas?

I have to wonder what potential issues this will cause,(if any) or bring you for downloading your books if you have to do that.

regards

JAck

[Lynx-lynx]

Yeah Jack there may be some interesting (unintended) consequences of Bookworld's actions.

It won't bother me because I only buy and download from the Kobo website and not the Kobo Desktop App. On purchase I download directly into Sony Reader for PC and then import into Calibre immediately.

An issue I foresee for Bookworld is that their ebook buyers will buy directly from the Kobo site, and not continue to buy from the Bookworld site.

By keeping the purchased ebooks on Bookworld's own site, at least there was the prospect of the purchasers popping in now and again to check their 'library'. Once their purchases go over to Kobo that won't be the case.

Also Bookworld is (in the main) dollars dearer than the Kobo site for the same ebook in AUD - so that is sure to become obvious to its prospective purchasers sooner rather than later.

And Bookworld doesn't offer the discount vouchers like Kobo does either.

Well, Bookworld must have it's reasons ... heavens knows they don't seem to make much sense to me at the moment.

[melmac]

Angus and Robertson have sent out an email stating the same thing my books will be moved to Kobo and I can log in there using my A&R details. What I would prefer is that they merge my existing kobo account with the A&R account but I'm not sure if that is a option. Knowing kobos support I won't get a relevant response to the request and they're likely to completely stuff the process up

[Lynx-lynx]

Melmac I'm wondering if this is a new business practice of Kobo's and they've started the process off in Australia?

We might be the look and see how well it goes country, eh.

But it is curious 'why' it's happening because I can't see how it's advantageous to the Australian ebook retailers ....

[melmac]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Melmac I'm wondering if this is a new business practice of Kobo's and they've started the process off in Australia?

We might be the look and see how well it goes country, eh.

But it is curious 'why' it's happening because I can't see how it's advantageous to the Australian ebook retailers ....

I always knew that Kobo provided the backend for bookworld and A&R and wondered why either ever bothered to be it the market I doubt that kobo gave them much of a margin. JBHIFI and BigW have both also joined the ebook selling club but I suspect that perhaps their supplier is google play but I'm not sure.

[MacEachaidh]

G'day mel!

I got those e.mails as well, from Bookworld and A&R. I'm wondering what this might do to pricing, since A&R has always been a bit more expensive than Kobo for the same books.

But I did have a snort to read the e.mail from A&R, that basically said we were being herded into Kobo's walled garden, and then tried to claim that this was being done to aid diversity in the ebook market! Jeez giys, how many ways do you want to cut it? ;-)

I haven't checked out JB's or BigW's ebook offerings — do they have epub as well, or are they solely mobi?

[melmac]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

G'day mel!

I got those e.mails as well, from Bookworld and A&R. I'm wondering what this might do to pricing, since A&R has always been a bit more expensive than Kobo for the same books.

But I did have a snort to read the e.mail from A&R, that basically said we were being herded into Kobo's walled garden, and then tried to claim that this was being done to aid diversity in the ebook market! Jeez giys, how many ways do you want to cut it? ;-)

I haven't checked out JB's or BigW's ebook offerings — do they have epub as well, or are they solely mobi?

Hey Mac

They're both supplying drm's epubs ad seem more expensive than kobo.

If A&R push my books over to kobo the I'll have two accounts with them under the same email address which is going to be a little confusing. I don't actually have that may books on the A&R account but it would be so much easier if they merged the accounts. My standard practice these days is to free all my books and back them up but I acquired the A&R ones a long time ago and I'm not sure I was doing that process back then.

[Bookworld]

Originally Posted by melmac

What I would prefer is that they merge my existing kobo account with the A&R account...

G'day to you all.

I work for Bookworld and thought it worthwhile posting to provide some information. I can attest that if you do have an existing Kobo account, it shall merge with your Angus & Robertson or Bookworld account.

If you used a different email address for each account, the system will not recognise the duplicity however I am fairly sure that merging can be arranged upon request. At a guess it would require the details of both accounts and the email address you wish to retain for future access.

Just to respond to several questions in the one response:

@ Lynx-lynx: the current integration we use is a bit clumsy and not as cohesive as we would like. Our original integration linked all devices with our store however as more resellers were involved it required different firmware for each sales channel and the devices and development and support requirements consequently increased.

We're undertaking some huge changes within the organisation and there is a serious interest in making the experience as good as possible for the end-user - whether you read e or p books. Within the time I've dealt with the topic we've seen smartphones get handed from child to parent and a different demographic take up eReading. Whilst exciting it requires specialised knowledge and these changes are, we certainly do feel, for the best in terms of the ability of integration across platforms and for the experience we are striving to deliver.


@jackastor - downloading should not be a problem. Changes being deployed to Kobo right about... now, should see n-authentication. In layperson's terms that allows you to access your account using the same account credentials from any Kobo app or device, simply by selecting the appropriate brand (don't use the regular Kobo login, as it looks up a separate database and will return an error).

If you use an app, download the Kobo app and sign-in using the correct path. Any detection of another account will trigger a popup regarding you having multiple accounts. If you download the ePub of PDF then sign-in to the Kobo site using the same credentials and the experience is basically the same, and you can download the files from the 'My Library' option accessed from the upper-right corner of the screen. Uses of Calibre and other programs of a similar, will not be inconvenienced.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that this has occurred and Australia is by no means a testing ground for this.


I will sign-off with the comment that we genuinely are trying to look out for the end-user (you) when enacting these changes. If you have questions or any points to raise then I am happy to respond, as time and other constraints allow. It's really a pleasure to work in an industry where the people are passionate and we seriously believe in our product and are striving to deliver the best service possible. We genuinely believe that at this time we are providing the best solution to allow our users to take advantage of the technologies that we know they have access to.

That being said, your feedback is welcomed and, like all the comments we get via the various channels available, they will be read by a human, debated and discussed.

Thanks in advance for your time and comments, and all the best for your weekends.

Alastair
Bookworld

[auspex]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Yeah Jack there may be some interesting (unintended) consequences of Bookworld's actions.
…
An issue I foresee for Bookworld is that their ebook buyers will buy directly from the Kobo site, and not continue to buy from the Bookworld site.
…
Also Bookworld is (in the main) dollars dearer than the Kobo site for the same ebook in AUD - so that is sure to become obvious to its prospective purchasers sooner rather than later.

Yes, I imagine there'll be some unintended consequence. There usually are. I don't think there's anything odd about this though: why maintain your own site when you can get your business partner to do it for you?

Sure, buyers may use the Kobo site, but I would be willing to bet you that you find ALL prices on the Kobo site will be identical to the (previously higher) ones on the BookWorld site.

[melmac]

Originally Posted by Bookworld

G'day to you all.

I work for Bookworld and thought it worthwhile posting to provide some information. I can attest that if you do have an existing Kobo account, it shall merge with your Angus & Robertson or Bookworld account.

Thank You Alastair for taking the time to post I truly appreciate it when a rep joins a community site to do so, so welcome and Thanks

I have a bit of experience with kobos help/support and so expect there will be more than a few teething issues with the switch over however I'm sure with a little patience we'll get there in the end

[CRussel]

Not being an Australian customer of Kobo, or any of the others involved, take my comments for that of an outsider, watching from the sidelines. But seriously, folks -- now would be a really good time to visit Apprentice Alf and make sure you have clean, unencumbered copies of all your eBooks from Bookworld, etc. Just in case. As you point out, there could be "unintended consequences". And while I'm sure the goal would be to make sure nothing got lost, it never hurts to have a clean backup.

[Solicitous]

I can see why they are doing it from a technical point of view. I wonder if there will be a long term downside for them? Not that I have bought ebooks from Bookworld/A&R but when Dust by Hugh Howey came out I thought I'd look at Collins Books for the ebook (and as little as it is start to support an Australian company). They use Kobo as their backend, however the ebook was not to be seen in their catalog, yet go to Kobo directly and there it is for us Aussies to buy.

I wonder if you buy a Kobo from Bookworld/A&R and you buy ebooks directly from the ereader, does Bookworld/A&R get any portion of the ebook sale? I assume they do if you bought ebooks through the Bookworld/A&R website, but what about from the device itself?

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Bookworld

G'day to you all.

I work for Bookworld and thought it worthwhile posting to provide some information. I can attest that if you do have an existing Kobo account, it shall merge with your Angus & Robertson or Bookworld account. Alastair
Bookworld

Thank you Alastair from Bookworld for joing MR and posting in response to this thread

As you would have noted by now, Mobileread members tend to discuss lots of different aspects relating to ebooks, ereaders, providers of such and other assorted paraphenalia. (And sometimes we even manage to remain on track in threads!! )

As I mentioned in my earlier posts I only buy epubs via the Kobo or Bookworld (or other) websites, not via apps nor via the ereader itself, so the changes won't really affect me.

I'm curious though, does this change from Bookworld's perspective mean that from the changeover date onwards you will only be selling Kobo kepubs, and discontinue selling Kobo epubs?

If so then that would rule me out from buying ebooks from Bookworld because I choose not to buy kepubs. And indeed a month or so ago had quite a chat with various Kobo Cust service type people re the failure to include what format the ebook was on their 'new look' website. (In fact I got a credit for the purchase of an ebook that did not show what format the book was and it turned out to be kepub)

To that end, Kobo have alerted us to the fact that it will reinstate format information and is re-writing that back in (or words to that effect). In the meantime I use Internet Explorer 9 to browse kobobooks.com because it still shows the 'old look' website with the ebook format showing.

I do note - that your site currently shows format info but this will be irrelevant if you're only going to sell kepubs.

PS I buy non-fiction paper books through Bookworld, which is often cheaper than the UK's Book Depository. And your free and very prompt postage is great!!

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by auspex

Yes, I imagine there'll be some unintended consequence. There usually are. I don't think there's anything odd about this though: why maintain your own site when you can get your business partner to do it for you?

Sure, buyers may use the Kobo site, but I would be willing to bet you that you find ALL prices on the Kobo site will be identical to the (previously higher) ones on the BookWorld site.

Yes, that is a concern. For me though, I will continue to do as I do now and 'visit' other countries to identify the price that suits