Kobo Coming To U.S. Independent Book Stores - Next Week?

[oj829]

Originally Posted by fbrII

This is from an e-mail I received today from a local independent bookstore.

Thanks for taking the time to transcribe that. Pretty much the ONLY detail about this deal that's been public and specific is that purchases made on the device would result in a revenue kick back to the indie store who sold it. Which had me wondering about particulars: would it mean Kobo would have to track the S/Ns of each and every device by retailer? Sounds like a lot of busy work, but maybe they do that now...

I'm glad to hear it because it means one less hoop for newbies to jump through in order for the indie to start seeing that revenue. (I was under the impression that a customer would ALSO have to modify their profile/account in order to credit the store. Again, it was all guesswork. I had no hard data.)

The e-mail goes into detail about how the relationship between Kobo and independent book stores and offers links to various 'how-to's' to help new Kobo users.

Great news. As of Saturday, my friendly neighborhood storeowner pretty much had nothing but a demo Glo and a cable on his hands.

Suffice it to say, I think this book-seller is excited about the new agreement and it appears to me that some thought has been put into how to make this a successful launch by both Kobo and the independents.

I agree that Kobo is working hard right now to make some magic happen. They seem to be working down to the wire and it was really great that they released Instant Reader for iPhones as of last Thursday. Speaking strictly for myself, my loyalty is to my local bookstore. When the Google deal went live, I started e-book shopping there. Once the Kobo deal goes live, that's where my e-book dollar will go. Buh-bye, Google.

So Kobo will definitely be getting me out of the deal if nothing else.

Thanks again for sharing that...

[fbrII]

So Kobo will definitely be getting me out of the deal if nothing else.

Well that makes at least two of us now

[artifact]

I just noticed Powell's Books has replaced their Google eBooks page with a Kobo one.

(FYI: Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books.)

[EldRick]

Nice to see that Powells is getting into the game - I'd buy a Glo from them in a second when they get stock.

[elemenoP]

How does one find a list of participating bookstores? Does anybody know if there are any in NYC?

Thanks,
eP

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

How does one find a list of participating bookstores? Does anybody know if there are any in NYC?

Thanks,
eP

I don't think that there's a list of participating bookstores, but what you can do is search for nearby bookstores that are a part of the ABA on the ABA member directory and then call your nearby stores to ask if they have the Glo.

[thp1017]

It looks to me like they're available at a number of places - I searched a bit online and found a place or two you could order from, and a bookstore in my area (sadly, WAY the heck across town) is having some kind of "event" this weekend to show the devices off to newbies.

My guess is that if you look around online a bit websites for stores in your area, you'll find someone before too long.

[EldRick]

Looks like Thursday is the day. I dropped a note on the Powells web site, and got this response a couple of hours later...
------------------------------------------
Hi Richard,

Thanks so much for writing to us about Kobo!
We plan to begin selling the Kobo eReaders, both in our stores and on our website at Powells.com, on Thursday, November 8.

Cheers!
______________________
Heidi Mager | Marketing Manager
Powell's Books, Inc.
2720 NW 29th Ave. Portland, OR 97210
heidi@powells.com | 800.878.7323 ext. 5863
_______________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2012 10:13 AM
To: marketing@powells.com
Subject: Kobo?

When can I buy a Kobo Glo from Powells in Portland, per your recent partnership announcement?

xxxxxxxx
Portland

[KevinShort]

I just got a similar response from the Fountain Bookstore, they said that they'll have the Glo up for order online in a few days. Finally!

[EldRick]

I'll buy one at Powells to assuage the guilt I've felt when I've browsed at the store and then gone home to buy the ebook...

[thp1017]

Actually, I ordered one earlier today, and its already been shipped out

http://www.left-bank.com/product/kobo-glo

Would have loved to get it from a local store, but it'd take probably an hour round trip to go pick it up (plus gas, tax, etc), and they aren't getting em till this weekend, so I decided to order from these guys...

[oj829]

Originally Posted by EldRick

I'll buy one at Powells to assuage the guilt I've felt when I've browsed at the store and then gone home to buy the ebook...

While I like the Kobo bookstore, it does lack something wrt book reviews.

Amazon is now where I go to read a couple dozen reviews before buying the ebook @ Kobo. How's THAT taste, Jeff?

[kiwimango]

Hi guys, been lurking on this forum for a month now trying to catch news of where Kobo will be popping up in the US. I *finally* got mine ordered yesterday via an indie in my state and so I thought I'd share where I found it in case anyone else is in my vicinity.

http://www.ottobookstore.com/

Otto Bookstore
Williamsport, PA
1-888-762-4526

They WILL ship it to you if you call them with your credit card ready. The shipping charges for me were about $8.

They have the Glo, but apparently not in any of the 'fancy' colors like blue or pink.

[fbrII]

I finally saw one on display at Left Bank Books in St. Louis. I asked another bookstore to set one aside so I'm going to give them a couple of days to get their stock in, but very impressed with the Glow. I had bought and returned a Paperwhite earlier and the glow light uniformity on the Glow put the Paperwhite to shame.

Anticipating!

[selina4books]

Originally Posted by thp1017

Actually, I ordered one earlier today, and its already been shipped out

http://www.left-bank.com/product/kobo-glo

Would have loved to get it from a local store, but it'd take probably an hour round trip to go pick it up (plus gas, tax, etc), and they aren't getting em till this weekend, so I decided to order from these guys...

I tried to find a local store (small town!) so i am so happy you posted this! I just ordered one. I was going to try and get a blue one but since it will be in an Oberon cover (the cover for the Kindle 4 fits the Kobo Touch so should also fit the Glo) it really doesn't matter what color it is anyway...I'm just happy to have my order in!