Kobo's new indie publishing division to also make paper books

scrapking · 04-03-2012, 01:23 PM

http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...hing-division/

We already knew that Kobo was going to create an indie publishing division, but Goodereader has added several unexpected (at least to me) details.

In addition to Kobo offering cover creation and editing services, they're also going to print paper copies and sell them through Chapters/Indigo/Coles stores in Canada.

This chain of stores constitutes an overwhelming amount of the Canadian retail bookstore market. Kobo has surpassed Amazon as the #1 seller of e-readers in Canada.

I have no idea of how Kobo's terms are going to compare to other publishing groups, and understanding that would be key to deciding if this is a good idea for authors. However, presuming marketing support from Kobo for e-books and Chapters for paper books, if I'm an indie author with a book aimed at the Canadian market (Canadiana fiction, Canadian finance non-fiction, etc.), this pairing actually might look pretty good. Wonder if we'll see someone like Gail Vas-Oxlade consider this for a future Canadian-specific tax/finance book?

Amazon has a similar offering, but retailers with ties to other e-book stores (Barnes & Noble, Chapters, etc.) won't stock Amazon's paper books. B&N has something similar, but that limits you to just the U.S. market at this time. Could Kobo be the first e-book company to roll out a global strategy that blends the two together? No word yet on similar deals with the other bricks-and-mortars that have signed alliances with Kobo (such as WHSmith in the UK), but nothing to say similar deals aren't in the works. Could be interesting to see where this goes.

Nate the great · 04-03-2012, 01:49 PM

LOL

You should have checked their source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/20...ublishing.html

The story dates from last October and that CBC article is actually the source everyone wrote from when the story broke back then.

scrapking · 04-03-2012, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

LOL

You should have checked their source:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/20...ublishing.html

The story dates from last October and that CBC article is actually the source everyone wrote from when the story broke back then.

Interesting. I actually read that CBC article back then, but didn't recall the points I highlighted in the OP.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Indie authors whose books would make a good movie	Steven Lyle Jordan	General Discussions	15	02-29-2012 06:39 PM
Do you you read indie e-books? What will convince you to check out indie books?	Frida Fantastic	General Discussions	92	06-22-2011 03:49 PM
Free books (Kobo) - 20 Dorchester Publishing Books (Romance, Horror, Thriller etc.)	ATDrake	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	15	09-24-2010 07:01 PM
Why is indie music so respected compared to indie publishing?	ficbot	News	32	11-02-2009 06:31 PM
Indie Publishing to the Kindle	Steven Lyle Jordan	Amazon Kindle	95	12-21-2008 04:38 PM

04-03-2012, 01:23 PM	#1
scrapking Evangelist Posts: 467 Karma: 1073260 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Victoria, BC Device: Kobo Vox, Kobo Glo	Kobo's new indie publishing division to also make paper books http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...hing-division/ We already knew that Kobo was going to create an indie publishing division, but Goodereader has added several unexpected (at least to me) details. In addition to Kobo offering cover creation and editing services, they're also going to print paper copies and sell them through Chapters/Indigo/Coles stores in Canada. This chain of stores constitutes an overwhelming amount of the Canadian retail bookstore market. Kobo has surpassed Amazon as the #1 seller of e-readers in Canada. I have no idea of how Kobo's terms are going to compare to other publishing groups, and understanding that would be key to deciding if this is a good idea for authors. However, presuming marketing support from Kobo for e-books and Chapters for paper books, if I'm an indie author with a book aimed at the Canadian market (Canadiana fiction, Canadian finance non-fiction, etc.), this pairing actually might look pretty good. Wonder if we'll see someone like Gail Vas-Oxlade consider this for a future Canadian-specific tax/finance book? Amazon has a similar offering, but retailers with ties to other e-book stores (Barnes & Noble, Chapters, etc.) won't stock Amazon's paper books. B&N has something similar, but that limits you to just the U.S. market at this time. Could Kobo be the first e-book company to roll out a global strategy that blends the two together? No word yet on similar deals with the other bricks-and-mortars that have signed alliances with Kobo (such as WHSmith in the UK), but nothing to say similar deals aren't in the works. Could be interesting to see where this goes.

04-03-2012, 01:49 PM	#2
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	LOL You should have checked their source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/20...ublishing.html The story dates from last October and that CBC article is actually the source everyone wrote from when the story broke back then.