This is a big week for us here at Kobo and KWL – Kobo Plus has officially launched in Canada! For those who need a refresher, Kobo Plus is an all-you-can-read subscription service that we’ve been offering in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2017. Subscribers pay a flat monthly fee to read unlimited books for as long as they are enrolled in the program. Authors and publishers are paid based on a revenue share model (you can find a breakdown of how payment works here).
If your books are already enrolled in Kobo Plus, there’s no need to do anything else – your titles are available to our subscribers in all Kobo Plus regions. If you’ve yet to enroll your titles in Kobo Plus, here are some reasons you should consider doing so!
1. Reach a whole new audience
We’ve found that the subscription model serves a different type of reader to the à la carte model. This is a great option for those voracious readers who love to binge an entire series over a weekend. It’s an opportunity for you to make your titles – and especially your backlist – more accessible than ever to a wider audience.
2. No exclusivity required
Unlike some other subscription services, Kobo Plus requires no exclusivity! We have never asked for exclusivity and we never will. We want to empower you to run your business independently, and to decide where you want to sell your books.
3. No time limit
While we do encourage authors to give Kobo Plus a couple of months to see the results, we understand that running your own self publishing business requires a bit of trial and error. Because of this, we’ve removed the previous time requirement from Kobo Plus, allowing you to try submitting your whole catalogue, just some of your backlist, or just the first books in your series to see what works best for you.
4. Choose which titles to include
At KWL we want our indie authors to have the freedom to make their own business decisions. There is no restriction as to how many or how few books you enroll in Kobo Plus.
5. More money, fewer problems!
Like we’ve already said, Kobo Plus readers tend to be a different audience than our a la carte customers on the Kobo store. Our sales data from Belgium and the Netherlands suggests that having your books in Kobo Plus has a positive impact on à la carte sales. Publishers enrolled in Kobo Plus sell more à la carte, and generate increased revenue from subscription sales on top of that.
Kobo Plus is a great opportunity for authors to revitalize their backlist, generate more revenue, and reach more readers. Questions? Drop us a line in the comments or send us an email at writinglife@kobo.com
Does one have to purchase a special eBook reader to read Kobo books?
Hi Gabi,
Thanks for your question! You do not need to use a Kobo eReader to read eBooks purchased on our store. We have a free app for iOs and Android so you can read your books on your smartphone or tablet!
great news, i have most of my work available in the kobo plus program before hand. Glad to see canada is in the mix:)
Can I just clarify? If I enrol my book in Kobo plus, I can still have the eBook listed for purchase on Kobo and elsewhere.
ALL links in your article and on kobo web site that is meant to EXPLAIN to author how the payout works, is “mysterious” gone Why would an author sign up and they can’t determine if it’s a fit for them or not.
Hi Taylor,
Thank you for pointing this out! We recently revamped our help centre and a lot of URLs ended up changing, including the one linked in this article. I’ve updated the link, but you can find the breakdown of Kobo Plus payments here: https://kobowritinglife.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059386091-How-does-Kobo-Plus-pay-
If I enroll my book in Kobo plus subscription, will individuals who just want to buy the e-book without reading on the kobo plus still have access to it?
Hi there,
Thank you for your question! Enrolling your eBook in Kobo Plus will not affect its availability to readers who are not subscribers. Kobo Plus is an additional avenue you can use to reach your readers!