Kobo worth it?

I've went direct with Kobo and I'm currently waiting for my book to be approved. Whilst I can't share any sales figures as yet, I can say that their interface is really easy to use.

If you're worried about tomorrow's sales, it's a terrible waste of time.  If you're worried about sales over the next decade, it may be vital.

I upload epub versions of my books to them.  I get sales by offering a few free books.  I don't know of any marketing sites for them yet.

I totally empathize with the whole elastic thing.  It's sooooo much work.

I went direct with KOBO, simply uploading my word documents. The process took about 2 hours per book.

This is only my 3rd month on the Canadian service, and sales grow each month.

To give you an idea, Month-to-date I've sold 51 ebooks.

This compares to 290 on B&N and just over 2100 on Kindle. iTunes comes in at 64.

All in all, it's been worth it to me. Most of the sales have been from down under (Aust and NZ) and Kobo's numbers are growing.

When I was with SW, I sold twice as much on Kobo as I did all the others combined.

Worth it?

Holy crap, yeah!

I've so far sold 211 books with them and counting. These last few days are really rocketing.

Kobo buyers don't go for 99c stuff either. They all buy my full-priced novels.

The best thing about Kobo is that they do direct deposits, and even better, that they don't take out any tax.

They'll let you upload a variety of file formats. I've uploaded both epub and mobi. The interface is nice. If you're not in Select, I say why not.

I have not gotten much traction there myself, but I'm Canadian, so I like knowing my books are on there and available, just in case.

I think sales vary by author/genre. I have all my titles on Kobo and sell maybe 4 a month (total), which is nothing compared to my sales on Amazon/iTunes. However, since I already have an epub file, it doesn't hurt to have them up there.

Ditto most of what's already been said. Saw some sales there during Amazon's fall doldrums (for me, anyway), several from Canada and Australia -- so having Kobo as an alternative stream was nice. I haven't found the ENT or Pixel equivalents for promoting Kobo books, but there are plenty of smaller sites. Ones I've contacted (and that appear to have led to downloads):

Kobo Books on FB (run by Scott Nicholson)
Trindiebooks.com

Kobo has depth in countries that Amazon doesn't. My case is rather unique, but I sell 500 at Kobo for every one I sell on Amazon.

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:

When I was with SW, I sold twice as much on Kobo as I did all the others combined.

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Gertie, does this mean that your Kobo sales fell after you took them off Smashwords and went direct?

The same may have happened to me too!

Also, if what someone else said about sales being mainly from Australia/NZ/Canada is true (and it's been true for me--one in the UK), then it might suggest what kinds of titles I ought to sell there. Especially for Australia/NZ, I think serious/political titles would be out.

Dalya said:

They'll let you upload a variety of file formats. I've uploaded both epub and mobi. The interface is nice. If you're not in Select, I say why not.

I have not gotten much traction there myself, but I'm Canadian, so I like knowing my books are on there and available, just in case.

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I have a very good friend who is Canadian, and who recently published his first book: I tried to get him to get someone to make a test purchase for me on Kobo, but he doesn't know a single other person who has a Kobo. I'm surprised, considering he lives in Toronto.

Also surprised to hear that price is not a factor with Kobo books. I just went free with one book, and that may have spurred my first sale in a long while.

I'm having a record day on Kobo. I only keep about half my catalog there because I got suckered back into Select, but it is going to beat BN like a borrowed mule.

Unfortunately, you have to "direct market" at the moment, meaning driving your own traffic for the most part. Also seeing accelerating foreign-language sales there. But they are making improvements faster than anyone, including Amazon. You just can't always see it because it is behind the scenes.

Lastly, I would ask "Why would you not be in ANY market?" Especially one where you can direct upload, change data easily, and even remove it with a few clicks if you need to. You do not know which sale will change a life (yours or the reader's.)

P.S. I run a Facebook promo wall that is cooperative, not a money maker--you share the current posted book, then your book gets posted. Details are in the note at http://www.facebook.com/kobobooks. Give it a try!

I thought about uploading to Kobo...but wondering if it's best to just go through Smashwords...if I remember correctly...you need an ISBN to publish with Kobo right?

No ISBN needed for Kobo. They supply you with their own.

I sell about a copy a month on Kobo, but at least they're buying my $2.99 collection! Nobody on Amazon seems to want to touch it.

Rue

ruecole said:

No ISBN needed for Kobo. They supply you with their own.

I sell about a copy a month on Kobo, but at least they're buying my $2.99 collection! Nobody on Amazon seems to want to touch it.

Rue

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Thanks Rue, I'll check them out..it can't hurt

99c books and other cheap stuff emphatically doesn't sell on Kobo.

It's worth it. I have YA PRN also. It sells over there. Kobo is supposed to be an up and coming player this year as the markets stretch. Whether or not that works out, I've been doing well over there. No different formatting is needed. I upload docs over there and they go up fine. No extra work - like eye twitching apple. OMG. Anyway, go for it. It'll take less time to upload a few books than to read through a few threads over here.

Richardcrasta said:

Gertie, does this mean that your Kobo sales fell after you took them off Smashwords and went direct?

The same may have happened to me too!

Also, if what someone else said about sales being mainly from Australia/NZ/Canada is true (and it's been true for me--one in the UK), then it might suggest what kinds of titles I ought to sell there. Especially for Australia/NZ, I think serious/political titles would be out.

Click to expand...

No. I took them off all other outlets and went with Select. After a year with Select, I'm taking my four book series out and pubbing through SW again. I hope to go permafree with the first book.

99c books and other cheap stuff emphatically doesn't sell on Kobo.