(Something went horribly wrong with this post yesterday that doesn’t appear to reproduce with copy-paste into a new post, so let’s try this again!)
Kobo has had a subscription program in Canada and other countries for a while, and as of April 5, 2023, they’ve opened Kobo Plus to the US and UK, as well. Read more here, but short version: For $7.99 USD per month, you get access to 1.3 million ebooks OR 100,000 audiobooks, or for $9.99 USD per month, you can read with your eyes and ears. (Sorry, UK, I can’t see your prices from here.) And there’s a free 30-day trial!
Why should readers care about another ebook/audiobook subscription program when there’s already one that has a kajillion books in it? If the slightly lower price tag doesn’t tempt you, how about the fact that the indie books in Kobo Plus will be different books than you’ve read in KU? KU requires exclusivity.[efn_note]For self-publishers. Tolkien and Harlequin and all the other trad-pub books aren’t getting into KU through the self-publishing platform and aren’t bound by the same nonnegotiable boilerplate contract.[/efn_note] Authors who don’t want to be entirely dependent on Amazon’s whims sell their books through other stores and therefore can’t be in KU. You can now have the same low-risk book-choosing experience with a whole new buffet of books that will never be in that other program.
Several of Skyla Dawn Cameron’s books are in Kobo Plus, including the first three books in the Livi Talbot series, which I love unreservedly. Go, get hooked so you’re caught up in time for the finale! A lot of Lilith Saintcrow’s books are in. A couple of T. Kingfisher’s paladin romances and youthier books are also in. Lots of good stuff available!
The only book I have direct with Kobo currently is the omnibus of the Ren Benton contemporary romances, which now has a snazzy “$9.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus” banner on it. UPDATE: Grave Oversight is in now, as well! UPDATE II: The individual Ren Benton contemporaries are also in!
Future books will definitely be direct and eligible for Kobo Plus. I’ve been slowly moving backlist away from the mono-aggregator, but that involves updating files that haven’t been touched in 5-10 years and then going through the delisting-and-relisting process, which is going to take a while for 40 books.
I’m not in the Kobo affiliate program and get nothing for referring you (unless you buy/borrow any of my books while you’re there, for which I’d be compensated the regular amount). I switched my ebook buying from Big River to Kobo a while ago, so I’m sharing this news mostly as a fellow reader.