Rakuten Kobo Expands Digital Reading offering with Kobo Plus

In a significant move to broaden its digital reading services, Kobo announced expansions for its Kobo Plus service to new territories. This means book lovers in these regions can now access a massive library of ebooks and audiobooks for a monthly fee.

Expansion to Taiwan and Hong Kong

In February 22, Kobo announced they expanded their digital reading offering in Taiwan and Hong Kong with Kobo Plus, offering booklovers unlimited access to over 1.5 million eBooks and over 150K audiobooks for a low monthly fee.

The Kobo Plus eBook and audiobook collection features stories in both traditional Chinese and foreign languages, including English-language favourites.

Additionally, Rakuten Kobo announced that its free self-publishing platform Kobo Writing Life (KWL) is coming to Taiwan and Hong Kong later this year.

Expansion to Ireland and South Africa

On March 5, Kobo included even more locations to their Kobo Plus services, announcing their availability in Ireland and South Africa.

What else:

• Kobo Writing Life authors can opt their books into Kobo Plus via the Rights and Distribution tab in their KWL Dashboard. For each book, they can choose all available territories or only specific countries. 
• Kobo Writing Life allows authors and small publishers to publish their eBooks and audiobooks directly to the Kobo store. Users can set their own pricing, price promotions and distribution. They can add their books to Kobo Plus and expand their distribution to libraries, via OverDrive.
• There is no exclusivity required to take advantage of this opportunity.

Distribution via PublishDrive

Authors and publishers who already distribute their books through PublishDrive and chose Kobo Plus as one of their preferred distribution channels don't need to take any further action. Their titles will be automatically sent to these new territories, catering to new audiences without any additional effort. 

PublishDrive goes beyond Kobo, offering distribution to various retailers and libraries, potentially reaching an even wider audience for authors and publishers.