Kobo Writing Life

kobo.com

Rakuten's self publishing portal feeds the Kobo store and its ereaders, with real strength outside the United States: Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Royalties run 70 percent in the main price band and 45 percent for the cheapest titles, an ISBN is supplied free, and the dashboard is one of the friendlier ones in publishing. Authors can opt into Kobo Plus, the subscription tier, without giving up sales elsewhere.

A sensible second home for anyone going wide, especially with translated editions or genre fiction that travels. Promotional slots are open to indie authors and the team runs regular price campaigns worth applying for. The catch is scale: Kobo's share of the American market is small, so a title aimed only at US readers will look quiet here. Payments come monthly once the balance clears the minimum.

[email protected]