Rakuten Kobo has just announced that it has expanded its audiobook and ebook subscription platform into Ireland and South Africa. Irish and South African booklovers can access Kobo Plus via the Kobo Books App for iOS or Android and directly on Kobo eReaders to begin discovering new authors and genres. The Kobo Plus eBook and audiobook collection features many stories, including beloved literary classics, bone-chilling thrillers, sweeping romances, thought-provoking nonfiction, and more.
There are three different subscription options for these countries. You can access an unlimited number of monthly ebooks for 9.99€ or R199,00. If you like listening to audiobooks, this option is 9.99€ or R259,00 monthly. If you want to access both audiobooks and ebooks, the Kobo Plus Read and Listen package is for you; it costs the same as a standalone subscription.
While Kobo Plus subscribers experience the joys of limitless reading and listening, authors included in the catalogue also enjoy various benefits. Typically, following the launch of a book, revenue tends to decline with age as new releases hit the shelves – but inclusion in the Kobo Plus subscription continues to drive the revenue of a book as it’s discovered by new readers in the service, generating sales for a more extended period with no decline in individual eBook or audiobook sales. Readers are also willing to try more new authors and read more widely across both new releases and backlist, as all-you-can-read removes the risk of trying something new.
“At Kobo, we’re always working to make the reading experience better and more accessible. Through our best-in-class eReaders and Kobo app, unmatched digital catalogue and curated book recommendations, there’s nothing more gratifying to us than delighting readers. Our Kobo Plus subscription does just that, allowing book lovers to read as much as they want, whenever they want, for a low monthly fee. It’s our pleasure and privilege to expand the subscription service in Ireland and South Africa so that readers can enjoy their favourite stories without boundaries,” said Bart Robers, Director of Audiobooks and Global Subscriptions at Rakuten Kobo.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
