The Waterstone’s eBook Store is closing and all of the digital content is being transferred over to Kobo. The UK bookseller announced this today on their main website and also via email to their existing customers. This is the 3rd major company to strike a relationship with Kobo.
The United Kingdom is facing a digital crisis with many of the leading e-book companies going out of business. It simply is not viable to compete against Amazon. In the last few years Blinkbox Books, the Sony Reader Store, the Nook e-Book store and a bunch of startups have all folded.
Here is the email that Waterstones is sending out to users this morning.
Dear XXX,
The Waterstones eBooks store is closing, but we have partnered with Kobo to ensure that you will still be able to access your library of eBook titles purchased with us.
On 14th June 2016 we will send you an email with a personalised link to transfer your eBooks to Kobo.
You will also be able to access your current library on Waterstones.com from now until Monday, 13th June 2016, to ensure we do not interrupt your reading experience.
About Kobo
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the world’s fastest-growing eReading services, empowering booklovers to read more. With Kobo, you’ll enjoy easy, instant access to their eBookstore of over 5 million of the world’s best eBooks that can be read anywhere, on any device. Plus, you’ll earn Kobo Super Points rewards with every purchase.
So, from the team at Waterstones, we want to extend our thanks to you for using our service and we wish you a happy reading future with Rakuten Kobo.
Important Notice
If you are happy to move your library, you don’t need to do anything. In doing so, we will assume you are happy for us to share your Waterstones library with Kobo, so they can provide us with your personalised link to take you through to the library transfer process
If you do NOT wish to transfer your library to Rakuten Kobo, please click here.
If you do not receive the link to transfer your library on or soon after, Tuesday 14th June 2016, then please visit our Contact Us pages to get in touch.
Please check the Frequently Asked Questions page if you would like more information.
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.