Kobo Plus is the company’s unlimited ebook subscription platform that is only available in the Netherlands. Kobo has just added audiobooks to the mix and has introduced a few new tiers. Kobo has always treated Plus as a testbed for an eventual rollout into other countries.
You can subscribe to the unlimited ebook aspect of Plus for €9.99 per month or just subscribe to the audiobook part of the program for €8.99 per month. If you want to read and listen to everything that is available the cost will be €12.99 a month.
Kobo Plus has an audiobook library of around 20,000 titles. Some are in English and others well be in Dutch. New titles are added every week. In the offer you will currently find My story from Michelle Obama, The day of the dead of Nicci French and De devour the sky from Paolo Giordano. Kobo Originals in audio form are also available.The newest Kobo Original is detective De Kriminalist, an audio drama set in Amsterdam in the 1920s.
Annet Scheermeijer, Director of Books at bol.com : “Books are very personal. People consume more stories than ever, in different ways. At bol.com we want to encourage reading by making it as easy as possible: one time by delivering that one beautiful book to your home and the other time by facilitating an ebook on your reading device. With audio books we now offer the reader even more moments to enjoy a book. If you need to have your hands and eyes free, you can still enjoy unlimited book pleasure with audio books. ”
Pieter Swinkels, Chief Content Officer at Rakuten Kobo: “ Everyone who likes to read always has more books than time. Audio books give our readers the ability to do multiple things at the same time. By listening to stories you can be in two places at the same time, wherever you are, whatever story you want. For example, you can explore the galaxy during daily commute or you can solve a crime while doing the dishes. With Kobo Originals we also bring exclusive content to our reader, fantastic stories that they can’t find anywhere else. ”
Esther van Dijk, audio publisher at Singel Publishers: “Audio books fit perfectly in a world where leisure is scarce. On the one hand, they make life more efficient and fill empty time with a good story. On the other hand, they offer peace of mind, a moment not to be busy with the daily hassle and to enjoy being read aloud. The fact that Kobo Plus is now enriched with audio books can only have a positive effect and ensure that even more people come into contact with books. Audio books deserve a large audience.”
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.