Kobo Plus is an unlimited audiobook and ebook subscription service that first launched in the Netherlands in 2017 and Canada last year. Kobo has signed an agreement with Portuguese publishing group LeYa to launch Kobo Plus e_LeY. Exclusive contents available for Portugal will be provided by LeYa and other Portuguese publishers and publishing institutions joining the platform. There are currently 8,000 ebooks in Portuguese and 700 audiobooks. In total, Kobo Plus offers 599,000 ebooks and 94,000 audiobooks.
Among thousands of important ebooks by contemporary Portuguese authors, readers will find unforgettable novels such as António Lobo Antune’s Memória de Elefante, Lídia Jorge’s Os Memoráveis and Mia Couto’s Jesusalém, as well as books by popular authors Mário Cláudio, Germano Almeida, Rita Ferro and many others. The subscription gives readers access to celebrated foreign literature translated into Portuguese: from classics like Frank Herbert’s Dune, to the complete works of Elena Ferrante, Virginia Woolf and Fyodor Dostoevsky, notable authors including Salman Rushdie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith, along with famous romance novelists such as Nicholas Sparks, Julia Quinn and Elizabeth Adler, and crime genre favorites like Agatha Christie, Camilla Läckberg andr John Le Carré.
Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn said in a statement “The general subscription market in Portugal is becoming more prominent and we’re thrilled to partner with LeYa to provide an eBook and audiobook subscription offering in Portugal, which is a country where we see a lot of opportunity for growth. LeYa is the perfect partner for this endeavor, as they are experts in the space, continuously looking to the future of publishing and where the book market is headed. For Portuguese readers, Kobo Plus e_LeYa will be their first unlimited eBook and audiobook subscription experience, introducing them to an entirely new way to read.”
Kobo Plus e_LeYa is accessible through three monthly subscription options, all at very competitive monthly prices: access to all ebooks, for €5.99 euros; access to all audiobooks, for the same price; access to all ebooks and audiobooks, for €7.99 euros. Audiobook packages also include access to a large and constantly updated catalogue of podcasts, original audiobooks, book summaries and reading essentials. There is a free 30 day trial, so new users can get a sense if the platform is right for them.
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.
