eBook revolution Archives - Page 8 of 16

Kobo Books: Writing Life Platform

September 18, 2012September 17, 2012 by David Mark Brown

Kobo Writing Life Dashboard I’ve tracked www.Kobobooks.com for several weeks now, keeping my eye on the following things:

rankings
recommended reading lists
search and sort capabilities
customer service
the writing life platform
the app, the eReader, etc.

My intent has been to deduce whether Kobo seems to understand what it will take to become a serious player in the eBook retail universe currently dominated almost exclusively by Amazon and their Kindle store. My perspective is unabashedly that of an indie author. Today’s post will discuss Kobo’s Writing Life Platform. (Follow the linked bullet points for the other posts.)

The Results: Writing Life

Props to Kobo. Their new Writing Life spanks Barnes and Nobles’ PubIt! with both hands. I would go so far as saying Kobo’s platform matches Amazon’s KDP. It is early on, and thus Writing Life is not as advanced. But the next iteration could combine many of the abilities of Amazon’s Author Central and KDP into a single source.

Kobo Books: Customer Service

September 10, 2012 by David Mark Brown

Customer Service I’ve tracked www.Kobobooks.com for several weeks now, keeping my eye on the following things:

rankings
recommended reading lists
search and sort capabilities
customer service
the writing life platform
the app, the eReader, etc.

My intent has been to deduce whether Kobo seems to understand what it will take to become a serious player in the eBook retail universe currently dominated almost exclusively by Amazon and their Kindle store. My perspective is unabashedly that of an indie author. Today’s post will discuss Kobo’s customer service. (Follow the linked bullet points for the other posts.)

Results: Customer Service

I’ve by no means tested every aspect of Kobo’s interaction with users of its new Writing Life platform, but I’ve published a handful of titles, changed prices, sent some inquiries, suggestions and complaints.

Here’s what I’ve learned.

Kobo Books: Search Capabilities

September 3, 2012September 3, 2012 by David Mark Brown

Kobo free filtered search I’ve tracked www.Kobobooks.com for several weeks now, keeping my eye on the following things:

rankings
recommended reading lists
search and sort capabilities
customer service
the writing life platform
the app, the eReader, etc.

My intent has been to deduce whether Kobo seems to understand what it will take to become a serious player in the eBook retail universe currently dominated almost exclusively by Amazon and their Kindle store. My perspective is unabashedly that of an indie author. Today’s post will discuss Kobo’s search and sort capabilities. (Follow the linked bullet points for the other posts.)

Results: Searching and Sorting

Shelf space has been heralded as the game changing factor of the eBook age. No longer are books, readers or authors restricted to the physical space of brick and mortar stores. As a result smaller genres and niche and/or genre bending stories have more likelihood of gaining readership (theoretically).

But these eBooks still have to grab the attention of readers in order to be read. SEO has become the new shelf space. Search capabilities and clever algorithms (killbots as I like to call them) rule the day. So, for Kobo to be a real player in the emerging eBook retail sector it would stand to reason they must address this critical need. How have they done?