Kobo™ Writing Life Author Guide
Updated November 2016
Table of Contents
KOBO WRITING LIFE ...................................................................................................5
KOBO WRITING LIFE ............................................................................................................5
SIGN ME UP! ......................................................................................................................6
PAYMENT INFORMATION....................................................................................................10
EDIT YOUR INFORMATION...................................................................................................13
SUPPORTED LANGUAGES ....................................................................................................13
CONTENT MATTERS .................................................................................................14
ABOUT CONTENT ..............................................................................................................14
KOBO WRITING LIFE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS...........................................................................14
Terms of service ......................................................................................................14
Content restrictions.................................................................................................15
Copyright Guidelines ...............................................................................................17
Geographic Rights ...................................................................................................17
KOBO WRITING LIFE BEST PRACTICES GUIDELINES ...................................................................18
Digital Rights management ....................................................................................18
NEW EBOOK SETUP GUIDELINES ............................................................................... 20
DETAILS NEEDED FOR YOUR NEW EBOOK ..............................................................................20
BOOK COVERS ..................................................................................................................23
SUBJECT CATEGORIES.........................................................................................................24
UPLOADING .....................................................................................................................26
PUBLISHING .....................................................................................................................31
EDITING YOUR CONTENT ....................................................................................................33
HELP & LEARNING CENTRE .................................................................................................35
MONEY MATTERS ....................................................................................................36
PRICING GUIDELINES..........................................................................................................36
CURRENCY PRICING RULE ...................................................................................................37
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 2
USING THE PRICING TOOL ...................................................................................................38
SETTING THE PRICE ON A NEW BOOK ....................................................................................39
VIEWING A PUBLISHED BOOK’S PRICES ..................................................................................43
SCHEDULING A SALE OR FUTURE PRICE CHANGE ......................................................................44
VIEWING A SALE ...............................................................................................................47
TAXES .............................................................................................................................49
GETTING PAID ..................................................................................................................50
PRICE MATCHING ..............................................................................................................50
EDITING YOUR PRICES ........................................................................................................50
SECURITY MATTERS .................................................................................................52
DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT...........................................................................................52
Mobile* ...................................................................................................................52
Web* .......................................................................................................................53
Adobe Digital Editions & Adobe Content Server .....................................................54
Desktop ...................................................................................................................54
DATACENTRE SECURITY ......................................................................................................55
ENABLING GEOGRAPHIC RIGHTS...........................................................................................56
SALES MATTERS .......................................................................................................57
DASHBOARD ....................................................................................................................57
SALES REPORTS .................................................................................................................58
IMPROVING THE MARKETABILITY OF YOUR EBOOKS ................................................. 59
ABOUT IMPROVING THE MARKETABILITY OF YOUR EBOOKS ......................................................59
EXPAND YOUR REACH ........................................................................................................60
PROVIDE PRICING FOR ALL AVAILABLE CURRENCIES .................................................................61
PROMOTE YOUR KOBO EBOOKS ..........................................................................................61
LINK YOUR EBOOKS ...........................................................................................................62
GET FAMILIAR WITH OUR RETAIL STORES ...............................................................................63
DESIGN AN EYE CATCHING COVER PAGE ................................................................................63
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 3
WRITE A GRIPPING SYNOPSIS ..............................................................................................64
USE OUR AUTHOR SERVICES ...............................................................................................64
OTHER MATTERS......................................................................................................66
TERMINATING YOUR ACCOUNT ............................................................................................66
AGREEING TO NEW TERMS..................................................................................................67
CONTACT US ............................................................................................................ 68
CONTACT US ....................................................................................................................68
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 4
Kobo Writing Life
What’s in this section
 Kobo Writing Life
 Sign me up!
 Payment information
 Edit your information
 Supported languages
Kobo Writing Life
Kobo is proud to introduce Kobo Writing Life – the selfpublishing portal that allows authors and publishers to easily
create, edit, and upload content to the Kobo Store. When you
choose to distribute your content through Kobo Writing Life,
you’re choosing to reach readers in more than 200 countries –
readers who value our belief in delivering any book, anywhere,
anytime, on any device. You’re choosing to take advantage of
Kobo’s strong retail partners in territories throughout North
America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. You’re
choosing an eBook retailer who is dedicated in providing you
with the resources you’ll need to accomplish the most from
your self-publishing experience.
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If you own the digital rights to your content – be it one title or
a hundred titles – we encourage you to consider distributing
your content through Kobo. This guide will provide you with
all the information you need to successfully upload your titles
to Kobo Writing Life and start selling your eBooks around the
world!
Sign me up!
If you’re ready to get started with Kobo Writing Life, the
Writing Life link under Opportunities, at the bottom of the
www.kobo.com page is where you’ll be able to create a new
account, sign in to an existing account, and learn more about
Kobo Writing Life.
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To sign up:
1. Go to www.kobo.com
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Click Writing Life, under Opportunities.
4. Click Create an Account, at the left-hand side.
5. If you have a Kobo Account:
a. Enter your email address.
b. Enter your password.
c. Click Continue.
-OrIf you don’t have a Kobo Account:
a. Click New? Sign up here
b. Enter your email address.
c. Enter your password.
d. Confirm your password.
e. Choose your email language preference.
f. Review the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Note: If you don’t accept Kobo’s terms, you can’t
create an account.
g. Click Continue.
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6. Enter your Contact information:
a. Enter your First Name.
b. Enter your Last Name.
c. Enter your Publisher name.
Note: This field is optional. If you are doing
business under a different name, such as “John’s
Publishing,” enter it here.
d. Enter your Email address.
e. Select if you would like to receive email updates.
f. Enter your Telephone number.
Note: This field is optional.
g. Enter an existing Kobo publishing account ID.
Note: This field is optional. If you need to link an
existing Kobo publisher account with your new
Writing Life account, enter the old ID here.
h. Enter your mailing address.
7. Review the Email Settings – you get to choose how much
or how little you hear from us.
a. Kobo news and updates – general Kobo news, sales
and promotions that are happening in our store.
b. Kobo Writing Life news and updates – KWL specific
news and includes our monthly newsletter.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 8
c. When your eBooks are published – you’ll receive an
email when the publishing is completed for your
books.
d. When your updates to your eBooks are live (beta) –
you’ll receive an email for any updates made to your
books. This is currently in beta as we’re working on
improving these email notifications.
8. Select How You Discovered Us – let us know how you
found out about Kobo Writing Life.
9. Click Save and continue.
10. Review the Terms of Service.
Note: You must be over 18 years of age and you must own
the digital copyright to the work, or be authorized by the
person who does to agree on their behalf. See the
Copyright Guidelines section for more information about
our Terms of Service.
11. If you agree to the Terms of Service, click the box below the
terms.
12. Click Save and next.
13. Verify your email address using your email.
Note: If you don’t receive an email from us, you will be
given the option to re-send it.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 9
After your account is verified, you’ll be ready to get started!
Before publishing your first book, don’t forget to input your
payment information.
Payment information
After your account has been verified – and before you can
create and publish your eBooks – you must input your
payment information.
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To input your payment information:
1. Log in to Kobo Writing Life.
2. Click My Account, at the top right corner.
3. Click Payment Information.
4. Enter your Account number.
5. Enter your Tax registration number, if applicable.
6. Select your Currency.
Note: This is the currency you want to be paid in.
7. Select your Country.
8. Select your City.
9. Enter your SWIFT/Routing number/IBAN. The details
needed for this section can differ depending on the
currency that you’re using:
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 11
AUD
- Valid six digit Bank State Branch (BSB) Code
- Beneficiary Bank Country: Australia
CAD
- Five – twelve digit account number and valid nine digit transit code
- Beneficiary country: Canada
EUR
- Valid BIC/SWIFT & Valid IBAN
- Beneficiary Bank Country: Euro Monetary Union Countries (except Malta) including French
Territories
GBP
- Valid six digit BACS sort code & eight digit bank account (or IBAN)
- Beneficiary Bank Country: United Kingdom
HKD
- Valid six digit Hong Kong Clearing Code
- Beneficiary Bank Country: Hong Kong
NZD
- Valid six digit bank branch code & nine digit beneficiary account number
- Beneficiary Bank Country: New Zealand
USD
- Valid ACH ABA
- Beneficiary Bank Country: USA or Canada (valid transit required if beneficiary bank is
within Canada)
JPY
- Eight – eleven digit swift code
- Beneficiary Bank Country : Japan
10. Select your bank branch.
11. Click Save changes.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 12
Edit your information
You can edit your contact and payment information at any time
by selecting “My Account” at the top right-hand corner of the
screen.
Supported languages
The Kobo Writing Life interface is currently available in:
 English
 German
 French
 Italian
 Spanish
 Dutch
However, you can still upload content in virtually any
language.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 13
Content Matters
What’s in this section
 About content
 Kobo Writing Life legal requirements
 Kobo Writing Life best practices guidelines
About content
Kobo Writing Life allows users to quickly and easily upload
their content to the Kobo Store. There are two important
things to consider when working with digital content: legal
guidelines for distributing content through Kobo and the best
practices for creating and distributing eBooks.
Kobo Writing Life legal requirements
Terms of service
The first step to becoming a Kobo Vendor is reviewing and
agreeing to our Terms of Service. Our Terms of Service contain
information about the following:
 Royalty rates
 Pricing rules
 Taxes
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 14
 Payment and sales reporting time frame
After accepting these terms, you can always review them again
later by logging in to your dashboard. If you don’t agree to our
Terms of Service, you will be unable to move forward with
creating a Kobo Writing Life account.
To review the terms of service:
1. Log in to Kobo Writing Life.
2. Click My Account, at the top right corner.
3. Click Terms of Service.
Kobo Writing Life’s Terms of Service may change from time to
time. If our terms are amended in any way, you will be
informed and asked to review and agree to the updated terms.
When changes come into effect they immediately become
legally binding. If you don’t agree to the updated terms, you
can’t continue to distribute content through Kobo, which may
lead to the termination of your Kobo Writing Life account.
Content restrictions
All Kobo vendors must adhere to our content guidelines when
distributing eBooks using Kobo Writing Life. Kobo reserves
the right to remove eBooks that contain the following:
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 15
 Pornographic, pedophilic, or obscene content. This
includes: incest, bestiality, exploitation, sexual
violence, or force.
 Child pornography
 Hateful content: users may not publish material that
promotes hate toward groups based on race or ethnic
origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status,
or sexual orientation/gender identity.
 Violent content: Users may not publish direct threats
of violence against any person or group of people.
Users may not publish instructional material
regarding the creation of weapons.
During the creation process, we’ll ask you to confirm whether
or not your content is of the public domain.
Putting your work in the public domain means that you’re
relinquishing all copyrights to it, and it can be used by anyone,
for any purpose, in any form, without the need to seek
permission or offer recompense.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 16
Copyright Guidelines
We require that users own the digital publishing rights to all
content uploaded for sale to the Kobo Store. If you are using
Kobo Writing Life as a self-published author, you most likely
own the rights to your content. If you are also a published
author, and you are unsure as to which rights you own, please
consult your publisher or attorney. If you are using Kobo
Writing Life as a publisher or aggregator, you must have legal
consent from the content owners before you can distribute
their titles. If you notice that another user is selling a book that
you own the rights to, please contact us and we will investigate
the issue immediately.
Geographic Rights
Users also have the opportunity to select geographic rights for
each book they upload using Kobo Writing Life. If you are
certain that you own all the rights necessary to sell your title
worldwide, select yes for Worldwide rights during step three
of your eBook creation. When you select worldwide rights,
your titles will be made available for sale in all of our
established territories.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 17
If you would like to view a list of our territories, select no for
Worldwide rights and a list of available countries will appear.
If you would like to limit the territories in which your content
can be sold, you can select specific countries from this list.
Please ensure that you leave check marks only beside the
territories where you are certain you hold digital rights for
your content. For more information about how we monitor
geographic rights, please view the Security Matters section.
Kobo Writing Life best practices guidelines
Digital Rights management
Kobo Writing Life users have the opportunity to turn Digital
Rights Management (DRM) on or off for each eBook they
create.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 18
Enabling DRM will prevent readers from copying, printing or
sharing your books. For more detailed information about how
we use DRM to secure your content, please visit our Security
Matters section.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 19
New eBook Setup Guidelines
What’s in this section
 Details needed for your new eBook
 Book covers
 Subject categories
 Uploading
 Publishing
 Editing your content
 Help & Learning Centre
Details needed for your new eBook
When creating a new eBook using Kobo Writing Life, you’ll be
asked to input information that will help us to display and
categorize your book. This information is called metadata.
To create a new eBook:
1. Log in to Kobo Writing Life.
2. Click eBooks.
3. Click Create new eBook.
After you’ve created your eBook, start inputting your
information:
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Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 21
 eBook title: The name of the book you are uploading.
Please enter your title exactly as you would like it to appear
in our store.
 eBook sub-title: The sub-title for the book you are
uploading. Please enter your sub-title exactly as you would
like it to appear in our store.
 Series name: If your book is part of series, please enter the
name of the series.
 Volume number: Enter the book number from your series
here. This will only populate when a series name has been
entered.
 Author(s): The name of the person(s) who wrote the book.
Please enter the author’s name exactly as you would like it
to appear in our store. If you write under a pseudonym,
please use that name here. You can add multiple authors by
selecting Add another author.
 Publisher name: The name of the book’s publisher. If you
are a self-published author, you can enter your name. If you
are an individual doing business as a publisher, you can
enter your publisher’s name here.
 Imprint: The trade name under which your book is
published. Publishers may have different imprints to reflect
their content types.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 22
 Is this the first time you’re publishing your book? If your
book has already been published before you can enter the
original publication date here. If you select yes, this field
defaults to today’s date.
 eISBN: Kobo’s term for the 13-digit ISBN (International
Standard Book Number) assigned specifically to the eBook
being submitted. Please note that this must be a unique
ISBN – you can’t use the same ISBN that you have for the
print version of your book.
 Primary Print ISBN: The ISBN associated with the print
version of your book. If you don’t have a print version, leave
this field blank.
 eBook language: This is the language in which your book
is written.
 Synopsis: A brief description of your book as it should
appear on your book’s item page in the Kobo Store. For
helpful information about best practices for creating
synopses, please visit the Sales Matter section of this guide.
Book covers
Your book cover is the first thing your reader will see when
they find your book in the Kobo Store. The cover image
represents your work, and should catch the reader’s eye. Other
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 23
important things to include on your cover are your author
name and book title.
To upload a book cover:
1. Log in to Kobo Writing Life.
2. Click eBOOKS.
3. Select your eBook, or create a new eBook.
You should be on the Describe your eBook page.
4. Click Upload your book cover.
5. Select a .jpg or .png file.
Note: For best results, we recommend your image should
be 300 DPI and no larger than 5 MB. If you are creating
your own images, keep in mind that the standard Kobo
eReader has a 1448 by 1072 resolution with 300 pixels
per inch screen. This is a good resolution to shoot for
when designing your art.
6. Click Choose.
Subject categories
In addition to the data about your book, you’ll also be asked to
provide subject categories. These categories will determine
how your book is labelled and categorized in the Kobo Store.
We recommend selecting all three categories for each book to
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 24
ensure that customers who are browsing through our store a
better chance of finding your titles.
To choose your categories:
1. Log in to Kobo Writing Life.
2. Click eBOOKS.
3. Select your eBook, or create a new eBook.
You should be on the Describe your eBook page.
4. Click Edit categories, at the right of eISBN.
5. Select up to three categories.
6. Click Confirm.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 25
Uploading
You can upload your content file in any of the following
formats:
 DOC and DOCX
 OPF
 ePub
 MOBI
If your file is not already in the ePub file format, we’ll
automatically convert it for you. OPF files provide the cleanest
translation to ePub.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 26
Here are some tips for how to best format your .DOC or .DOCX
document and to improve the appearance of your converted
ePub file using Microsoft Word:
 Line spacing
o You should only use soft returns (SHIFT+ENTER)
between lines and paragraphs, instead of hard returns
(ENTER). Using hard returns or adding extra lines will
cause very large spaces between paragraphs. To
further increase the space between paragraphs, you
can use the Word paragraph tool.
 Page breaks
o To start a new page, use the “Page Break” option. Do
not insert a section break, as these are ignored in the
manuscript conversion process. Also, do not use
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 27
either hard or soft returns to start a new page, as these
will add spaces between lines but will not guarantee
that the text will actually appear on the next page once
converted.
 Paragraph indentation
o To indent paragraphs, set up a first line indent using
the Paragraph dialog box. Using the TAB key will
cause issues during conversion.
 Large indentation
o To indent a large portion of text, for example when
creating block quotes, use Word’s margin controls.
 Columns
o Do not use columns in your document. These are not
supported.
 Tables
o Ensure that your tables can be viewed when your
Word document is in Portrait mode, rather than in
Landscape. This will guarantee that the tables fit on
the page after conversion.
 Lists
o To create a bulleted list, use the built-in bulleted list
tool. Do not insert symbols to create bullets – most
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 28
symbols will translate into a question mark ("?"). To
create a numbered list or multilevel outline, use the
built-in numbered list tool.
 Footnotes & Endnotes
o Endnotes are supported, but footnotes are not.
 Headers & Footers
o Headers and footers are not supported.
 Fonts
o Please use one of the following fonts: Times New
Roman, Arial, or Courier New. Bolding, italic,
underlining, and strike-through are all supported.
 Cases
o To type in upper case, use Caps Lock. Do not use the
Word format for “All Caps”. For small caps, type in all
capital letters and change the font size for the text
area that you want to appear in small caps. Do not use
the Word format for “Small Caps”.
 Superscripts and subscripts
o It is not recommended to use superscripts and
subscripts, as these will cause extra leading (space
between the lines of text).
 Symbols
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 29
o Avoid using most symbols. Also, ensure that any
fractions are kept in #/# format (ex: 1/4). Word will
automatically format fractions to appear as symbols,
which will not translation correctly at conversion to
ePub.
 Images
o We recommend that images are no larger than 3MB. It
is also important to keep in mind that the maximum
file size for the entire book (images included) is
100MB.
o Both .jpg and .png files are accepted.
o For best results, your image should be 300 DPI (dotsper-inch).
o Images can be formatted as flush left, flush right, or
centered.
o Text wraps should be above and below the images, not
around the image.
 Once converted to an ePub, your book will be reflowable.
This means that the content on a page will vary, based on
the device it is viewed on and on reader preferences. For
example, when viewed on a tablet, there will be more words
displayed on each page than if viewed on a mobile phone.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 30
As a result, we ask that you do not insert page numbers into
your document. These will be ignored during the
conversion process, and could potentially cause conversion
errors.
After your file has been uploaded and converted, you can use
the Download and preview this eBook link to download the
converted ePub file and review your book before publishing it
to the Kobo Store.
If you upload a file that is already in ePub format, we will not
run it through the conversion process – it will be uploaded as
is.
If you notice any mistakes in the formatting of your file, you
can delete the file and resubmit an updated version.
Publishing
After you have described your eBook, added your content,
determined your license and availability, and set its list price,
a fifth step, Publish your eBook, becomes available.
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You can publish your book to Kobo immediately or schedule a
future release date.
If you would like to schedule a future release date, you can
choose a List date when creating your eBook. If you select a
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 32
future publication date, you can also select whether you would
like your eBook to be available for preorder.
To publish your eBook:
1. Sign in to your Kobo Writing Life Account.
2. Click eBooks.
3. Locate your book under in progress.
4. Click publish me!
You will be sent to the Publish your eBook page.
Note: If you do not see publish me! you may need to
provide more information before you can publish your
eBook.
5. Click the
Calendar icon.
6. Choose a List date.
Note: The default date is the current calendar date.
7. Click Publish eBook.
Your eBook will be made available for purchase on
www.kobo.com within 24 to 72 hours; however it may take
longer before it is made available in our retail partner stores.
Editing your content
After your eBook has been successfully published to the Kobo
Store, you can edit its information at any time.
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To edit your published eBook’s information:
1. Sign in to your Kobo Writing Life Account.
2. Click eBooks.
3. Click your eBook, under published.
4. Choose what you’d like to edit:
 Describe your book: Selecting this link will allow you to
edit your eBook’s metadata. You can change your book’s
title, sub-title, imprint, author, publisher, language, cover
page, synopsis, and subject category. Note: The ISBN for a
book loaded onto our website cannot be changed since it
acts as the primary identifier for an eBook on our system.
 Change your book content: Selecting this link will allow
you to edit the content inside your eBook.
 Determine License and availability: Selecting this link
will allow you to edit the digital rights management and
geographic rights that have been applied to your eBook.
 Set price: Selecting this link will allow you to edit the list
prices for you eBook in all available currencies.
We can apply your changes within 24 hours. For our partner
retailer stores, it takes longer before your changes come into
effect.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 34
Help & Learning Centre
You can ask questions, read Frequently Asked Questions, and
view video tutorials by visiting the Kobo Writing Life Help &
Learning Centre.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 35
Money Matters
What’s in this section
 Pricing guidelines
 Using the pricing tool
 Setting the price on a new book
 Viewing a published book’s prices
 Scheduling a sale or future price change
 Viewing a sale
 Taxes
 Getting paid
 Price matching
 Editing your prices
After you have finished describing your book, adding your
content, and determining your license and availability, it’s time
to set the pricing for your book.
Pricing guidelines
Kobo vendors receive a 70% or 45% royalty rate on each
eBook sold through the Kobo Store, depending on the price of
their eBook. eBooks that are priced according to the following
pricing rules are eligible to receive a 70% royalty rate:
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 36
Currency
Pricing Rule
CAD – Canadian Dollar
greater than or equal to $2.99
AUD – Australian Dollar
greater than or equal to $2.99
EUR – Euro
greater than or equal to €1.99
NZD – New Zealand Dollar
greater than or equal to $2.99
HKD – Hong Kong Dollar
greater than or equal to $15.99
JPY – Japanese Yen
greater than or equal to ¥299
CHF – Swiss Franc
greater than or equal to 2.99
TRY – Turkish Lira
greater than or equal to ₺5.99
BRL – Brazilian Real
greater than or equal to R$7.99
MXN – Mexican Peso
greater than or equal to $39.99
TWD – Taiwan Dollar
greater than or equal to $70
ZAR – South African Rand
greater than or equal to R29.99
PHP – Philippine Peso
greater than or equal to ₱99.99
INR – Indian Rupee
greater than or equal to ₹149.99
Your eBook must also be priced at least twenty percent (20%)
lower than the price of the print edition of the book, if one is
available. You can find more information about these pricing
guidelines in our Terms of Service.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 37
Please note that Public Domain Works are only eligible to
receive a royalty rate of 20%.
Using the pricing tool
The Kobo Writing Life pricing tool allows you to set the prices
for your eBook in USD, CAD, AUD, EUR, NZD, CHF, TRY, BRL,
MXN, GBP, JPY, HKD, TWD, ZAR, PHP, and INR.
You will first set the price of your book starting with your
default currency. If you set a list price of $2.99 USD or more
you will earn maximum royalties of 70%.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 38
Setting the price on a new book
You will first set the price of your book starting with your
default currency. If you set a list price of $2.99 USD or more
you will earn maximum royalties of 70%.
Once you enter the price in your default currency, we will
automatically convert to all of our other available currencies
using recent default exchange rates stored in our system.
However, you have the ability to over-write any of the
converted prices. And we do believe it’s in your best interest
to optimize your prices in as many global markets as possible
to maximize your revenue.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 39
When you click into a field in order to set a custom price, if
there is an advised protocol for pricing that we are aware of,
the pop-up screen will make an appropriate suggestion. In the
example below, since the default exchange rate was $6.19
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 40
AUD, the system is recommending rounding up to $6.99 AUD,
which is a more natural looking price for that particular
territory.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 41
If you have set custom prices, you can see which currencies
you have set custom prices for (Custom prices) and which
ones are automatically converted (Converted prices) based
on recent Bank of Canada exchange rates.
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 42
Viewing a published book’s prices
When viewing a published book prices, only the relevant
information is displayed: Your default currency list price is as
well as any of currencies you have explicitly set.
If you click on View/Edit Prices, it’ll bring you to the editing
screen so you can see both your Current Prices as well as the
Your Custom Prices.
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If you wish to change your prices immediately, rather than
schedule a price change for a future date, simply click on Edit
Prices and make your price changes as required, then click on
Save.
Scheduling a sale or future price change
You can set up either a permanent price change or a temporary
sale price for a future date using the SCHEDULED PRICE
CHANGES section.
To begin, select one of the following:
 To schedule a sale, where your regular price drops for a
limited time and then returns back to the normal/regular
price, click on Schedule a sale.
 To schedule a permanent price change, where you’ll be
changing your regular price from that date forward, click
on Schedule a price change.
Scheduling a sale
When scheduling a sale, you’ll be asked to provide both a start
date as well as an end date for your sale.
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The next step will be Adding in any currencies you’d like
included in the sale:
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You can choose one or more currencies to control or choose to
control all currencies for the sale.
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Viewing a sale
When a sale price is active in the system, the system will notify
you via a special notification at the top of your CURRENT
PRICES view
The Your Sale Prices section will explicitly call out which
currencies you have set special prices for. This section is NOT
shown if a book is currently not on sale.
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You will always be able to see dates on which you have set
price changes via the Scheduled Price Changes widget.
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Taxes
Kobo is responsible for all transactional taxes that occur for
each sale. We will apply all of the necessary taxes after a sale
has been conducted.
For this reason, the list price you enter for each currency
should include the associated taxes for each territory. We
apply the standard rates of Value Added Tax (VAT) to all unit
sales within the European Union. This varies from 3% - 21%,
depending on where sales are made.
For example, if your eBook has a GBP list price of £5.00, your
royalties will be approximately £3.50 before we have deducted
the necessary taxes. After the reader has purchased your
eBook for £5.00, we apply the standard 20% VAT for the UK:
List price – VAT x 0.70% royalty rate = estimated earnings per
unit sale
£5.00 – (20%) x (0.70% royalty rate) = £2.80 estimated
earnings per unit sale
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Getting paid
All payments are made via direct deposit to the account you
listed in your Payment Information. We can only remit
payment to one account, in the currency of your choice.
Payment will be issued on a monthly basis if your content has
generated over $50.00 CAD. If your content has not generated
over $50.00 CAD, we will deliver all of the earnings annually.
Price matching
As mentioned in our Terms of Service, in the event that a
retailer in any of the territories in which you have selected to
distribute your eBook is selling your eBook with an Actual
Selling Price (ASP) that is lower than the list price you have
submitted to Kobo, we may elect to adjust the price of your
eBook to match that ASP for that territory. The Actual Selling
Price of an eBook is the grand total a consumer is charged after
a sale has been transacted – it’s the price that a reader pays for
your eBook.
Editing your prices
Once your eBook has been successfully loaded to the Kobo
Store, you can edit its list price at any time. Whenever you
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make a change to the prices of your eBook, it takes
approximately 12 to 24 hours before the changes come into
effect on www.kobo.com. For our retail partner stores, it
generally requires an additional 24 to 48 hours before your
price changes come into effect.
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Security Matters
What’s in this section
 Digital Rights management
 Datacentre security
 Enabling geographic rights
Digital Rights management
The content you distribute using Kobo Writing Life is currently
made available to Kobo customers in four ways:
 Through our mobile client.
 Through our web client.
 Through Adobe Digital Editions (as both an ePub and
PDF).
 Through Kobo Desktop.
Each channel has unique security and technical capabilities,
explained below:
Mobile*
eBooks read on one of Kobo’s mobile service clients are stored
in the device. This allows users to have ongoing access to
content, even without a mobile network connection. Access to
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the content requires the user to have a Kobo app installed on
the device, as well as a valid login and password to unlock the
encrypted files. Files with DRM switched on are blocked from
cut/copy/paste functionality.
Web*
eBooks read on one of Kobo’s web service clients require an
online connection at all times and are not downloaded to the
customer’s computer. Instead, they are pulled from the
customer’s Kobo Cloud library. As with mobile access, a valid
login and password are required for unlocking and reading
content. Kobo eBooks are displayed online using our eReading
Service Client via the Adobe Flash viewer. If requested, this
service can also be used to prevent users from copying or
printing content. Furthermore, we have introduced a
throttling mechanism to
prevent bulk content
from
downloading – if a script attempts to access the site too
quickly, we will display a CAPTCHA requiring the user to prove
they are human before continuing.
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Adobe Digital Editions & Adobe Content Server
Kobo eBooks can also be downloaded as encrypted ePub and
PDF files using Adobe Digital Editions and Adobe Content
Server. This allows them to be read on any supported device.
Desktop
eBooks read on the Kobo Desktop application are stored on the
computer. This allows users to have ongoing access to content,
even without an Internet connection. Access to the content
requires the user to have Kobo Desktop installed on their
computer, as well as a valid login and password to unlock the
encrypted files. Files with DRM switched on are blocked from
cut/copy/paste functionality.
*Both mobile and web versions of Kobo’s eReading Service
Clients employ encryption and hash algorithms to protect the
content in transit and locally on mobile devices. A unique key
is assigned to each user and to each mobile device or web
session. That key is used to encrypt content before being sent
to the client, preventing users from taking content off the
device and loading it into other devices or systems. Kobo uses
the 128-bit version of the Advanced Encryption Standard
(AES) of the US Government.
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Datacentre security
The Kobo eReading Service was designed by team members of
Chapters.Indigo.ca, Canada’s premier online book retailer.
Building on that expertise, we have applied modern security
principles and selected a leading hosting provider for our Kobo
eReading Service Clients and database. The Kobo Inc.
datacenter employs a number of security mechanisms to
protect your content on our servers:
 Access is limited to authorized users and these users
are granted only the minimum access required to
perform their role.
 Network facilities are protected by:
 A firewall to prevent intrusion.
 Encrypted VPN access from Kobo’s office to our
datacentre.
 Physical access is protected by a two-factor
authentication process:
 Key card and biometric authentication.
 Closed circuit video surveillance of the entrance
and exit points.
 Hosts are secured by regular testing, monitoring, and
patching.
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Enabling geographic rights
As mentioned in the Copyright Guidelines section, eBooks
made available through Kobo require territorial rights.
Territorial rights allow or restrict content from being viewed
or purchased in specific countries. Your eBooks are only made
available for sale in rights-allowed countries – the countries
that you select while creating your eBook
A Kobo customer’s country of origin is determined by either
their billing address or their IP address. If a visitor has
provided Kobo with valid billing information and Kobo has
successfully verified the user’s billing address with our
payment processing provider, then the user’s country is
determined by their billing address. If a user is not logged into
their account, or if their billing address has not been entered
or can’t be verified, then the user’s IP address is mapped to its
country of origin. Kobo is able to perform IP to country
mapping with 99.8% accuracy. In the event that Kobo is unable
to determine a user’s country of origin, the user will only be
able to view content that is unrestricted in all territories. The
same process, with regards to determining a user’s country, is
used for those accessing Kobo content through mobile devices.
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Sales Matters
What’s in this section
 Dashboard
 Sales reports
Dashboard
The Kobo Writing Life Dashboard is a one-stop access point for
all things related to your Kobo books.
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At a glance, your dashboard will show you the number of
books you have published and sold for the month and all time;
your estimated earnings for the month and all time; your top
sellers for the month and all time; and your daily sales. You’ll
also be able to view purchase activity by day and by region.
Sales reports
In addition to the dashboard, Kobo Writing Life users will also
receive detailed sales reports from our finance team once a
month. These reports show the tax and royalty rates for each
individual book sale.
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Improving the Marketability of
Your eBooks
What’s in this section
 About improving the marketability of your eBooks
 Expand your reach
 Provide pricing for all available currencies
 Promote your Kobo eBooks
 Link your eBooks
 Get familiar with our retail stores
 Design an eye catching cover page
 Write a gripping synopsis
 Use our Author Services
About improving the marketability of your
eBooks
You’ve signed up as a Kobo publisher, and we’re happy to have
you (and your eBooks)! There are a few simple things you can
do to ensure that you get the most out of your relationship with
Kobo.
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Expand your reach
Kobo sells eBooks in well over 200 countries every month and
our global expansion continues. Let’s use that to our collective
advantage!
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If you select yes for Worldwide rights when creating your
eBooks, you’ll be able to sell your content to readers in Koboaffiliated countries around the world.
Provide pricing for all available currencies
Kobo Writing Life automatically converts the list prices you
provide to currencies for all of our available territories based
on the most current exchange rates. However, we do suggest
that you consider overriding the automatically converted
prices and input prices that align with the typical eBook
pricing models for these markets. This will ensure that you’re
not overcharging or undercharging in certain territories.
Promote your Kobo eBooks
After your eBooks have been published to the Kobo Store and
retail partner stores, the best way to increase your unit sales
is through promoting your titles. As a publisher or selfpublished author, it’s to your benefit to spread the word about
your Kobo books. You can link to your Kobo eBook from your
website or blog; tell your family and friends about your latest
title; post a Facebook or Twitter update – anything that will get
people talking and drive consumers to your Kobo eBooks.
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Link your eBooks
A big part of promoting your books is making sure your
readers can easily find them. If you give readers a direct link to
your eBook item pages in the Kobo Store, they can easily access
your books from your website or blog.
There are a number of ways that links can be created. To get
users to a particular eBook in the Store, you can drop your
eBook’s ISBN into the following formula:
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/Search?Query=[eISBN-13]
For example, if your eBook’s ISBN is 9780981335223, your
link would be:
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/Search?Query= 9780981335223
This will bring up your title and other related titles. You’ll need
to click on your book to get to the product page. Each book has
its own unique link that includes the book title. For example,
“Sick Room” by Shayna Krishnasamy is listed like this:
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/the-sickroom
If you want to list all of your books, the easiest thing to do is
search your author name and use that link:
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http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/Search?Query=Shayna+Krishnasamy
If you want to use the Kobo logo to link to your Kobo eBook,
please ensure that you follow our Brand Guidelines.
Get familiar with our retail stores
Kobo’s list of retail partners is constantly growing. We are
currently working with leading book retailers to bring your
books to many more parts of the world. If you provide us with
the rights to distribute your content worldwide, your eBooks
can be made available through hundreds of stores across the
globe.
Additionally, www.kobo.com is a major point of access for
readers all over the world so enabling world rights allows
customers in over 200 countries to purchase your titles.
Design an eye catching cover page
As with any new relationship, it’s always best to make a good
first impression. Your cover page is the first thing readers will
see, so we recommend that you put some time and thought
into creating a cover that will entice them. If graphic design
isn’t your forte, you may want to consider working with a
professional designer.
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Write a gripping synopsis
Like your cover page, your synopsis plays an important role in
ensuring that your eBook makes a good impression on readers.
Your synopsis will be displayed prominently everywhere your
eBook is sold, including our partner retailer stores. It should
be brief and alluring, while also giving readers a sense of your
writing style.
Use our Author Services
We’re proud to offer a list of recommended professional
services – cover design, editorial help, print on demand, and
more – that we trust and believe offer good value for
independent authors.
For the moment, we’re in Phase 1 of the project: measuring
your interest in each service, so we can prioritize which
opportunities are most important to our authors. Please feel
free to go and click on which service or opportunity you’d like
Kobo Writing Life Author Guide 64
to see us focus on first. Don’t see what you want? Choose “Tell
Us More” and tell us all about it.
As we grow this section of the KWL platform, we’ll update the
page with more details and links to professional service
providers.
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Other Matters
What’s in this section
 Terminating your account
 Agreeing to new terms
Terminating your account
In the event that you decide to terminate your relationship
with Kobo, there are a few important things to remember:
 You retain the rights to all of your work; Kobo does not own
any of it.
 Any customer of Kobo or our partners who has previously
purchased and/or downloaded any of your eBooks will
retain the right to access and use the content on their own
devices.
 Your Kobo Writing Life account will be deactivated within
24 hours. You will no longer be able to log in, create or
publish eBooks using this account.
 Your Kobo Reading Life account will not be impacted – you
can still read and purchase books through Kobo or any of
our partner sites.
If you would like to terminate your account, contact us at
[email protected].
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Agreeing to new terms
Kobo reserves the right to update our terms of service at any
time. If changes are made to our terms, we will notify you
immediately. However, if you don’t agree to the updated terms,
you can no longer use Kobo Writing Life to distribute your
eBooks .
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Contact Us
What’s in this section
 Contact us
Contact us
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about Kobo
Writing Life, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly at
[email protected].
You can follow our blog at www.kobowritinglife.com. This is
updated regularly with helpful tips and tricks on writing,
selling and promoting your works through Kobo Writing Life.
You’ll also find us on Facebook and Twitter.
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