As Amazon goes, so goes Kobo? A report from CBC suggests that would seem to be the case. Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis says that Kobo is developing a publishing arm to offer complete publishing services (including editing and design) for authors who would like to publish through it.
It’s not clear from the article whether this service just covers e-books, or is like Amazon’s new publishing division in offering both electronic and print publication services. Either way, it’s one more way e-book-based firms are competing with traditional publishers, though traditional publishers don’t necessarily seem to be worried just yet.
"It will be good for writers to have more choices," said Louise Dennys of Random House. "I’m just confident we’ll continue to do what we do best; the more the merrier."
Will the publishing operation be successful given Kobo’s third-place position in the US e-book market? Will it help it solidify its hold on the international market that the other sellers haven’t been concentrating on as much? We’ll have to see how it goes.
Meanwhile, the Bookseller reports that UK bookstore chain W H Smith’s CEO Nigel Newton is enthusiastic about the deal the store recently announced to sell Kobo e-readers, saying:
“It is a terrific move for Smith’s and Kobo and I think it will grow the market because their demographic won’t necessarily be the same as for Kindle devices."
The timing is pretty good—it’s just in time for the start of the Christmas shopping season. Hopefully it works out better for W H Smith than it did for the American bookstore that banked on the Kobo e-reader.
Most likely Kobo *will* offer pbook editions of the books they publish. Probably through POD or small batch runs. Depending on genre and topic there will still be some demand for pbook editions for libraries, smell fetishists, and as objects d’art. 😉