Kobo_Logo.pngHere’s a posting by Michael Tamblyn taken from the Kobo blog:

It’s been a busy month at Kobo HQ. In addition to readying our iPad application and announcing a new device, we have had to renegotiate contracts with five of our biggest publishers to adhere to the new agency model. I’m very happy to say that we have the “Agency 5” deals done with Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster. It means that you should see all the great books you’re used to finding at Kobo. Some of our competition, on the other hand, could look a little bare*.

This new model is going to take some time to settle in. Prices will change, systems will get upgraded, and we will continue to make sure that every book you want is available on Kobo. There will certainly be a few bumps as we get all of this new data processed for the first time.

I’d write more, but I have feed Red Bull to our content processing team to get everything up in time for tomorrow. In the meantime, if you find yourselves in line for an iPad tomorrow in San Francisco (flagship store) or Buffalo (closest store to us in Toronto), keep an eye out for Kobo staff who may just have a treat for you (assuming Apple does the right thing and lets the Kobo iPad awesomeness be revealed.)

* Not necessarily because of any fault or nefariousness — these deals have been incredibly difficult to assemble in time. And the systems side has been a killer. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that a certain Seattle-based retailer had just two deals done. And you can only imagine how many lawyers they have to put on this.

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