Kobogeddon: Phase Two — Protest Pricing

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Kobogeddon: Phase Two -- Protest Pricing

Update: if you’re unsure what price to use, Rayne’s brilliant brain just suggested $666!

 

It seems that Kobogeddon is still going strong. Lots of indie authors are pulling their tradpubbed books off Kobo or deleting their accounts. Others who have had their books restored because Kobo “reviewed” them and found that they weren’t smutfests that lacked the imprimatur of one of the Holy Publishing Houses are taking their books down and going over to Smashwords or another indie-friendly service. The indies and their readers are getting pissed and Kobo (and hopefully W.H. Smith) are starting to feel their ire.

 

Now, while it would be great for all indies to refuse to sell through Kobo, that might not be enough to get the message across to them that indies are the future of the publishing world. After all, the traditional publishers have a lot of cash and influence. Indies are still getting established and breaking through to let readers know that the lack of an East Coast Elites Seal of Approval doesn’t mean squat (and that such a Seal of Approval might actually mean the book sucks). So, the ever-clever and brilliantly sneaky Rayne Hall has an idea that will hit Kobo where it hurts the most — it will keep them from attracting new customers and it might scare existing ones off. Her idea? Protest Pricing.

 

The concept is simple and brilliant. If you are indie or support indie and you have books up on Kobo, set the price to something absurdly high. Rayne’s setting hers to $999/£999 and suggests that others do the same. However, there is the concern that if everyone uses the same price, it will be simple for Kobo to just delist or delete those books. So, I’m suggesting that people vary the prices a bit, keeping them between say $/£/€59 and $/£/€999. Edit: Actually $666 would be the most epically awesome price ever. While this won’t net you any sales on Kobo (I mean, come on. You might be good but the only books that can command hundreds of dollars/pounds in pricing are either rare print editions, antiques, or college textbooks), what it will do is kill Kobo’s price competitiveness against other, more indie-friendly stores.

 

So, if you’ve deleted your Kobo account, create a new one if you can and put your stuff back up with an insane price. If you sell through Kobo using Smashwords, disable that distribution channel and create a Kobo account, adding your stuff back to Kobo that way and setting up the insane prices. Once you’ve done this, let us know by dropping a comment here or hitting Rayne and I up on Twitter (@RayneHall, @GKMasterson). I’ll keep a list of authors who join in this action and do my best to buy some books off you guys (not for the crazy price, though. Not unless I win all the lotteries) and give you a review.

 

#Kobogeddon continues on!

 

— G.K.

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105 thoughts on “Kobogeddon: Phase Two — Protest Pricing”

  1. I don’t sell my work I give it away, so Kobo probably already hate me. This move is the thin end of the wedge. If you think it is just about Kobo and W.H.Smith, you are wrong. This is about the freedom to read what YOU want.

    If Kobo gets away with this kind of censorship others will follow. The mainstream publishers want to regain their control over what we read. How are they going top continue to make a fortune from crap like Fifty Shades of Grey when there are much better books covering the same ground at a fraction of the price? They will offer the retailers cut price deals if they remove independent competition.
    The only language a business like Kobo understand is the bottom line. If this action results in a fall in profits they will take notice. While Rayne Hall argument is valid and has much amusement value, unless it hits them in the pocket they will ignore it. I suggest that we combine actions like hers with a campaign of buy from Kobo only as a last resort

  2. I’m on the periphery of this issue but it has my full support. What was done was wrong and there should be some repercussions. Give em Hell, Harry. 😉

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