1. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Weird thing with Kobo

    Discussion in 'Self-Publishing' started by Bakkerbaard, Oct 30, 2021.

    I came across something with Kobo. I've emailed them already, but I don't expect them to reply in the weekend, so I'll just see if any of you might have something to say about it.

    I put my ebook up for US$4,99. It's listed like that at Amazon and at IngramSpark, and the few others I could upload to personally, like Kobo.
    So next I used books2read for a list of vendors and checked the links, because I don't trust the internet. Turns out that my book is listed twice at Kobo. Once for the right price, and once for 5,44(-ish). Fine. Stuff like this was to be expected. Sent a mail and checked the next links.
    Angus & Robertson also has the wrong price listed. Plus, they also have an old blurb for it. Now I'm starting to get a little worried that they may also have an old epub, which could turn out pretty disastrous.
    There was another one, who's name I forgot, and they had the wrong price too, but with a Rakuten Kobo banner next to it, which I why I suspect Kobo has something to do with the issue.

    Further information:
    I registered at a bunch of vendors on my own, because I didn't care for IS profiting off my work on top of everyone else. Kobo was one of them.
    Later, I went to IS after all, considering their reach.

    Could this maybe have caused the double listing?
    And if IS is the problem here, can I make them not distribute to the vendors I'm handling myself? Somehow?
     
  2. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Kobo is a Canadian company, so my first thought was that they might have converted the U.S. $4.99 to Canadian dollars. However, my on-line currency converter says $4.99 U.S. is $6.17 Canadian, so I guess that's not it.

    Sorry, I don't know what else to suggest.
     
  3. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, I thought it was the currency thing too. I'm pretty sure that accounts for the pricing on Angus & Robertson, but my main conern is the faulty blurb.

    I guess I'll what Kobo comes up with when they're back in the office. Thanks though.
     
  4. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    Kobo are well known for their good customer service so i'd imagine they'll get back fairly quickly... one thging that occurs to me if its listed twice is are you sure you didnt tell IS (oranny other agregator) to list with kobo... when you upload to markets yourself you have to triple check that any agreagators arent going to duplicate
     
  5. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    I'm willing to put money on it that this is the problem. Not a lot, because the budget's wearing thin, but still.
    I never told IS anything, since the internet suggested that any vendor which had the book already (the ones I approached first) would use their own upload before whatever IS sent them.
    I'll go and dig into IS right away, see if I can unfuck this myself.
     
  6. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    In that case they've probably done all markets - as a priority make sure they arent also loading to amazon if you went direct their... because unlike kobo, AMS have a customer service experience for authors akin to trying to copulate with a rabid skunk, but less enjoyable, and will hold it against you if your ebook is uploaded from two sources
     
  7. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Looks like the Amazon angle is safe.
    No clue how to enable or disable certain markets on IS, though. I did find out that I somehow already sold 8 print units, which is slightly odd, considering that the book isn't going live for another few hours.
     
  8. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Do any of your distribution channels offer pre-release sales?
     
  9. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    If you mean pre-orders, then yes.
    If mean getting copies out to people for review and stuff, I'm not entirely sure. Seems unlikely that eight people want a preliminary look at some nobody's hobby-project.
     
  10. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    I was referring to pre-orders
     
  11. Bakkerbaard

    Bakkerbaard Contributor Contributor

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    Then yes.
    Ingram also replied with a rather snippy mail that I should check my settings and it was probably pre-orders. Screw it, I'm just gonna enjoy eight mysterious sales.
     
  12. Justin Fraser

    Justin Fraser New Member

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    I had this problem on Amazon when a book that I published on Smashwords ended up double listing. I ask Amazon to remove the old one. I haven't published directly on Kobo, but it sounds like the same thing happened.
     
    Bakkerbaard likes this.

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