Friday, February 11, 2011

Kobo opens door to UK retailers

The Bookseller - 10.02.11 - Charlotte Williams

Canadian e-book retailer Kobo has said that it would be keen to partner a UK retailer in an effort to establish a presence in the market.

Michael Tamblyn, vice-president of content, sales and merchandising at Kobo [pictured], also called for the simplification of rights deals in order to ease global e-book sales.
Speaking to The Bookseller at the Publishers Association's second annual digital seminar "Here and Now" yesterday [9th February], Tamblyn said: "The territories in which we have had the biggest success are where we have established a strong partnership with a local retailer, and we certainly look forward to opportunities here in the UK as well". Kobo has partnerships with Borders US and Indigo in Canada. He would not comment on whether any deals with UK retailers were under discussion.

During his speech at the seminar, Tamblyn stressed: "The thing we struggle with more than anything else is availability of rights. . . From a global retailing perspective, our ability to sell in a large number of places, making a small number of deals, is very advantageous. It is the single biggest thing we are looking at now—how can we assemble rights, and how quickly."

Tamblyn's comments echoed those of Pearson digital product and consumer technology director Juan Lopez-Valcarcel, who spoke on the first panel of the day tackling "E-book Sales: the Latest from the US Market". Considering the future of the digital marketplace, he anticipated: "Emphasis will move to rights transactions and what they will mean."

Read the full article.

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