January 7 Key Date for IndieCommerce Stores Still Selling Google eBooks

IndieCommerce stores that have not signed up to participate in the Kobo eBook program [1] must do so by January 7 in order to ensure that there is no interruption in their ability to sell digital content. Also on the 7th, stores already signed up for the Kobo program that have not indicated a time for the switch from Google eBooks to Kobo eBooks will be switched automatically.

In early April, Google announced that the Google eBooks reseller program would be ending [2] worldwide on January 31, 2013, at which point the Google eBooks catalog, and the ability to sell Google eBooks, would be removed from reseller sites.

There is no additional charge for IndieCommerce stores to participate in the Kobo program, and stores can choose to sell both eReaders and eBooks, or just eBooks without the eReaders.

Once the Google reseller program ends or a store elects to enable the Kobo module, Google eBook search and product pages will be disappear from the store’s IndieCommerce website and customers will no longer be able to purchase Google eBooks from the site.

It should be noted however that:

• Customers can still read previous Google eBook purchases through the “My Google eBooks” link on their account profile. Stores can also create other links to this elsewhere on their sites.
• Customers’ Google eBooks purchases from an IndieCommerce website will continue to be accessible to them through Google Play.
• Customers’ previous Google eBooks purchases will continue to be readable via IndieBound Reader, Google Play Books, or Adobe Digital Editions.

Complete details about the Kobo/ABA partnership, including sign-up forms and marketing and staff training materials, are available on the Kobo program page on Bookweb.org. [1] Questions about anything relating to Kobo can be addressed to kobo@bookweb.org [3].

IndieCommerce stores that do not wish to sign-up to sell Kobo eBooks will be able to continue to sell Google eBooks until the termination of the reseller program on January 31.