Kobo Writing Life vs. BooksOasis: Global Ebook Retail or a Store That Pays in Full?

If you publish wide, Kobo is hard to leave out. Kobo Writing Life lets you put ebooks in front of Kobo customers across many countries, with no exclusivity and royalty rules that are spelled out plainly. BooksOasis is newer and much smaller, and it pays differently: Kobo's rate moves with your price, but BooksOasis bills a set annual plan and hands over the entire price of each ebook sold.

In practice they play separate parts. Kobo brings a big, international crowd of committed ebook readers, plenty of them on Kobo's own e-readers. BooksOasis brings a shop where the buyer's whole payment reaches you, with print copies offered on the same page. The Kobo details below were checked against Kobo's service agreement and help center.

Each store expects a well-formed EPUB. LiberScript's EPUB export meets the big retailers' validation, so the book reads the same on a Kobo device, in Oasis Reader and in other stores.

At a glance: Kobo Writing Life vs. BooksOasis

Kobo's royalty rules, explained

There are two main rates in Kobo's agreement. An ebook listed at $2.99 or higher earns 70% of list price, as long as it is at least 20% cheaper than every printed version of the same title. Anything under $2.99, or anything that fails the print test, earns 45%. Public-domain titles are paid at 20%.

No ceiling. Amazon's 70% stops above $12.99; Kobo's does not. A $14.99 ebook, or a pricier one, keeps the 70% rate so long as it passes the print test.

The print test catches people out. Say the ebook is $9.99 and the paperback $10.99. The ebook is not 20% cheaper, so Kobo pays 45%. Leaving a clear gap between ebook and print prices protects the higher rate.

Money arrives no later than 45 days after the close of the month in which the sale took place.

Kobo Plus

Kobo's subscription service is opt-in, and unlike Kindle Unlimited it does not ask you to pull the book from other shops. You can enroll a title in Kobo Plus and keep selling it elsewhere, which makes it an easy experiment for wide authors. BooksOasis has nothing comparable: readers pay for each title and it stays in their library.

BooksOasis's way of paying

This is a shop built for indie authors and small presses, and it earns from a yearly plan rather than from your sales. You keep the full ebook price, and there are no price bands or print-linked conditions to meet. A printed copy pays its cover price less the printing cost and a handling fee worth 30% of that printing cost; buyers cover postage at checkout.

Figures are per copy, before tax or currency changes. The BooksOasis plan is an annual cost on top.

Readers and reading

Kobo has a loyal following around the world, especially strong in Canada and a number of other countries, and many of its customers read on Kobo e-readers. Authors can put titles forward for Kobo's merchandising, and a single upload reaches many markets. Wide authors rarely skip it.

BooksOasis has a smaller audience of its own. Visitors look through genre shelves, series pages, new arrivals, a Coming Soon shelf and discounted books. It cannot rival Kobo's global footprint; what it adds is a shop where each ebook pays you in full and print sits beside it.

On the reading side, Kobo customers enjoy e-ink screens and Kobo's apps, which suit long sessions. BooksOasis buyers read in Oasis Reader, a browser-based app that can be installed to a home screen. It keeps downloaded books available offline, carries bookmarks, highlights and notes between devices, and lets readers choose a light, sepia, dark or automatic theme, a text size and either page turns or scrolling. Books bought on BooksOasis cannot be sent to an e-ink device, so readers attached to their Kobo will keep buying from Kobo.

Print, and how it helps your Kobo rate

Kobo Writing Life is about ebooks and audiobooks, so Kobo authors need a separate route for paperbacks. BooksOasis offers paperback and hardcover editions on the ebook's own listing and prints each one on demand. You can choose 5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7 x 10 or 8.5 x 11 inches; paperbacks take 32 to 800 pages and hardcovers 24 to 800.

Those print prices also set the bar for Kobo's test. With a BooksOasis paperback at, for example, $16.99, a $9.99 ebook on Kobo sits well over 20% below it and keeps the 70% rate.

Promotions and payouts

Kobo Writing Life has a promotions area where you can apply for a spot in Kobo's store campaigns. Spaces are limited and Kobo chooses. On BooksOasis you discount any edition whenever you decide, optionally with dates for the sale to begin and end. Shoppers see the old price struck out, and the book becomes eligible for the On Sale banners. The shop also supports dated pre-orders, ordered series pages and reviews from verified buyers.

For payment, Kobo reports in your Writing Life dashboard and pays within 45 days of each month's end. BooksOasis logs each sale in an earnings ledger on your dashboard and pays out to a bank account or PayPal. Domestic US bank transfers usually carry no fee, and payouts abroad go by wire after your balance clears a minimum. Our wider comparison of how author payouts work has more.

Pricing so both stores pay well

• Stay at $2.99 or above to qualify for Kobo's 70%. BooksOasis pays in full however low you go.
• Leave a 20% gap below every print edition, in every shop, so Kobo's higher rate holds.
• Match the ebook price across both stores and keep discounts to set dates.
• Try Kobo Plus for subscription readers without giving up your other shops.
• Check prices each year against sales by shop and country, and change anything that no longer suits your readers or your print pricing.

Series

Many wide authors depend on series readers. Kobo links the books of a series so the order is clear, and a promotion on the first book can lift sales of the rest. BooksOasis gives each series its own page, numbered in reading order. Readers who own some volumes can hide those to see the gaps, then buy several ebooks together in one basket, with upcoming books added as pre-orders.

A simple approach works in both: an inviting price on book one, full price after that, and a link to the next book at the back of each one. Kobo readers carry on at Kobo, while newsletter readers can collect the whole set on BooksOasis and pay you in full for each.

Two authors, two approaches

A fantasy author with readers in several countries goes direct to Kobo for every ebook, puts them in Kobo Plus and applies for promotions at each launch. The same titles are on BooksOasis in paperback and hardcover too, and the newsletter sends readers there when they want print or want the author to receive the full price.

A romance author whose sales come mainly from a large mailing list lists on BooksOasis first, where every ebook pays in full and pre-orders open as soon as a release date is set. Kobo follows for fans who read on a Kobo e-reader.

Audiobooks

Kobo sells audiobooks as well, and Writing Life authors can publish audio next to the ebook. BooksOasis handles ebooks and print only, so audio belongs with Kobo and other audio retailers in your plan.

Going direct, or via a distributor

Kobo can be reached through your own Kobo Writing Life account or through a distributor such as Draft2Digital, which keeps about 10% of the retail price. A direct account gives you Kobo's full rate and its promotions dashboard; a distributor means one fewer login. Because Kobo matters so much to wide readers, many authors choose the direct account. There is no distributor route into BooksOasis; listings are created by the author.

Putting it together

1. Build the book in LiberScript and export both the EPUB and the print PDF.
2. Upload the ebook to Kobo Writing Life at least 20% below print, and decide on Kobo Plus.
3. Create the BooksOasis listing with ebook, paperback and hardcover, using the same ebook price as on Kobo.
4. Direct your own audience to BooksOasis for full-price sales, and let Kobo serve its worldwide readers.

Which suits you?

Kobo is the better fit if you want international ebook readers (many on e-readers), a subscription option that leaves you free to sell elsewhere, no cost to start, and the chance to apply for promotions picked by Kobo's team.

BooksOasis is the better fit if you want every ebook sale paid in full at any price, print on the ebook's page, control of your own dated discounts, pre-orders and series pages, and freedom to price the ebook without reference to print.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Kobo Writing Life pay? 70% at $2.99 and above, with no upper limit, if the ebook is priced at least 20% under every print edition. Otherwise the rate is 45%.

Do I have to be exclusive to join Kobo Plus? No. Enrollment is your choice and the book can stay on sale in other shops.

How much is a BooksOasis plan? $29.99 a year for up to 10 books, $179 for 100 or $599 for 500, and you keep the whole price of every ebook.

Can a book be on Kobo and BooksOasis together? Yes, since neither store asks for exclusivity.

Can BooksOasis books be read on a Kobo e-reader? No. They open in the Oasis Reader app on phones, tablets and computers.

Does a LiberScript EPUB suit both? Yes. LiberScript's standard EPUB works for Kobo Writing Life and BooksOasis, and its print-ready PDF covers the BooksOasis paperback and hardcover.

More reading: Kobo Writing Life alternatives and Kobo Writing Life vs. KDP on the BooksOasis publisher site, and our Kobo Writing Life guide.

The bottom line

Kobo Writing Life is a pillar of a wide strategy: readers in many countries, 70% with no upper cap when the ebook is priced well under print, and a subscription that leaves you free to sell anywhere. BooksOasis lets you keep the full price of every ebook and sell printed copies alongside, for one annual plan. Lean on Kobo for its reach, on BooksOasis for the buyers you bring, and on a single LiberScript project for the files.