I am a firm believer in shop local/ shop small. I think that your local stores are important to the community and one needs to support them as often as possible.

That is hard if you read books on an eReader. It seemed that the biggies, Amazon and Barnes and Noble had the market pretty well sewn up. The allure of being able to get a book whenever you want and sometimes get books at a discount through various programs is very appealing. Even taking eBooks out of the library can lead to Amazon.

There is a third kid on the block. The kid might be small but it is offering a pretty good punch. The third is Kobo.  I knew that Kobo had been around for several years but I never paid much attention to them. Because, well, come on, I had a kindle app and a nook. But I had started with the Sony eReader and used that platform for many years. As a result, I had a pretty good library with Sony. I had figured out how to transfer the books that I bought on the Sony to the Nook but I had not done it with most of my books.

Last year, Sony dropped out of the eReader business. They announced this with plenty of time for readers to adjust.  Sony transferred its customers and their books to Kobo. So, I now have a Kobo account that has my former Sony books.

One of the things I had missed when we made our switch to the Nook years ago was that Sony would run specials on books that I felt were pretty good. Kobo runs specials fairly frequently also. I have to say, it is nice when you get a discount and it applies to eBooks. (Could you listen to that Barnes and Noble? How about you, Amazon?)

Still I will admit that I did not use Kobo as frequently.

BUT THAT WILL CHANGE

You can now sign up with Kobo and a share of the profit from the book will go to the Indie Bookstore of your choosing   (I am so cool – in case you aren’t as cool as me –indie means independent) (Really kidding because everyone is cooler than me)

YES, KOBO IS GIVING BACK TO THE INDIES!

I am quite excited about this.

Kobo has formed a partnership with the American Booksellers Association. What a great idea. We need to tell the world. I am quite thrilled.

Here is what you need to do to take part. Go to this site http://www.kobo.com/makeitbetter and it will guide you through the process.

Please try it out. Download the app and check out your choices.

I hope you will join me in showing some love to your local indie bookstore.

To be honest and fair, Amazon does have a program for Indies also. The Indies can sign up to sell Kindles and their auxiliary items and then the Kindles that they sell will give a percentage back on books purchased. If the independent book store is taking the chance that they will sell kindles then you should buy your kindle from them. I am not sure how many have taken advantage of this program.

I like the Kobo program better just because it works with the app and not just the eReader.

So go, investigate and see what you think. Please let me know if this works out for you.  I am clicking my ruby slippers hoping that it will.

Thanks for reading!