Kobo Plus Opens in Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia

Kobo Plus, Rakuten Kobo's subscription service for e-books and audiobooks, launched in Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia on October 28. Kobo Writing Life, the company's self-publishing platform, announced the expansion the same day and said the service is now available to subscribers in 37 regions.

"Starting today, Kobo Plus is available in three new regions," the Kobo Writing Life team wrote, describing Kobo Plus as its "all-you-can-read-and-listen subscription service."

What authors need to do

For many independent authors, nothing. Kobo says that if you've already opted your books into Kobo Plus for "all current and future locations," your titles "will automatically appear in these new stores today."

If you opted in only some books, or picked specific countries, the new markets won't be included until you change that. Kobo points authors to a one-click bulk opt-in on the Kobo Writing Life dashboard for the full catalog. Sales trends and minutes read in the new territories show up in the same dashboard, so you can see whether the new markets are doing anything for you.

No exclusivity

Kobo stressed one point again: "there is no exclusivity required." Authors keep their books on other retailers and in other subscription services while they're in Kobo Plus. That's the main difference from Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, which requires e-books enrolled through KDP Select to be exclusive to Amazon.

Kobo framed the launch as reaching readers "who might not have found you otherwise." For a wide author, an extra market costs nothing to join if the opt-in is already set to all locations.

The bigger picture

With this launch the service reaches 37 regions, and in some of them it includes audiobooks as well as e-books. PT covered an earlier step in that rollout when Kobo Plus added audiobooks in France.

Why it matters for writers

If you publish wide, this is a quick check rather than a decision. Open your Kobo Writing Life dashboard, confirm your Kobo Plus setting covers all current and future locations, and use the bulk opt-in if some titles were left out. Then watch the new regions in your reports over the next few months. Authors who sell in Kindle Unlimited can't add the same e-books to Kobo Plus while they're enrolled in KDP Select, so this news only reaches books that are already wide or are about to come out of Select.

Sources

• Kobo Writing Life, October 28, 2026: Exciting News for Authors! Kobo Plus Just Launched in 3 New Countries

Photo: A Kobo Clara Colour e-reader. Photo by Kyu3a, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.