Google Play Books Partner Center vs Kobo Writing Life

Last updated: July 09, 2023
Google Play Books Partner Center and Kobo Writing Life are two distinct platforms that cater to different aspects of the publishing world, with notable differences in their distribution networks, platform ecosystems, and target audience.

Google Play Books Partner Center is a platform that enables authors, publishers, and content creators to publish and distribute their books and other written works through the Google Play Books store. It provides a platform for authors to manage their content, set pricing, and control distribution. Google Play Books Partner Center operates on a sales model, where authors earn royalties based on the sales of their books. It offers a wide reach through the Google Play Books store, which is accessible to users across different devices and platforms. Google Play Books Partner Center is focused on commercial publishing and offers authors the opportunity to reach a global audience.

Kobo Writing Life, on the other hand, is a self-publishing platform associated with Kobo, a leading e-reading company. It allows authors to publish and distribute their e-books to the Kobo bookstore, which is accessible through Kobo's ecosystem of e-reading devices and apps. Kobo Writing Life provides authors with tools for formatting, cover design, pricing, and distribution. It offers a user-friendly interface and reporting tools to track sales and royalties. Kobo Writing Life primarily targets authors who want to tap into Kobo's customer base and reach readers within the Kobo ecosystem.

Another key difference lies in the platform ecosystems. Google Play Books Partner Center is part of the Google Play ecosystem, which spans across various devices and platforms. Books published through Google Play Books have the potential to reach a broad audience on Android devices, Chromebooks, and through the Google Play Books app. Kobo Writing Life operates within the Kobo ecosystem, which includes Kobo e-readers and apps. Authors who publish through Kobo Writing Life have the advantage of reaching readers who are specifically browsing the Kobo platform or using Kobo e-reading devices.
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Google Play Books Partner Center
Publish your books on Google Play and reach billions of readers around the world. Books on Google Play can be discovered and previewed on the world's most popular search engine through Google Books. The Play Books Partner Center makes it easy to upload content, set prices, and choose the countries where you want to sell your books.
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Kobo Writing Life
Do you have a story to tell? Are you an author with a bestseller just waiting to be discovered? Want to reach out to millions of readers in over 190 countries? Do you own the digital rights to your work? Then have we got the tool for you! Kobo Writing Life is the one-stop, do-it-yourself publishing portal.
Google Play Books Partner Center vs Kobo Writing Life in our news:

2019. Kobo Writing Life now accepts Audiobook submissions



Writing Life serves as the self-publishing division of Kobo, enabling authors to submit their ebooks for distribution across various markets where Kobo offers digital content, spanning a significant portion of the globe. Independent authors now have a convenient platform through the user-friendly dashboard to effortlessly upload, promote, and sell their audiobooks. They can also customize pricing and select the countries in which they wish to make their audiobooks available. While the roll-out of this feature is currently undergoing beta testing, it will soon be accessible to all users. Initially, audiobook capabilities are accessible for English language titles, with plans to expand availability to additional languages by the end of 2019. Kobo Writing Life competes with other self-publishing platforms such as Audible, Findaway Voices, Draft2digital, and several others in the market.


2018. Google reopened Play Books Publisher Program



The Google Publisher Program, which allowed independent authors to sell ebooks on the Google Play bookstore, was temporarily suspended in 2015 due to piracy concerns. Consequently, authors and publishers had to rely on aggregators to distribute their digital content on the platform. However, Google has now relaunched the Play Books publisher program, incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the ebook submission process. When a title is submitted, it undergoes a comparison against existing books in the Play Bookstore, and if significant similarities are found, the submission is automatically rejected. Digital books also have the option to include an ISBN number, allowing for retrieval of ebook metadata and enabling sales tracking through Nielson. In cases where an ISBN is not available, Google will assign a GGKEY, which can be utilized for Google Books and Google Play.