Kobo is a multinational ebook vendor and for the next few days they’re offering indie-published ebooks at 50% off. Be aware that Kobo ebooks are in EPUB format only, so you’ll need a compatible e-reader or app. But all ebooks published in the USA, Canada, and Australia under my imprint, Mythic Island Press LLC, are included in the sale. And if you are in the United Kingdom or New Zealand, the first two books in The Red Trilogy should also be available at the discounted price.

Here’s a link to my ebooks. Because of the way the search works, the list also includes issues of Lightspeed Magazine with stories by me.

The discount is not automatic and it’s not open to all regions. Here are the specifics, direct from Kobo:

Customers will be able to redeem 50% off of any title published by KWL using the promo codes below an unlimited number of times […] the sale runs in different dates by territory, and each territory has it’s own promo code. See below for the full details.

Canada
October 28th – October 31st
Promo Code: CA50SALE

United States/Australia/New Zealand
October 27th – October 30th
Promo Code: GET50SALE

United Kingdom
October 30th – November 2nd
Promo Code: UK50SALE

When I was in traditional publishing, my books were essentially available only in the USA. I had only one UK edition — Vast — and while a few titles were translated into other languages, distribution of the American editions was extremely limited.

In these days of ebooks and indie publishing, all that’s changed. While Barnes & Noble only sells in the United States, Amazon offers the books in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. That’s a decent list of countries, and Amazon will still sell you a book if you don’t live in one of them — but a hefty charge will be attached to your purchase, and if your e-reader doesn’t handle files in mobi format, too bad.

Of course there’s a great alternative for anyone, anywhere: Book View Café — offering ebooks worldwide with no extra charges, in both epub and mobi formats.

BVC is a great site, with a good selection of genre books, but compared to the big sites out there, traffic is limited.

So I’ve just begun to offer my books through another international retailer, Kobo Books. If you’re a reader in the USA, you might never have heard of Kobo. I think they have a small presence here, but they’re well known around the world.

Until recently, the only way for a small publisher like myself to get into Kobo Books was to publish through a third party, Smashwords, which would then push the books out to Kobo. But I’ve never liked the way Smashwords handles books, so I held back — and last month Kobo finally opened their door to indie publishers like myself, and I uploaded a test book.

That book is Memory, and it’s now live on the site, available in epub format. Other books will soon be going up as well.

Do I recommend Kobo Books to other indie publishers? It’s too soon to say. Do read the contract terms carefully (you always do, don’t you?), know what you’re signing, and good luck!