E-books sell by the million on platforms like Amazon’s Kindle or Apple Books.
But independent bookstores have had a difficult time competing for those sales–something the site Bookshop.org wants to change with the launch of its new e-book platform.
The online store Bookshop.org is launching a platform through which independent bookshops in the UK will be able to sell ebooks as an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle offering.
Independent bookshops will earn 100% of the profit from sales, and ebooks will be priced the same as they are on Amazon.
“Bookshops now have an additional tool in their fight against Amazon,” said Nicole Vanderbilt, managing director of Bookshop.org UK. “Digital readers don’t depend on Amazon’s monopoly any more, now that they can find ebooks at the same price on Bookshop.org.”
Bookshop.org launched in the UK in November 2020 as a platform for independent bookshops to sell physical books. Bookshops receive 30% of the cover price from each sale they generate; so far, the UK site has generated £4.5m for independent bookshops.
Customers will also now be able to buy ebooks through a bookshop of their choice. Profits from orders without a specified bookshop will be added to a shared pool, which will be distributed among all participating bookshops on the platform.
“Our true love might be print, but ebooks are an important part of the lives of so many readers,” said Nic Bottomley, co-owner of Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath.
Erin Kelly, author of The Poison Tree, said: “One of the best things about the ebook revolution has been the ability to reach readers who can’t access traditional books.” She said she was thrilled that the “ultimate inclusive format” would now be available on Bookshop.org. The site also plans to launch audiobooks in 2026.
Nearly a quarter of Britons now prefer ebooks over other formats, according to a YouGov poll conducted earlier this year.
The platform will launch with a catalogue of more than a million ebooks from all major publishers. It will be available online via a web browser and through the Bookshop.org apps on Apple and Android. “Due to Amazon’s proprietary digital rights management [DRM] software and publishers’ DRM requirements, it’s not currently possible to buy DRM-protected ebooks from Bookshop.org or local bookshops and read them on your Kindle,” said Bookshop.org. However, the site is working with the e-reader company Kobo to support Kobo devices “later this year”, and longer term would “love to offer our own eInk device”.
