Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover self-publishing. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Kobo Writing Life | StreetLib | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $99 |
| Pricing model | Free | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Billing | Usage-based | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | 15% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Web | Web |
| Covers | Self-Publishing | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Publish to Kobo and keep your rights
Kobo Writing Life puts a book in front of Rakuten Kobo's readers, and through OverDrive into public libraries, without asking for exclusivity in return. Publishing costs nothing and the author sets the price. For anybody whose first shelf is Amazon this is the obvious second one, and the library route is the part Amazon has no answer to.
Our note
There is no reason not to be on it if you are already selling elsewhere, since it costs nothing and asks for nothing in return. Treat it as a second channel rather than a first: the reader numbers are Amazon's game, and the library route is where Kobo earns its place.
Ebook distribution that states its cut up front
StreetLib distributes ebooks and audiobooks to the stores an author cannot easily reach one by one, and is unusual in charging for the service rather than only taking a share. It publishes what it keeps, which is more than most aggregators do. For an author already selling through Amazon alone, the question is whether the other stores add up to more than the fee.
Our note
Against Draft2Digital, which charges nothing upfront and takes a larger share, this is the better arithmetic for anybody already selling. Work out your annual net revenue: below roughly a thousand dollars a year, paying nothing and giving up more is cheaper.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.