Rakuten Kobo and LeYa present Kobo Plus e_LeYa, the largest eBook and audiobook platform in Portugal

Portugal, April 23, 2021 – For Portuguese readers, portable and easy to use eBooks, together with versatile audiobooks are now combined in one subscription service. The Kobo Plus e_LeYa eBook and audiobook subscription is an entirely new way for Portuguese book lovers to read what they want, where and how they want it. Kobo’s subscription model will satisfy both readers who devour several books a month and those who prefer to browse before diving into a book.

The country is the second to have a Kobo subscription platform that combines eBooks and audiobooks. Exclusive contents available for Portugal will be provided by LeYa and other Portuguese publishers and publishing institutions joining the platform. With 599,000 eBooks and 94,000 audiobooks, the Kobo Plus e_LeYa catalogue ranges from bestsellers to classics to undiscovered future favourites. Quality and variety of content are two of the strongest benefits of the platform, as subscribers will find books by famous writers and discover new ones.

“At Kobo, every product we launch and new service we provide is created to make people’s reading lives better. We are a company built by booklovers, for booklovers and our mission is to ensure readers can read and listen to whatever they want, wherever they want and whenever they want, on any device. Kobo Plus e_LeYa marks an important milestone in that mission,” said Michael Tamblyn, CEO, Rakuten Kobo. “With Kobo Plus e_LeYa, readers will have unlimited access to hundreds of thousands of eBooks and thousands of audiobooks, so the opportunities for reading are endless.”

Tamblyn continued: “The general subscription market in Portugal is becoming more prominent and we’re thrilled to partner with LeYa to provide an eBook and audiobook subscription offering in Portugal, which is a country where we see a lot of opportunity for growth. LeYa is the perfect partner for this endeavor, as they are experts in the space, continuously looking to the future of publishing and where the book market is headed. For Portuguese readers, Kobo Plus e_LeYa will be their first unlimited eBook and audiobook subscription experience, introducing them to an entirely new way to read.”

The new Kobo Plus e_LeYa platform can be found through LeYa’s online bookshop www.LeYaOnline.com or through Kobo.com. The short and simple subscription procedure includes a 30 day free trial, with free cancellation at any time.

Kobo Plus e_LeYa is accessible through three monthly subscription options, all at very competitive monthly prices: access to all eBooks, for 5,99 euros; access to all audiobooks, for the same price; access to all eBooks and audiobooks, for 7,99 euros. Audiobook packages also include access to a large and constantly updated catalogue of podcasts, original audiobooks, book summaries and reading essentials.

Reading is also listening

One of the most exciting elements of the new subscription service is the huge choice of audiobooks the platform will bring to Portugal. Subscribers will find, for example, the non-fiction chronicles of writers António Lobo Antunes and Lídia Jorge, novels by Rodrigo Guedes de Carvalho, Francisco Moita Flores, João Pinto Coelho, Domingos Amaral and Maria João Lopo de Carvalho, short stories by Mia Couto, poetry by Manuel Alegre, great Portuguese classics such as Amor de Perdição or Os Maias, as well as Alice Vieira’s children books.

Thousands of eBooks from beloved authors

The catalogue, which will be updated with new additions every month, is filled with fiction and non-fiction eBooks by a range of notable Portuguese and foreign authors, from cherished classic titles to soon-to-be discovered favourite authors.

Among thousands of important eBooks by contemporary Portuguese authors, readers will find unforgettable novels such as António Lobo Antune’s Memória de Elefante, Lídia Jorge’s Os Memoráveis and Mia Couto’s Jesusalém, as well as books by popular authors Mário Cláudio, Germano Almeida, Rita Ferro and many others. The subscription gives readers access to celebrated foreign literature translated into Portuguese: from classics like Frank Herbert’s Dune, to the complete works of Elena Ferrante, Virginia Woolf and Fyodor Dostoevsky, notable authors including Salman Rushdie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith, along with famous romance novelists such as Nicholas Sparks, Julia Quinn and Elizabeth Adler, and crime genre favourites like Agatha Christie, Camilla Läckberg andr John Le Carré.

Digital reading subscription: A fast growing model

Previously launched in Canada and the Netherlands, the Kobo Plus digital reading subscription enhances discovery of new books and authors among its subscription base. Virtually risk free and with a low monthly price–especially when compared with the purchase of an individual print book, eBook or audiobook–users have access to unlimited reading opportunities. The platform invites subscribers to explore books they otherwise might not try or even find in a bookstore, and gives visibility to content from indie and alternative publishers, as well as other publishing institutions.

In the Netherlands, where the Kobo Plus eBooks offering was introduced in 2017, 60 per cent of the country's Kobo Plus subscribers had never before purchased an a-la-carte eBook from Kobo. Since the launch of Kobo Plus there, the company continues to experience double-digit year-over-year sales growth for a-la-carte eBooks alongside rapid subscription growth.

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About Rakuten Kobo Inc.

Rakuten Kobo Inc. is the world’s digital bookseller created by and for book lovers. Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group, Inc. and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo’s 38 million worldwide users can read any time, anywhere, and on any device. With a mission to make reading lives better for all, Rakuten Kobo connects readers to stories using thoughtful and personalized curation of eBooks and audiobooks, and the best dedicated eReaders and apps for reading. With the singular focus of making reading lives the best they can be, Kobo’s open platform allows people to fit reading into more moments in their busy lives.

To learn more about Rakuten Kobo, visit www.kobo.com.

About LeYa

LeYa is one of the world’s major Portuguese language publishing groups, combining under its umbrella brand some of the most important imprints, both in general editions and textbooks, playing a relevant role in the digital education area in Portugal and operating as a leading agent in the e-learning sector in Brazil. Since 2010, LeYa has been publishing all of its books both in paper and digital formats, providing one of the largest Portuguese language eBook catalogues that now opens up to a whole new universe of readers through Kobo Plus e_LeYa, undoubtedly contributing towards the strengthening of the connection of the Portuguese to the indispensable activity of reading.

Watch the Kobo Plus e_Leya presentation video

Media Contact

Press contact, Rakuten Kobo

Erin Ierullo

Senior Manager, Global Communications

erin.ierullo@rakuten.com

(437) 333 8030

Press contact, LeYa

José Menezes

Communications Director

j.menezes@leya.com

(351) 96 130 5285