How do I get books from multiple Kobo accounts onto one Kobo?
November 13, 2015 2:26 PM Subscribe
I have a Kobo Glo, and an account at kobo.com. I'd like to set up a new Kobo account via Indiebound so that I'm supporting an independent bookstore. It looks like you can only have one account tied to a device, so if I set up my new account on the Kobo, I won't be able to read books I bought in the old account (unless I completely re-set-up the device each time I want to switch). Is there a work-around for this using Adobe Digital Editions, Calibre, or some other software?
Maybe not helpful; I also use a Kobo reader, but I use it differently precisely to avoid this kind of scenario. Instead of letting an account manage or mean anything, I move all my books to my Calibre library, and put all of them into ePub format so that my library is really mine and access problems can never ever happen. This also means I'm not limited to one retailer - I can (and do) purchase my books from Kobo and Amazon and any other publisher of what I want, then I use Calibre to convert it to ePub (It's pretty much the same as the Kindle format but is an open format that can never be DRM'ed, thus can never cause the problem you're facing. Kobo natively supporting ePub was actually a factor in me choosing Kobo over Kindle). Then I add the Epub version to my Calibre library and delete the original formal so that every book in my library is the same format because I like it all neat and tidy and mine like that.
Some Kobo books are easy to convert and some are difficult, so this might only be a partial solution to you because you already have an inventory of books and presumably some of them are DRMed in annoying ways. But it works for me that going forwards, books only enter my library as files that are mine and under my control, while the kobo account is demoted to being nothing more than a place to buy books. Not store them or access them.
posted by anonymisc at 2:45 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some Kobo books are easy to convert and some are difficult, so this might only be a partial solution to you because you already have an inventory of books and presumably some of them are DRMed in annoying ways. But it works for me that going forwards, books only enter my library as files that are mine and under my control, while the kobo account is demoted to being nothing more than a place to buy books. Not store them or access them.
posted by anonymisc at 2:45 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
anonymisc, epubis an open format, but it can be DRM'd--Kobo and Barnes & Nobles' books are DRM'd epubs. There are two slightly different versions of the ADE (Adobe Digital Editions) DRM going around (one is device-based; one requires your credit card number as a password), but Apprentice Alf has methods for cracking both of them.
Kobo's "Kepub" format has a different encryption, and I believe, slightly different formatting arrangements.
Amazon works with three different formats, although they don't like to tell end users the details. Mobi format is an older format than epub; that was the bulk of their ebooks for a long time. Topaz is a hopefully-dead format that they used for converting scanned books; I think the DRM was eventually broken, but the end result was useless for conversion. And Amazon's newer KF8 format is basically epub in an Amazon wrapper; it allows the more complex formatting options that epubs have and mobi files lack. (Mobi doesn't support CSS formatting or embedded fonts.)
I heartily approve of removing DRM from purchased ebooks so you can keep them--while it's not common, occasionally a publisher goes bankrupt or pulls an entire line of books from a store, and while you may still have a readable copy on your device, you can't get it replaced if you lose or upgrade the device.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:15 PM on November 13, 2015
Kobo's "Kepub" format has a different encryption, and I believe, slightly different formatting arrangements.
Amazon works with three different formats, although they don't like to tell end users the details. Mobi format is an older format than epub; that was the bulk of their ebooks for a long time. Topaz is a hopefully-dead format that they used for converting scanned books; I think the DRM was eventually broken, but the end result was useless for conversion. And Amazon's newer KF8 format is basically epub in an Amazon wrapper; it allows the more complex formatting options that epubs have and mobi files lack. (Mobi doesn't support CSS formatting or embedded fonts.)
I heartily approve of removing DRM from purchased ebooks so you can keep them--while it's not common, occasionally a publisher goes bankrupt or pulls an entire line of books from a store, and while you may still have a readable copy on your device, you can't get it replaced if you lose or upgrade the device.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:15 PM on November 13, 2015
I would like to do this myself, so I called Kobo's customer service. Turns out that it's not possible for them to link an existing Kobo account to your independent bookstore, unfortunately. You can buy your ebooks through the indie bookstore's website (and your existing Kobo account), which will add the referrer info and presumably give the indie that referral credit, but it's kind of a pain to go that route every time, and doesn't allow for on-device purchases if you do that sort of thing sometimes.
To actually answer your question, though: Kobo customer service can merge accounts. Create your new bookstore account, use the Kobo customer support form, select "accounts" and "library merge request" in the "What category does your issue fall under?" drop-down. They should be able to merge your old account into your new shiny indie-supporting account, or at least that's what they said. I didn't actually have an indie-linked account to try this with during my call, so can't confirm this with experience yet.
And yeah, DRM-stripping is a beautiful thing and I do it with every ebook I acquire from Kobo or otherwise, but I still wouldn't want to have multiple accounts on the same website because that is tedious nonsense. (And it's easier to organize my ebook library with Calibre the way I want it than with any of the ebook vendors' software, so I use Calibre for that. It plays nicely with the Kobo, and Kobo plays nicely with things like category tags and series information on all my sideloaded ebooks.)
posted by asperity at 6:33 PM on November 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
To actually answer your question, though: Kobo customer service can merge accounts. Create your new bookstore account, use the Kobo customer support form, select "accounts" and "library merge request" in the "What category does your issue fall under?" drop-down. They should be able to merge your old account into your new shiny indie-supporting account, or at least that's what they said. I didn't actually have an indie-linked account to try this with during my call, so can't confirm this with experience yet.
And yeah, DRM-stripping is a beautiful thing and I do it with every ebook I acquire from Kobo or otherwise, but I still wouldn't want to have multiple accounts on the same website because that is tedious nonsense. (And it's easier to organize my ebook library with Calibre the way I want it than with any of the ebook vendors' software, so I use Calibre for that. It plays nicely with the Kobo, and Kobo plays nicely with things like category tags and series information on all my sideloaded ebooks.)
posted by asperity at 6:33 PM on November 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks all. For various reasons I don't want to use Calibre as my main tool for managing my ebooks, but it has worked perfectly (with the Apprentice Alf tools added) as a way of getting the books in my old account onto the Kobo signed in to the new account. The info about merging accounts is also good to know, although I want to keep both accounts open for now for Reasons.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 7:21 PM on November 16, 2015
posted by une_heure_pleine at 7:21 PM on November 16, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
(Avoiding: several pages of ranting about the evils of DRM and how it hurts consumers a lot more than it prevents piracy.)
Other than that, I have no specific help; I've never used Alf's tools because I refuse to acquire DRM'd ebooks at all; if I ever run out of Avengers fanfic and random interesting-looking books at Smashwords, I'll reconsider this.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:40 PM on November 13, 2015 [1 favorite]