Dark Horse no longer distributed by Kobo?

[RZetlin]

At the beginning of the month in February, all books published by Dark Horse is no longer on the Kobo website.

Does anybody know what happened to all the Dark Horse comics and manga published on Kobo? Did the contract between Kobo and Dark Horse expired?

[ottdmk]

I know that Dark Horse is currently selling collections/trade paperbacks through ComiXology, which now belongs to Amazon. Wouldn't surprise me if the Kobo contract was allowed to lapse for that reason.

[girlwithabook]

Dark Horse products are still on the Kobo site. You can search for them under "Dark Horse Books" if you're curious. If something is not there, it may not have been released digitally yet.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

At the beginning of the month in February, all books published by Dark Horse is no longer on the Kobo website.

Does anybody know what happened to all the Dark Horse comics and manga published on Kobo? Did the contract between Kobo and Dark Horse expired?

Not sure what your results were but I did a search on for Dark Horse Books as publisher, I got 472 hits back. One note is that it seems that you now need to add &fcsearchfield=Imprint instead of &fcsearchfield=Publisher at the end of the search string to do the publisher search.

Dark Horse Books Imprint

To make it clearer, I searched for "Dark Horse Books" on Kobo's site and then added the &fcsearchfield=Imprint to the end of the URL in the address bar and hit enter.

[RZetlin]

Originally Posted by girlwithabook

Dark Horse products are still on the Kobo site. You can search for them under "Dark Horse Books" if you're curious. If something is not there, it may not have been released digitally yet.

Not true, Dark Horse books that are released digitally are not at Kobo.

For example, Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus vol. 1 released by Dark Horse is on Amazon, but not on Kobo.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Not true, Dark Horse books that are released digitally are not at Kobo.

For example, Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus vol. 1 released by Dark Horse is on Amazon, but not on Kobo.

They show Vol 1, 3 & 4 as pre-orders and Vol 2 as available. No idea why they're listed as pre-orders, I guess either a glitch with Kobo or someone at Penguin Random House screwed up.

Vol 1 - preorder
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...-omnibus-vol-1

Vol 2 - for sale
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...-omnibus-vol-2

Vol 3 - preorder
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...nibus-volume-3

Vol 4 - preorder
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...nibus-volume-4

[RZetlin]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

They show Vol 1, 3 & 4 as pre-orders and Vol 2 as available. No idea why they're listed as pre-orders, I guess either a glitch with Kobo or someone at Penguin Random House screwed up.

Vol 1 - preorder
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...-omnibus-vol-1

Vol 2 - for sale
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...-omnibus-vol-2

Vol 3 - preorder
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...nibus-volume-3

Vol 4 - preorder
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/eb...nibus-volume-4

Kobo is telling me "This eBook is not currently available."

Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus vol. 1 is not available in Canada.

This doesn't make sense, as I could search for the books before.

[AnemicOak]

Sounds like something to bring up with the publisher (either Dark Horse directly or their parent, Penguin Random House). They're the ones who set what's available in what countries. From the US the books you're interesting in are listed everywhere I checked Amazon, Kobo, Google, B&N, ComiXology, but at Kobo some are listed as pre-orders. I'm thinking someone at Penguin must have messed up when listing them on Kobo and set things wrong.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Sounds like something to bring up with the publisher (either Dark Horse directly or their parent, Penguin Random House). They're the ones who set what's available in what countries. From the US the books you're interesting in are listed everywhere I checked Amazon, Kobo, Google, B&N, ComiXology, but at Kobo some are listed as pre-orders. I'm thinking someone at Penguin must have messed up when listing them on Kobo and set things wrong.

I'd have to agree. Clicking on the links you supplied gave me a "This eBook is not currently available." message and a closable window stating: "Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus vol. x is not available in Canada." (substiture 1 to 4 for x). Using a proxy so I appeared to be coming from a location in the USA allowed me to access the ebooks.

[RZetlin]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Sounds like something to bring up with the publisher (either Dark Horse directly or their parent, Penguin Random House). They're the ones who set what's available in what countries. From the US the books you're interesting in are listed everywhere I checked Amazon, Kobo, Google, B&N, ComiXology, but at Kobo some are listed as pre-orders. I'm thinking someone at Penguin must have messed up when listing them on Kobo and set things wrong.

Is there any way to remedy this?

I have contacted Kobo in the past about book issues and the staple response is "it is the publisher responsibility, we have no control".

I have tried to contact Dark Horse directly, but no response.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Is there any way to remedy this?

I have contacted Kobo in the past about book issues and the staple response is "it is the publisher responsibility, we have no control".

I have tried to contact Dark Horse directly, but no response.

And that is probably the only thing you can do.

The problem is that traditionally, publishing is a very regional business. In different countries, different publishers have the rights to a book. The publisher tells the on-line retailers where they can sell their books. Kobo should be just following the rules they have been given. If the publisher has changed in a country, then Kobo might have to stop selling some books in that country and wait for new editions from the new publisher.

But, it could be a mistake. Kobo might have made a mistake with what books they are selling. Or the publisher might have done it. In the latter case, it is the publisher that has to fix it. In the former, it is probably the publisher as well. You can tell Kobo you think a books should be available, but it will probably work better to get the publisher to tell Kobo about the mistake. After all, they know the book should be available, whereas you can't be sure.

Of course, you could always move to a country where Kobo still sells these books. As Kobo uses the address you enter in your details, that isn't to painful a thing to do.

[Sharkus]

I cannot make any promises, as it's not in my sphere of influence or knowledge (much as some may think I'm all powerful, that's not, thankfully, true ), but I'll try and see whom would be the best to ask about this. It is also possible it's already being looked at, or will be shortly.

[BrodieKobo]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Is there any way to remedy this?

I have contacted Kobo in the past about book issues and the staple response is "it is the publisher responsibility, we have no control".

I have tried to contact Dark Horse directly, but no response.

Hi RZetlin,

I've contacted our publishing team and they are going to reach out to Dark Horse directly to resolve this issue. The book you mention "Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus vol. 1" should be available to purchase in Canada. We'll review and get this corrected. Apologies for the inconvenience this has caused, but really appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

Brodie

[RZetlin]

Originally Posted by BrodieKobo

Hi RZetlin,

I've contacted our publishing team and they are going to reach out to Dark Horse directly to resolve this issue. The book you mention "Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus vol. 1" should be available to purchase in Canada. We'll review and get this corrected. Apologies for the inconvenience this has caused, but really appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

Brodie

Thank you for taking the time to resolve the issue.

While one Dark Horse manga series is available, there are other titles not available:

Gunsmith Cats Series

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-1
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-2
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-3
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-4

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-1
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-2
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-3
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-4

Not only are they not available in Canada, the book covers are absent.

[BrodieKobo]

Originally Posted by RZetlin

Thank you for taking the time to resolve the issue.

While one Dark Horse manga series is available, there are other titles not available:

Gunsmith Cats Series

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-1
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-2
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-3
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...burst-volume-4

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-1
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-2
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-3
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/eb...ition-volume-4

Not only are they not available in Canada, the book covers are absent.

Hi RZetlin,

Appreciate the additional examples. I've asked our publishing team to review all of Dark Horse content on our site as clearly this isn't an isolated issue. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for taking the time to make us aware of the issue!