This is a novel idea (pun intended): IndieBound: Independent Bookstores selling Kobo ereaders and ebooks

The idea is that if you create a Kobo account using a referral link from an independent bookstore then the selected bookstore will get a cut of the price of the eBooks you buy for your Kobo eReader (or Kobo eReading apps). I really like the idea of being able to buy eBooks “from” a local bookstore, and I would be all about buying all my eBooks from Kobo if I could support one of my local Chicago bookstores. But (there’s always a but, right?) since I’m such an early adopter*, I already have a Kobo account and it looks like there’s no way to link an existing account to a bookstore…

I’ll just have to hope that some people without Kobo accounts find this post and create an account with a referral from their local store (or any store for that matter).

On a technical note – and I hate when other people say how they think that something should be easy – it really does seem like it should be easy to link my account with a book store’s referral code. I can’t help but wonder what design decision was made that prevents them from adding a page somewhere on the Kobo site or a text field on the profile page that would allow existing users to add a referral code to their profile.

* How’s that for a humblebrag?