The Borders bankruptcy is almost complete; on July 25, 2011, Mike Spector reported in The Wall Street Journal that, "Last ditch talks to save a few dozen Borders Group Inc. stores collapsed." Borders stores are currently being liquidated, and although the online ebook store is operating, an ominous email was sent on July 25, 2011 saying, "You will need to move your Borders ebookstore a new or existing Kobo library and update your Borders app to the latest Kobo ereading app."
How to Save Your Borders eBooks
If you have ebooks that you purchased through Borders.com, you need to move them to another online storage home. You should also download them and save them to your computer. You will need to create a free Kobo account at kobobooks.com.
Once you have created a Kobo account or logged into a previously created account, you are ready to begin moving your Borders ebooks to Kobo. The Kobo site refers to this file transfer as migrating ebooks. Go to the Borders to Kobo Migration site. You will need to log into Your Borders account and press continue, then confirm your Kobo account details. Kobo will then move your Borders library to a Kobo library.
Move from Borders Store to Kobo Store
Your Borders Kobo or other ereader will have the Borders store as a default. Since the Chapter 11 bankruptcy appears to be the last chapter in the Borders story, you will need to change your ereader store to another store. Since your library is stored on Kobo, it makes sense to have Kobo as your dedicated ereader store.
You will need to download the Kobo desktop app to update the store on your Kobo reader. When you connect your Kobo reader to your computer, press sync on the desktop screen. When your ereader is finished updating, Kobo will be your new default ebook store.
If you shop for ebooks through Kobo, you should be aware that your credit card company may charge you a foriegn transaction fee if you are not in Canada, where Kobo is housed. You can also download EPUB books from Google's ebookstore and put them on your Kobo reader, and that will not involve a transaction fee. Those books will be stored under your Google account, not your Kobo account.
Can I Read Kobo eBooks with a Different eReader?
Since Kobo books are ePUB files, you can read them on a Sony Reader, a Nook, and virtually any ereader that is not an Amazon Kindle, although the Kindle 4 could have EPUB support since Kindle intends to support library books, which are usually EPUB files. If you are reading your ebooks through the Borders app, you will be able to use the Kobo app instead.
Borders is offering a chance at a $500 Kobo ebook gift card if you move your books, but the more important news is your ebooks are in safe hands with Kobo books. When Borders first faced bankruptcy in early 2011, Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis wrote a reassuring message to Kobo ereader owners on February 16, 2011, saying that "Kobo is just fine (and it’s sweet that you’re concerned)...we are working with Borders to provide seamless service to their customers." Moving to Kobo will ensure that your ebooks will stay viable even when you upgrade to another EPUB reader.
Sources
Borders emailed "DON'T WAIT ... Move Your Borders eBooks to a Kobo eBooks Library" to Borders customers on July 25, 2011.
Michael Serbinis wrote a " Kobo Update " for the Kobobooks Blog on February 16, 2011.
Mike Spector wrote " Talks to Save Some Borders Fail " for The Wall Street Journal on July 25, 2011.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
