Sony started sending out emails yesterday with links to transition customer accounts over to the Kobo ebook store now that Sony is closing the Reader Store.
I received the email today and the transfer process was incredibly simple and took all of about 30 seconds to complete.
All I had to do was follow the link in the email and then sign in with my Kobo account, and that’s it. If you don’t have a Kobo account it won’t take much longer because all you have to do is give an email address and setup a password to start an account.
The transfer process is very easy, but as suspected not all ebooks from my Sony library transferred to Kobo. This is because a few titles aren’t available from Kobo.
If this happens and you don’t want to relinquish your lost ebooks, you have until April 30, 2014 to login to your Sony Reader Store account and download the titles before they disappear for good. Here’s the how to guide on how to download previously purchased ebooks.
The five ebooks that didn’t transfer for me were ones I didn’t care about anyway.
Reader Store credits transfer over to Kobo as well. I had a $1.46 credit that I didn’t even know about :).
It’s unfortunate that Sony decided to close their ebook store in the United States and Canada, but at least they didn’t leave customers entirely without an option for maintaining their individual ebook libraries to continue enjoying ebooks. And if you have a PRS-T1, PRS-T2 or PRS-T3 Sony ebook reader, there will be a software update to replace the onboard Sony ebook store to access Kobo’s ebook store instead.
My transfer didn’t work so well. Had to call Kobo customer service. The tech was supposed to send me a ticket – that never arrived.
None of my Sony Reader stuff was transferred over.
My main transfer went smooth, 621 of 729 moved over with no problem. I did notice a large amount didn’t transfer, so I looked into it. Over 40 of the books they said weren’t on Kobo actually were there. I called customer service, then emailed them the list of books that should have transferred over & they are going to transfer them for me.
My transfer process was smooth. All but one of my books transferred over. The one that didn’t transfer over was because that book was not available in the Kobo store. Will go ahead and download that 1 book.
It is March 31st, and I still haven’t received my email with transfer instructions.
Make sure to check your spam folder!
The spam folder was it! I found the email there. The transfer was smooth and painless. 111 books out of 120 and my credit transferred. Now waiting for the update for the PRS T1. Hopefully, that will happen this month. Thanks for the timely reminder, Nathan.
Glad I could help!
July 2: I still haven’t gotten my email. Not in the spam folder, either. I wonder where it is? I wonder who to ask?
I called Kobo Customer Care and they said that they’re still sending emails out. So I guess that more patience is required.
The firmware update for the PRS-T1 is available now. It’s supposed to change the Reader Store button to a Kobo Store button.
Thanks for the heads up. Here’s an article about it. The update doesn’t seem to really do anything yet, though.
I still haven’t gotten the email yet. Any idea when they expect to finish sending emails
They were supposed to have them sent out by the end of March…
I’ve have emailed and spoke to Kobo customer service a number of times. Not all of my books moved from my ereader to Kobo. They are telling me that the book that didn’t come over doesn’t qualify to be transferred, even though I see the exact book available in Kobo. Waiting for a call from a manager to hopefully resolve.
My situation is a little different. I just received a Sony Reader PRS-T1 as a prize in a drawing. Cannot figure out how to connect the device with Kobo, though I’ve established a Kobo account. I keep trying different routes, but end up in the same dead end — “Please proceed to the Reader Store and follow the directions.” But of course the Reader Store won’t let me create an account! Very frustrating. I sent an e-mail to Kobo’s Support, am waiting for a response. It’s still a Reader button on my device — how do I get an update without a Reader account? Aagh!
The store still doesn’t work from Reader devices yet. There’s supposed to be another update to make that work. You don’t need an account to get firmware updates, but right now all it does is add a Kobo button that does nothing. The only way to get ebooks from Kobo onto a Sony Reader is to download them to a computer and sideload via USB using Adobe Digital Editions.
After much travail, I have connected my device. I downloaded Sony Reader for Mac to my Mac mini. Then the immediate update to Sony Reader for Mac. Then I plugged my device into the computer, in Data Transfer Mode. A box popped up offering to update my PRS-T1. I said yes, please. When it seemed to be finished, I had to open and run PRS-T1 Updater, which went through several steps of downloading, updating, restarting, and installing — not necessarily in that order. Once I saw “Update is complete, now safe to disconnect” my Home page now shows the Kobo Bookstore button in place of the Reader button. I still can’t make purchases directly from Kobo — for now, I’m supposed to use my computer, phone, or tablet and then sync those purchases with my device. But I was able to download a library book, and that’s what I wanted anyway. Whew!
My problem was that I received a PRS-T1 after Sony Reader Store had folded, so I couldn’t create an account there in order to transfer to Kobo. Kept running into instructions that I had to use my Reader account, but that I couldn’t create a Reader account.
Sorry for any repetitions/gaps in my comments. I think I messed it up. But all’s well that ends well.
Well at least you won a free Sony Reader. Probably more work than you expected to get setup :).