This article comes from CBCNews:Arts and Entertainment. To read the complete article, please visit http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/08/30/kobo-indie-bookstores.html

Kobo has signed a new partnership with U.S. independent booksellers will give loyal indie customers the option of digital reading, while continuing to support their local bookstore.

The Toronto-based, Japanese owned, e-reader company said Wednesday it has struck a deal with the American Booksellers Association to sell its device and its e-books through independent U.S. bookstores.

“It gives us a new demographic, not so much age but in terms of how these people have typically read,” said Todd Humphrey, the company’s executive vice-president of business development.

Through the deal, Kobo is hoping to convert some of those “true blood readers” who may have been reluctant to make the switch to digital reading.