Yes — you can buy e-books from an independent bookstore instead of Amazon, and the easiest way to do it right now is Bookshop.org's e-book platform, which sends more than 80 percent of its profit margin to the indie store you pick at checkout, per Bookshop.org's own e-books page. The catch: it currently reads in a browser or on iOS and Android apps, not on a Kindle, and Kobo e-reader support — promised, delayed, and now promised again — still doesn't have a firm date.
Can I buy e-books from an independent bookstore instead of Amazon?
Yes. Bookshop.org's e-book store lets readers browse digital titles and choose which participating independent bookstore receives the sale, rather than sending the money to Amazon. The company says the model now supports more than 2,500 stores, per its e-books page.
Bookshop.org has run this model for print books since 2020, and by the time the e-book platform launched on January 28, 2025, the print side had already raised over $35 million for indie bookstores, according to a Literary Hub report on the launch. The e-book platform extended the same idea to digital titles, giving readers a way to keep buying e-books without routing every purchase through Amazon's store.
How does Bookshop.org's e-book store actually work?
You browse and buy through Bookshop.org's website or its iPhone and Android apps, pick an independent bookstore to support during checkout, and read the book in your browser or in the app — there's no separate device required to get started.
At launch, Bookshop.org offered access to roughly 35 million digital titles, according to a Literary Hub report on the January 2025 rollout. Some titles on the current e-books page are marked DRM-free — the site highlights authors like Annalee Newitz and Ursula K. Le Guin as examples — while the broader catalog remains protected, consistent with standard publisher licensing terms.
How much of my purchase actually reaches the bookstore?
The two sourced figures aren't identical, and it's worth stating both rather than picking one. Bookshop.org's current e-books page says the company gives "over 80% of our profit margin to independent bookstores." Literary Hub's coverage of the January 2025 launch described it more simply: "100% of that book's profits go straight to the indie of your choice." The sources don't reconcile whether "profit margin" and "profits" are being used to mean the same figure, so treat the headline number as "the large majority of the margin on each sale," not a single confirmed percentage.
Either way, the structure is different from buying on Amazon, where the sale doesn't route any share to a specific local bookstore at all.
Can I read Bookshop.org e-books on a Kindle or Kobo e-reader?
Not yet, on either count. TechCrunch's report on the January 2025 launch noted that readers could not download Bookshop.org e-books onto Kindle devices, since the platform runs through the browser and Bookshop's own apps rather than Amazon's Kindle ecosystem. Kobo e-reader support has been promised since the platform's early days but has slipped repeatedly.
Per a TechCrunch report published July 6, 2026, Bookshop.org CEO Andy Hunter said Kobo integration — originally expected in 2025, then pushed into 2026, with the company's own messaging briefly softening to "sometime in the future" earlier this year — is now back on the roadmap for "later this year," without a specific launch date attached. Hunter told TechCrunch: "We have recently settled on business terms with Kobo, and we are confident the collaboration is going to happen, but can't promise a specific launch date." He attributed the earlier delays to digital rights management requirements and engineering resources, adding, "The Kobo integration is something both Kobo and Bookshop.org want to make happen."
None of the supplied sources give a confirmed release window narrower than "later this year," and none address whether existing Bookshop.org e-book purchases will transfer to a Kobo device once support arrives, or whether they'll need to be rebought.
How do I buy my first e-book from an indie bookstore?
- Go to Bookshop.org's e-books section on the web, or download the iOS or Android app.
- Create an account if you don't already have one from shopping Bookshop.org's print-book side.
- Search for the title you want and open its page — check whether it's flagged DRM-free if that matters to you.
- At checkout, select the independent bookstore you want to support; Bookshop.org lets you choose or default to a store you've favorited.
- Complete the purchase, then read it in your browser or in the Bookshop.org app — remember it won't sync to a Kindle, and Kobo support isn't live yet.
What are the trade-offs of buying e-books this way instead of from Amazon?
The trade-off is real and worth stating plainly: you get to route your money to a specific local bookstore instead of Amazon, on a platform with a large and growing catalog — but you give up Kindle compatibility entirely, and Kobo compatibility isn't available yet either. Readers who've already built a library on a dedicated e-reader will have to decide whether supporting an indie store is worth reading on a phone, tablet, or laptop screen in the meantime.
The supplied sources don't establish exact refund policies, whether purchased titles can be re-downloaded after a device change, or how the DRM-free titles are technically delivered compared to the protected catalog — worth checking directly on Bookshop.org before buying if any of that is a dealbreaker.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Bookshop.org sell audiobooks too, or just e-books? The sources reviewed here cover Bookshop.org's e-book platform specifically; they don't document an audiobook offering, so that's not confirmed one way or the other from this evidence.
- Is Bookshop.org cheaper than Amazon for e-books? None of the supplied sources compare per-title pricing against Amazon directly, so no attributed price comparison can be made here — check both storefronts for the specific title.
- When exactly will Kobo support launch? Per TechCrunch's July 2026 report, Bookshop.org's CEO said only "later this year," with no confirmed date — the company has missed its own timeline before, in 2025 and again in early 2026.
- Do independent bookstores get a cut even if I never set foot in their store? Yes — per Bookshop.org's e-books page, the store you select at checkout gets the share of the sale regardless of whether you've ever visited it in person.
For more context, read Bookshop.org Says Kobo E-Reader Support Is Still Coming in 2026.
For more context, read How to Borrow Library eBooks on a Kobo eReader.
For more context, read What E-Book DRM Actually Does to the Books You Buy.