r/kobo rules, stats, and what to post

r/kobo is a community for news and discussion about the Kobo line of ebook readers. People here talk about Kobo devices, how they compare to other options, and the day to day experience of using them. The rules make the scope clear. Comparisons are fine, but deep discussions of other ereaders or of ebooks in general belong in other subs. This is a device community, not a book community and not a marketplace. It is also not a place to promote things you made or sell things you own.

The rule that decides almost everything here is “Keep it Kobo related”. Your post has to be about Kobo, and while comparisons are fine, broad talk about other ereaders or ebooks in general belongs somewhere else. The second rule that matters is “No book promotions, self promo or selling”. This one is strict and wide. It bans book promotions, self promo of apps, extensions, accessories, and anything else, and it also says this is not a buy or sell or trade sub. The third rule is “No affiliate links”. Recommendations are welcome, but the moment a link earns you money, the community treats it as spam. The fourth is “DRM & Piracy”. You cannot link to or name piracy sites, and you cannot encourage piracy. Discussion of DRM removal is allowed for books you bought legally, with a note that the law varies by region. Finally, “Be respectful” sets the tone, argue the point and not the person.

A good post here is about Kobo and only about Kobo. Share a genuine experience with a Kobo device, ask a practical question about settings or features, or compare a Kobo reader with another device as long as the comparison stays Kobo centered. If you recommend a product, use a direct link and never an affiliate link. If you want feedback on something you built, be careful, because self promo of apps, extensions, and accessories is banned, so a post that exists to promote your product does not survive here. The safe path is to participate as a user first, answer questions, and only post when you have something useful and Kobo specific to say.

The fastest way to get removed is self promo. If you built an app, an extension, or an accessory, or you wrote a book, this rule blocks you from posting it here. Selling anything is also out, including used devices. Affiliate links get posts removed too, even when the recommendation itself is honest. Naming or linking piracy sites is banned, and so is encouraging piracy. Off topic posts about other ereaders or ebooks in general get removed for not being Kobo related. And being disrespectful, attacking a person instead of arguing the point, breaks the basic conduct rule.

The self promo rule here is unusually complete, it covers books, apps, extensions, accessories, and selling all in one line, so there is no grey corner to squeeze into. I also like that the community allows DRM removal talk for legally purchased books, which shows they trust their members to act like owners. With no observed top posts to learn from, I would treat the rules as the whole picture and keep any first post plain, helpful, and strictly about Kobo.