Independent booksellers have found a new partner to help them sell e-books.

Toronto-based e-reading service Kobo has an agreement with the American Booksellers Association to offer e-books at independent stores. Kobo and the booksellers association announced Tuesday that starting this fall around 400 stores will offer e-devices, accessories and selections from Kobo's e-book store.

An e-partnership between booksellers and Google already had been set to end when Google announced this year it was dropping out, citing disappointing sales.

Independent stores have been helped by the decline and collapse of the Borders superstore chain. But fierce competition remains from such online sellers as Amazon.com. Independents have been looking for a way to have a bigger impact in the electronic market.