HarperCollins Pursues E-Book Subscription Service With Scribd

kennyc · 10-01-2013, 09:27 AM

Quote:

HarperCollins Pursues E-Book Subscription Service With Scribd
By JULIE BOSMAN
Published: October 1, 2013

HarperCollins is the latest publisher to tinker with a Netflix-style e-book subscription service, announcing on Tuesday that it has struck a deal to make its backlist books available on Scribd, a Web site for sharing documents and books.

Scribd, with a generous base of 80 million visitors to its site each month, said it was positioned to become a prominent e-book subscription service, in which consumers pay a flat monthly fee and receive access to a large catalog of e-books in exchange.

Brian Murray, the chief executive of HarperCollins, said he was encouraged to sign on partly because of consumer interest in subscription models for music, television and radio. The idea has been circulating in publishing for years, but it has generated little traction so far. Oysterbooks.com, a venture introduced last month, offers consumers access to more than 100,000 books for a monthly fee of $9.95.
....

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/bu...ribd.html?_r=0

owly · 10-01-2013, 09:33 AM

The monthly fee is $8.99 But no epubs that I can see :-( http://support.scribd.com/entries/10...-ebook-reader-

mikaelalind · 10-01-2013, 09:57 AM

Hmm.. I'll sign up, and give it a try. If I don't like it, I can cancel it after the first month

.

usuallee · 10-01-2013, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owly

The monthly fee is $8.99 But no epubs that I can see :-( http://support.scribd.com/entries/10...-ebook-reader-

No Kindle support. I'll pass.

Yapyap · 10-01-2013, 12:02 PM

So it's an ebook subscription service for anyone apart from people with dedicated e-readers, basically.

I was all excited to see this news (although I assume it's not globally available anyway - haven't checked yet) but for a lot of avid e-readers, having to read on a backlit LCD screen is not going to work out very well.

tubemonkey · 10-01-2013, 12:10 PM

Two reasons why I'd never consider ebook subscription plans like this:

public libraries - free access with a large selection of Kindle books
no eink support - I refuse to read novels on backlit devices

detayls · 10-01-2013, 12:43 PM

Why would I join this service?

The Kindle is the de-facto standard of eReaders. The Nook is evaporating and the Sony eReaders are no longer sold in the USA.

ScribD, please get back to us when you support Kindle eReaders seamlessly and you have all the major publishers on board.

elcreative · 10-01-2013, 01:05 PM

If I was considering such a service then this sounds fine. Easy access to books in a non-Kindle (hence non-proprietry) format that will work happily on all my tablets and eInk devices (with a minor tweak)... there are other users than Kindle outside the US where Kindle is not the grindingly dominant format and there are many other choices available... and this isn't anti-Kindle as I use the app on my tablets and phone but only for free content...

And surely it's better to have a service starting to get major publishers than no service with any major publishers or no service because they're not all on board... it's a start, maybe limited but still a start...

AnemicOak · 10-01-2013, 01:20 PM

Must use an app on a tablet or phone or the website to read, unless the publisher decides to provide a download which will be a PDF? I'd have to pass on that at this point.

Purple Lady · 10-01-2013, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Must use an app on a tablet or phone or the website to read, unless the publisher decides to provide a download which will be a PDF? I'd have to pass on that at this point.

OMG PDF?!?! That's worse than no eink to me.

Katsunami · 10-01-2013, 05:45 PM

If I can't download my book and read it 100% independent of the service, then I will never subscribe, not even if it is a flatfee service that allows me to read what I want. I read 8 books at most, per month, if I have a lot of time. Most of the time, it's 2-4 books a month. I can get them at roughly €3 per book.

Therefore, as soon as a subscription service exceeds €12 per month, just buying the books is cheaper for me, most of the time. Even if it is (somewhat) more expensive if I have a "streak" (yeah, ahum...) of months where I read more than 4 books, I'm willing to pay the extra to actually have the book as my own. (After de-DRM-ing.)

I can see the viability of this service, if you now depend on the library a lot. Then it may be more convenient, faster, the selection may be greater, and so on. I wouldn't care zilch for DRM on a library book, so in that case I wouldn't care for DRM on an online service. It will be more expensive than a library, though; but then you are paying for the speed, convenience, and selection.

Mivo · 10-01-2013, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by detayls

The Kindle is the de-facto standard of eReaders.

Mobi isn't the de-facto standard. There are more devices and programs supporting epup, though it doesn't really matter since either format can easily be converted to the other. Life inside the Amazon ecosystem may give the impression that there is little else besides Kindle devices, but that's not quite so (especially outside of the US).

Also, far more people read e-books on computers, tablets and phones. Dedicated e-readers are used only by a minority of e-book buyers, so while personally I agree that developing a service that ignores them is a little off, I don't think that it is as big of a deal in the larger picture.

BearMountainBooks · 10-02-2013, 03:23 PM

I found the news interesting. If ever a company got a well-rounded subscription service running (and this isn't it with it's lack of support for popular e-readers) I think amazon would then be forced to get into a subscription service. In fact, it's somewhat interesting that Amazon hasn't. Does that mean they don't like the model?

Very interesting. But it would have been more interesting if they had actually targeted READERS who have devices. As it stands, I'm not sure it's going to fly at all.

kennyc · 10-02-2013, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I found the news interesting. If ever a company got a well-rounded subscription service running (and this isn't it with it's lack of support for popular e-readers) I think amazon would then be forced to get into a subscription service. In fact, it's somewhat interesting that Amazon hasn't. Does that mean they don't like the model?

Very interesting. But it would have been more interesting if they had actually targeted READERS who have devices. As it stands, I'm not sure it's going to fly at all.

Amazon, certainly has their lending library, that could be considered a subscription service as well depending on how you consider the details. They also provide the books from library check-outs....no subscription fee.

BearMountainBooks · 10-02-2013, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Amazon, certainly has their lending library, that could be considered a subscription service as well depending on how you consider the details. They also provide the books from library check-outs....no subscription fee.

True to some extent, but they only allow one book per month. That's not a lot of books for most readers, although the "subscription" comes with other benefits so it's actually cheaper. Like the scribd, there aren't very many publishers onboard.

I'm not for or against the programs that exist, mind you. I'm just watching. For me as a reader, neither Amazons nor scribd appeals. As a writer...I don't know enough details about scribd, but it isn't available to me anyway. The Amazon program is not appealing to me as a writer because it requires exclusivity.

10-01-2013, 12:10 PM	#6
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,481 Karma: 158151390 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	Two reasons why I'd never consider ebook subscription plans like this: public libraries - free access with a large selection of Kindle books no eink support - I refuse to read novels on backlit devices

10-01-2013, 12:43 PM	#7
detayls Addict Posts: 235 Karma: 1355374 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: iPad, iPhone, Kindle Voyage	No Kindle support... Why would I join this service? The Kindle is the de-facto standard of eReaders. The Nook is evaporating and the Sony eReaders are no longer sold in the USA. ScribD, please get back to us when you support Kindle eReaders seamlessly and you have all the major publishers on board.

10-01-2013, 01:05 PM	#8
elcreative Wizard Posts: 2,888 Karma: 5875940 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: PRS505, 600, 350, 650, Nexus 7, Note III, iPad 4 etc	If I was considering such a service then this sounds fine. Easy access to books in a non-Kindle (hence non-proprietry) format that will work happily on all my tablets and eInk devices (with a minor tweak)... there are other users than Kindle outside the US where Kindle is not the grindingly dominant format and there are many other choices available... and this isn't anti-Kindle as I use the app on my tablets and phone but only for free content... And surely it's better to have a service starting to get major publishers than no service with any major publishers or no service because they're not all on board... it's a start, maybe limited but still a start... Last edited by elcreative; 10-01-2013 at 01:11 PM.

10-01-2013, 05:45 PM	#11
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	If I can't download my book and read it 100% independent of the service, then I will never subscribe, not even if it is a flatfee service that allows me to read what I want. I read 8 books at most, per month, if I have a lot of time. Most of the time, it's 2-4 books a month. I can get them at roughly €3 per book. Therefore, as soon as a subscription service exceeds €12 per month, just buying the books is cheaper for me, most of the time. Even if it is (somewhat) more expensive if I have a "streak" (yeah, ahum...) of months where I read more than 4 books, I'm willing to pay the extra to actually have the book as my own. (After de-DRM-ing.) I can see the viability of this service, if you now depend on the library a lot. Then it may be more convenient, faster, the selection may be greater, and so on. I wouldn't care zilch for DRM on a library book, so in that case I wouldn't care for DRM on an online service. It will be more expensive than a library, though; but then you are paying for the speed, convenience, and selection. Last edited by Katsunami; 10-01-2013 at 05:49 PM.

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10-01-2013, 09:33 AM	#2
owly Guru Posts: 729 Karma: 3822612 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Paperwhite 2, Kobo Aura H2O	The monthly fee is $8.99 But no epubs that I can see :-( http://support.scribd.com/entries/10...-ebook-reader-

10-01-2013, 09:57 AM	#3
mikaelalind Fanatic Posts: 590 Karma: 788068 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Sony PRS 505, Cybook Odessey	Hmm.. I'll sign up, and give it a try. If I don't like it, I can cancel it after the first month .

10-01-2013, 12:02 PM	#5
Yapyap Guru Posts: 861 Karma: 3543721 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Estonia Device: Kindle Paperwhite, iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	So it's an ebook subscription service for anyone apart from people with dedicated e-readers, basically. I was all excited to see this news (although I assume it's not globally available anyway - haven't checked yet) but for a lot of avid e-readers, having to read on a backlit LCD screen is not going to work out very well.

10-01-2013, 01:20 PM	#9
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	Must use an app on a tablet or phone or the website to read, unless the publisher decides to provide a download which will be a PDF? I'd have to pass on that at this point.

10-02-2013, 03:23 PM	#13
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	I found the news interesting. If ever a company got a well-rounded subscription service running (and this isn't it with it's lack of support for popular e-readers) I think amazon would then be forced to get into a subscription service. In fact, it's somewhat interesting that Amazon hasn't. Does that mean they don't like the model? Very interesting. But it would have been more interesting if they had actually targeted READERS who have devices. As it stands, I'm not sure it's going to fly at all.

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