04-09-2012, 09:34 AM | #1 |
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WSJ: Sourcebooks offers DRM-free monthly subscription ebooks
In a move that further thins the line between book publishing and book retailing, Sourcebooks Inc., a leading independent publisher, is launching an online bookstore this week focused on its romance titles. For romance readers, digital books are more easily kept private than a paperback with a bodice-ripper cover. The publisher, based in Naperville, Ill, will offer a curated selection of its digital romance novels for a monthly fee at discoveranewlove.com. A kind of online readers club, members will be able to access some of Sourcebooks' most popular romance writers, including Grace Burrowes and Catherine Mann.
For a 6 month subscription at a total cost of $9.99, you get one free ebook per month (thus 6 ebooks for $9.99) and there are several other membership benefits. http://www.sourcebooks.com/next-news...ve-launch.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...ch_LEFTTopNews http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/09/se...-9-99-a-month/ Last edited by markbot; 04-09-2012 at 11:04 AM. |
04-09-2012, 10:17 AM | #2 |
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Last edited by JSWolf; 04-09-2012 at 11:06 AM. |
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04-09-2012, 10:30 AM | #3 |
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Wording like "curated selection" and "access some of Sourcebook's most popular romance writers" makes me wonder how restricted the selection of books you can choose from will be for the subscription. Still probably a good deal at $9.99 for 6 months and one download a month.
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04-09-2012, 10:34 AM | #4 | |
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copy article title and search it in google the link you find will bring up entire article Quote:
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04-09-2012, 10:37 AM | #5 |
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If they did this for their historical novels, I'd be there. But those are mostly reprints and probably wouldn't be as easy to arrange the permissions for.
Aside from that, I approve. DRM-free, many titles supposed to be available worldwide, and your choice of download from a selection in a genre you presumably read? Sounds quite promising on the surface of it, especially if a membership subscription might also allow you to have discount access to additional titles beyond the monthly download (not implied by the actual terms given, just something that would be a nice bonus for readers if so). ETA: They will allow extra discount titles and sometimes give advance access to club releases and are planning to possibly expand to include other publishers if they can get them to agree to DRM-free, according to the Publisher's Lunch article on it. No, probably just the silly covers that go on them and the silly way non-romance readers act about the covers. As a reader of sf/fantasy from the Baen catalogue which has a special mention on TV Tropes under "Contemptible Cover", I sympathize. Last edited by ATDrake; 04-09-2012 at 10:44 AM. |
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04-09-2012, 10:47 AM | #6 | |
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http://www.discoveranewlove.com/store/ |
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04-09-2012, 10:53 AM | #7 |
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http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/09/se...-9-99-a-month/
Oh wait...it is $9.99 for 6 months and you get 1 ebook per month (6 ebooks for $9.99). That is a decent deal. Last edited by markbot; 04-09-2012 at 11:03 AM. |
04-09-2012, 10:54 AM | #8 | |
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And they've also added in women's fiction and historicals (separate from actual historical romance) though it looks like that latter category is just filled mainly with their Jane Austen derivatives. Hopefully they'll expand to have more selections, or possibly offer more general fiction and/or non-fiction categories as well, perhaps in a separate club (or just pick-your-own-genre subscription plans with discount access to select portions of the catalogue overall). Last edited by ATDrake; 04-09-2012 at 10:56 AM. |
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04-09-2012, 11:02 AM | #9 |
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The Audible model seems pretty successful for selling audiobooks, so I'm not surprised that someone is adopting something similar for ebooks. I'm not interested in romance particularly, but I'm tempted to sign up for this just to support it. There is probably something in the Historical or Women's fiction categories that I would read, the Susanna Kearsley book looks good for this month.
Last edited by Synamon; 04-09-2012 at 11:06 AM. Reason: was going to set markbot straight, but he figured it out himself |
04-09-2012, 11:12 AM | #10 |
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They've got more Kearsley in the historicals section. If they add in a few more of the borderline/crossover romantic historicals like those Margaret Campbell Barnes books they've been reprinting or some of the Arthurian fantasies, I'd be tempted.
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04-09-2012, 11:54 AM | #11 | |
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If I read this aright, then you get one book to choose from the list of four offered each month for free. Any other from this list and from their online book store, you get up to 40% reductions.
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04-09-2012, 11:57 AM | #12 |
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It sounds like a great plan. Now if they would do something like this for people who read something other than romances....
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04-09-2012, 12:10 PM | #13 |
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Sourcebooks do have other books than romances - mostly historical novels and non-fiction books about history, autism and other fields, plus a number of children's and YA novels. It just remains to be seen if the 40% apply to all these books as well, and if historical novels without a strong romance focus will find their way onto the list of four.
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04-09-2012, 01:03 PM | #14 |
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Some people might be embarrassed by the covers, but I think the main reason romance readers have taken to digital reading in such a big way is that they tend to be voracious readers. They go through a lot of books, and it's just easier to deal with electronic files than stacks and stacks of books at home. I know I long ago had to stop buying books because I had nowhere to put them (and it seems like such a hassle to schlep them around to sell them afterwards.) With ebooks, though, I can buy as many books as I want!
Last edited by Suzanna; 04-09-2012 at 01:08 PM. Reason: clarity |
04-09-2012, 04:26 PM | #15 |
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