First, thanks, Batgirl, for clarifying the question of libraries paying more for ebooks than retail customers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amjbrown
I am not familiar with the author royalty model. How do authors get rewarded for the not inconsiderable effort of writing a book when it is being lent out by a library? Presumably the HC model will allow authors to get royalties every 26 loans?
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That is true--though, as an author, I think 26 loans is way too restrictive.
Authors in the U.S. don't get any payment for library loans beyond the royalty on the sale of the book. This is one area in which (in my opinion) the U.S. lags behind some European countries. I don't recall which countries, but there are nations which have what they call a "library lending right" (I think that's the phrase), which means there's a payment to authors out of public funds for library loans. This does
not mean it comes out of library budgets, but is something funded separately. SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, actually receives a payment each year from one of the Scandinavian countries for library lending rights on behalf of its membership. (The money goes into SFWA operating funds.)
No doubt a scheme like that will not fly in the U.S. anytime soon, given the current political climate, but it's something that's considered normal in other places.
I should also say that most writers consider that they derive indirect benefit from gaining readers through libraries, and from the general support of literacy in the nation, encouragement of reading among kids, etc. I heartily second that.