Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
I am missing something here.
I can't see the point of Overdrive segregating Indies. Why carry them in the first place if they do not want them to be seen?
And how can the BPH exert any more pressure than before. Overdrive currently AFAIK has a lock in most countries outside the US. I am not in the US, but I would assume that Amazon would supply Indy titles to libraries there if requested to so?
I am sure that a lot(some") of librarians can be elitist or snobbish, but they are not forced to buy/list the books are they? Why would they pay tax money to buy something they did
not want to be seen? Surely this is bizarre and could come back to bite them.
I do not disbelieve this is happening, but why?
My understanding is that the libraries are not forced to acquire the books, some of the BPH would just as soon not lend to libraries, and only provide them to Overdrive due to public opinion and in some countries, perhaps laws. Overdrive is used to pressure from them I am sure.
Seems like some kind of idiocy on behalf of all the parties concerned and a lawsuit waiting to happen, but probably I am just not understanding the issue.
Helen
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No, generally speaking you have the right of it. No one really understands why they did it or who put them up to it or what they are thinking. The BPH probably has the most to gain--libraries don't have TONS of ebooks available--it's fairly limited because the BPH don't want to provide libraries with books--it's a single sale and they want to generate continuous income. So if you throw in a few thousand indies, we could gain some attention/sales/ground against the trad books. In other words, we might be in danger of being noticed.
I doubt Amazon would supply them. Amazon has their own (meager) lending program and if they ever get going with that, they will want to make books in their program exclusive. The current lending structure REQUIRES that your book be exclusive to Amazon to be in it. Amazon will have to find a way to "charge" for the books (like SCRIBD) or make money off of it--and program the lending and return (more so than they currently do, which is programmed to allow one book per month, per account.)
It's an interesting thing to watch. I had NO idea it would cause such a firestorm. I just assumed I was last to know. I've actually learned a lot about overdrive and the program overall from the various posts. It's been informative.