|
Overdrive does charge libraries a fee and provides software they lease to the libraries. They also take a cut from the sale price of the book. So if Random House charges 40 dollars for BestsellerX, Overdrive gets a percent of that in revenue. They rest they pass back to Random House who then passes part to the author/agent. I don't know the percentage they keep from the big guys.
Random House gets to set prices independent of list price for libraries. One of their complaints is that an ebook from RH might be 40 dollars -- whereas the print book is only 25.
I cannot independently change the price of my books via the Smash route to overdrive (and I'm not saying I would do it if I could, just that the big guys do it and I can't). The argument for why the price is higher for a library is because the library only pays once for the ebook. They might have to repurchase a hardback that gets ruined or read a lot.
Yes. Lots of controversy there about the practice and whether it is valid. One of the reasons publishers like SCRIBD is because they get paid by the read--so the revenue isn't "once only."
I am happy to get my books into libraries. It's something I've worked on for a long time. I had hoped that this route with Smash would work. And it does. Sort of. It's not ideal, which is something I didn't know until I contacted my librarian and then posted about the experience on my blog...and that started this whole discussion.
It remains to be seen if the smash route is a viable route. If librarians don't order the books, well, the answer is no. In retrospect, I wish I'd tried a different avenue first, but I had no idea that the agreement would result in a Big Scarlet Letter across the front of my books... :>)
|