Penguin ends library/Overdrive relationship starting tomorrow

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

i bet they actually switch to 3m

Excuse my ignorance, the only 3M I've heard about is the Post-It maker, so what is 3M in regards to book lending?

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by calibrated

A USB cable? Really? How...quaint.

One is almost tempted to saddle up the horse, hitch up the buggy, ride into town and send them a sharply worded telegram.

I believe we have our first Amsih MR member!

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Excuse my ignorance, the only 3M I've heard about is the Post-It maker, so what is 3M in regards to book lending?

See:

3M Cloud Library

Extremely few libraries seem to have actually purchased this. This news release came out in October 2011:

The 3M Cloud Library has also added four new beta sites in recent months, with library staff soon to begin training on the system at libraries in Glendale/Pasadena, Calif.; Baltimore County, Md.; Richland, S.C.; and Mobile, Ala.

P.S. I just made a quick check of the library web sites for the towns mentioned above, and spot no indication they actually offer 3M Cloud borrowing. Might this product be vaporware?

[elemenoP]

Is there a page or chart anywhere which lists the big six along with all their imprints? I find it extremely difficult to remember/find them all. For example, a book on my library wishlist: it says publisher Knopf Doubleday, imprint Vintage. So what publisher is that? I look on the Knopf Doubleday site, and there is a Bertelsmann logo. But "Bertelsmann" is one of the big 6. Then I see in teeny letters "Copyright 2011 Random House." So now I have found the info I wanted, but it took a lot of searching.

It would be great to have one big chart with every publisher, what they are an imprint of, whether they are part of big 6, whether they have agency pricing, whether they participate in library lending and with what restrictions.

So if a book came out that you were interested in, you could look at the publisher and know you would know (more or less) whether your library could get it, and whether you could apply a coupon to it if you buy it.

I would love to do it but... the time! the time! Does something remotely similar to this exist?

eP

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Ok, after some more checking I think I've got the policies of the Big 6 correct...

• Both MacMillan and Simon & Schuster have refused to make their ebooks available to public libraries since day one.

• Hachette Book Group stopped offering its frontlist ebook titles to libraries in July 2011.
(still not sure when they go from frontlist to backlist, a year???)

• HarperCollins – last year HC announced their 26 check out policy.

• Penguin – stops both eBooks and Audiobook download sales for libraries 2/10/12

• Random House – happily works with libraries, but will increase library prices across the board in Feb/March 2012.

Hmmm, I will probably need to buy some Random House stock in that case.... -- is Bertelsmann actually publicly traded?

[elemenoP]

And also: is it really true, or was it a misunderstanding, that Hachette actually pulled titles when they restricted their library lending? Because that is another issue entirely. When Harper Collins moved to the 26-checkout model, the existing licenses that libraries had already purchased remained as-is (infinite number of checkouts). Similarly, in this announcement, the Penguin licenses that have already been granted are not being pulled (but will they have the Kindle OTA restriction?).

Each library paid for a license that had terms attached when they bought the license. If the license was pulled, wouldn't the publisher have to refund the library's money for the license? If it was even legal to pull it at all?

eP

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

Count me in as someone who bought the T1 largely due to the ease of library lending.

Ditto. As soon as I found out I coudn't use the Kindle with libraries in the UK, it went straight off my list. Penguin had announced some time back that it wasn't going to allow lending of its books to Kindles (even where this can be done), so obviously this is an extension of that. I guess if the buyer doesn't use the library, this won't be much of a factor in their decision, but it is a bit worrying - I suspect it will damage the libraries far more than Amazon.

[RDaneel54]

Frankly, I am flummoxed by Penguin's actions and the attitudes of the other big publishers (except Random House).

Do they think that not selling libraries e-books will positively increase their visibility?

Do they honestly want to exclude the home bound from using the library by electronic means?

Do they realize this is the 21st century and they need to find a viable electronic book business model?

Are they idiots?

There is something called "the internet" that will allow me to interact with used book owners around the world to find all the books I need - without increasing their bottom line. Maybe somebody should mention the whole digital world/digital customer thing to them. I'm not thrilled with the amount of editing and proofing errors in the big six e-books. I know the reasons, I just can't imagine why anyone would deliberately sell crap and think customers will keep flocking to their doors.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

Frankly, I am flummoxed by Penguin's actions and the attitudes of the other big publishers (except Random House).

Do they think that not selling libraries e-books will positively increase their visibility?

Do they honestly want to exclude the home bound from using the library by electronic means?

Do they realize this is the 21st century and they need to find a viable electronic book business model?

Are they idiots?

There is something called "the internet" that will allow me to interact with used book owners around the world to find all the books I need - without increasing their bottom line. Maybe somebody should mention the whole digital world/digital customer thing to them. I'm not thrilled with the amount of editing and proofing errors in the big six e-books. I know the reasons, I just can't imagine why anyone would deliberately sell crap and think customers will keep flocking to their doors.

35596 points worth their weight in chocolate, coming your way.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by RDaneel54

I just can't imagine why anyone would deliberately sell crap and think customers will keep flocking to their doors.

It is their ability to sell crap that they are trying to protect. One of the reasons publishers hate libraries so much (and not only with e-books, but their printed books too), is they hate the fact that they can't continue to sell utter dreck to the unsuspecting.

I read somewhere and I wish I could find the source, (torrentfreak blog I think) that in the 20s music publishers used to be livid at radio stations for airing music.

For me, no filtering/previewing system provided equals no sale. I dont do "sample chapters".

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by LuvReadin

Ditto. As soon as I found out I coudn't use the Kindle with libraries in the UK, it went straight off my list. Penguin had announced some time back that it wasn't going to allow lending of its books to Kindles (even where this can be done), so obviously this is an extension of that. I guess if the buyer doesn't use the library, this won't be much of a factor in their decision, but it is a bit worrying - I suspect it will damage the libraries far more than Amazon.

I place a high value on being able to buy books I actually like. Keepers only.

Books are not magazines.

If I want to buy something with a short shelf life and where there are blurbs that go out of style soon, I'd pay a few bucks for a magazine. I don't mind spending money in that case, because I've paid a small price for temporary entertainment.

We are expected to take a chance on literature in this regard. I cannot spend money on every word that crosses my path. It simply is not reasonable, nor is it realistic. My price point for "sight unseen" books is $1.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

See:

3M Cloud Library

Extremely few libraries seem to have actually purchased this. This news release came out in October 2011:



P.S. I just made a quick check of the library web sites for the towns mentioned above, and spot no indication they actually offer 3M Cloud borrowing. Might this product be vaporware?

There were delays rolling it out and 3M seems to be consistently missing their deadlines. I found some FAQs on the beta being used by the Kansas State Library, it's very early days for this system.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I believe we have our first Amsih MR member!

LOL

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Is there a page or chart anywhere which lists the big six along with all their imprints?

Look up each of the Big 6 on Wikipedia and you'll see the listing. For example, here's Random House.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Ok, after some more checking I think I've got the policies of the Big 6 correct...

• Both MacMillan and Simon & Schuster have refused to make their ebooks available to public libraries since day one.

• Hachette Book Group stopped offering its frontlist ebook titles to libraries in July 2011.
(still not sure when they go from frontlist to backlist, a year???)

• HarperCollins – last year HC announced their 26 check out policy.

• Penguin – stops both eBooks and Audiobook download sales for libraries 2/10/12

• Random House – happily works with libraries, but will increase library prices across the board in Feb/March 2012.

That's what I've found too.

I believe it's a year for frontlist titles to drop to backlist.