Smashwords titles head for Libraries

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Overdrive certainly could have listed us all under smashwords whether they are truly a publisher or not and left that list as part of the main body of the marketplace.

That's exactly what they should've done. To do otherwise is illogical.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's exactly what they should've done. To do otherwise is illogical.

I did try to find the books under Smashwords. That was an epic FAIL!

[DBDigital]

Originally Posted by avantman42

Smashwords require that all books mention Smashwords on the copyright page, with text like "Smashwords Edition" or "Published at Smashwords". So it's always possible to tell if a book has been distributed by Smashwords.



Yes, they do. Overdrive is now listed in the Channel Manager, same as everywhere else that Smashwords distribute to.

Actually it is not a requirement, it is suggested. While if you don't have it in, they may say "please add" but you don't have to. If they continue to push it, send a email and it will be approved (providing there wasn't any other issues). They are not the publisher of record and can't force you to have that in your book. Well I suppose they can be, if you use one of their free ISBN's. But if you have your own, then they have no claim on being your publisher of record.

[DBDigital]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Even worse, I check three big libraries (Clevnet, Free Library of Philadelphia, and Boston Public Library) and when you go to advanced search and try to search by publisher, Smashwords is not one of the listed publishers. So even if the library does stock Smashwords titles, there's no easy way to find them.

I think most people look for books by genre, author, title, or perhaps when browsing...cover. I very much doubt many people look for a particular publisher. They may look at a book, think about it, then seeing the publisher either go for it or not depending on their perception of the publisher in question. Or it may not have any bearing at all. Being that people are likely borrowing rather than buying from overdrive, if the book looks good I think they will "take a chance" on it more often than not.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by DBDigital

Actually it is not a requirement, it is suggested. While if you don't have it in, they may say "please add" but you don't have to. If they continue to push it, send a email and it will be approved (providing there wasn't any other issues). They are not the publisher of record and can't force you to have that in your book. Well I suppose they can be, if you use one of their free ISBN's. But if you have your own, then they have no claim on being your publisher of record.

My experience is they refuse to approve it. I've asked. I have two books that were never approved and the only thing showing incorrect is the copyright statement--which is in there, but does not mention Smashwords. When I've sent emails asking if it is required to be approved I either get no answer or I get a "It must pass the validation."

I suppose I could waste time pushing, but I could also go to D2D or one of the other services.

I like working directly with the retailers. I see most of my sales that way and I get good customer service. Smashwords could have been a convenient way to upload to a lot of places at once, but there are too many gotchas. Don't get me wrong; I don't think they are terrible, but I have had no luck uploading my own epub versions (copyright gets in the way again) and I don't want to keep a special file that is just for Smaswords. If I use their conversion tool, I have to have a special file for them only. It became too cumbersome so none of my newer books will be on Smashwords.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Mark Coker chimed in on another site that picked up Nate's article. It is implied that he did not know smash titles were going to be cordoned off. And in my defense, I don't think my post on the topic was inflammatory at all (Nate picked up part of my post). Really, his isn't what I'd call inflammatory either.

http://www.thepassivevoice.com/06/20...comment-219911

I did throw around the word ghetto a few times. That is pretty inflammatory, but in my defense Juli Monroe described it as segregation, which tells me I am not the only one who thought it was a bad thing.

Also, one response I got was to be told to get off my high horse. Clearly I inflamed that person.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by DBDigital

I think most people look for books by genre, author, title, or perhaps when browsing...cover. I very much doubt many people look for a particular publisher. They may look at a book, think about it, then seeing the publisher either go for it or not depending on their perception of the publisher in question. Or it may not have any bearing at all. Being that people are likely borrowing rather than buying from overdrive, if the book looks good I think they will "take a chance" on it more often than not.

I usually search by genre. If the description sounds interesting I will give it a try. I usually don't even notice what publisher it's from.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I usually search by genre. If the description sounds interesting I will give it a try. I usually don't even notice what publisher it's from.

To be fair, librarians probably do pay more attention to the publisher than most readers. And if overdrive has set up a system that segregates some publishers or even small from large, it's going to become more noticeable--and that benefits the larger publishers.

[JSWolf]

But when it's said that a given publisher is now on-board with Overdrive, it's not unreasonable to think people will search by publisher to see what sort of book were added. I tried to search by publisher and it did not work. Smashwords may as well just leave Overdrive since we can't find the book anyway.

[tubemonkey]

I never search by publisher. I search by author or title.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I never search by publisher. I search by author or title.

Still doesn't work. You can't easily find titles on Overdrive that are from Smashwords.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Still doesn't work. You can't easily find titles on Overdrive that are from Smashwords.

I don't care. If I don't find what I'm looking for, I look for something else. Eventually, I'll find something I want to read or listen to.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I don't care. If I don't find what I'm looking for, I look for something else. Eventually, I'll find something I want to read or listen to.

And this is what I mean by it benefits the larger publishers. Librarians aren't going to search very hard either. The ONLY reason my librarians discovered my books is: 1. They are the best in the business and 2. I asked so they felt obligated to try and 3. One of them knows me personally because we used to work together 4. It was a slow day at the library?

Okay I don't know about 4. I wasn't there, I emailed the request.

I have a ticket open to see why the covers on my books haven't made it through. Am waiting to see if there is action needed on my part or if it can be fixed.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

And this is what I mean by it benefits the larger publishers. Librarians aren't going to search very hard either.

So true! I wonder how much OverDrive is being paid to hide the titles of smaller publishers?

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

So true! I wonder how much OverDrive is being paid to hide the titles of smaller publishers?

Even if they aren't paid "extra" under the table so to speak, the big publishers charge MUCH, MUCH higher prices for their books--and since Overdrive gets a percentage of that sale price, they make more money of those types of books. Sure, the libraries buy less books, but overdrive can do like a airport--list the best sellers, scoop the easy money off the top and not work very hard at it. Then if they want to expand and make more money, they charge the little guys for "exposure."

I shouldn't type that. They might get ideas.