12-13-2012, 07:15 AM | #1 | |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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Forbes: The Wrong War Over eBooks: Publishers Vs. Libraries
Good article in Forbes:
Quote:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvin...-vs-libraries/ |
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12-13-2012, 04:37 PM | #2 |
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For me this is not, and never has been, the issue. The actual issue is this: The mistaken belief that purchasing an ebook is purchasing some kind of license. Purchasing an ebook is purchasing an actual product. Once this is finally realized, most of these other issues will vanish....
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12-13-2012, 05:04 PM | #3 | |
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Quote:
I've been arguing exactly that, on this site and others, for years. |
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12-13-2012, 07:24 PM | #4 |
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nevermind
Last edited by Synamon; 12-15-2012 at 12:09 PM. |
12-13-2012, 07:43 PM | #5 |
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Pre-agency, libraries served two purposes for me:
First, they were my "test-kitchen" for new-to-me authors. If a book looked interesting and I didn't know the author, I'd borrow it from the library. If I liked the book, that author would go on my to-buy list. If I was uncertain, the next book would also be borrowed. If I didn't like it, I usually didn't read that author again. Second, they were for borrowing hardbacks for authors I wasn't willing to buy ebooks at hardback prices. For my "must-own" authors, I'd eventually buy the ebook when the price dropped. Otherwise, no sale. Since Agency pricing, I borrow almost everything exclusively. I think - after I used up a bunch of 40% off gift cards - I've purchased approximately 6 books under Agency pricing. Now that Agency pricing is....postponed?....I don't know. I've been buying books that have been offered at those really good deal prices (0.99-2.99). But I haven't seen any real change in pricing on the books I want as Agency slowly is removed. And the library habit is there, now. I'm not sure I'd go back to spending $2000 / year on ebooks, like I did before Agency pricing. |
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12-13-2012, 10:16 PM | #6 |
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Here's the central problem:
If you can easily borrow any book you want from the library, you would be either a fool or a philanthropist or a book collector to buy one. And that's not much of a funding stream for authors, editors, translators, and publishers. OP author David Vinjamuri implicitly agrees with this, and hints that his answer is to require a physical visit to the library. Since most future book sales will be on-line, the physical visit requirement would indeed make borrowing harder than buying, and thus prevent a boatload of sales cannibalization. Many months ago, I advocated the physical visit requirement (with an exemption for the seriously disabled) on this board. HOWEVER, what I've learned since then is that library patrons hate the idea. The bad publicity Random House gets when charging libraries $84 for a $10 eBook is microscopic compared to the bad publicity they, and the library, would get for sending granddad out in the rain and snow to fill up his Nook. Therefore, I'm afraid that requiring people to walk over to the library is a non-starter. The friction that people do seem to be accepting is having to wait. So I guess the system has to be built on that. However, it would be implausible to make people wait for unpopular books. So letting the library list in its catalog all 800,000 Overdrive titles (of which no one library today buys/leases more than a tiny proportion) may also be out. I hope that some libraries and publishers will be brave enough to risk small-scale physical-visit-required experiments, because no other form of friction is going to be strong enough to allow libraries to stock hundreds of thousands of copyrighted eBook titles. Someone may say that the government should just force the publishers to sell eBooks to libraries. But, besides that it would devastate employment in the publishing industry, there isn't the slightest chance of it happening. No friction, no library eBook. |
12-13-2012, 10:22 PM | #7 |
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Thanks kennyc. The system won't let me give you any karma, but wanted to let you know I really enjoyed the article. Can't wait to read the second part. I hope publishers are reading it!
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12-13-2012, 11:30 PM | #8 | |
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I don't believe the majority of people make use of their public libraries. Working people tend to not have the excess time to visit libraries, I know for decades I didn't have a library card, and I read a LOT. Not until I found an old out-of-print book I wanted to read badly and my library had a copy did I actually get a library card again. I was always reading some paperback though that I purchased.
Has that changed very much with ereaders? I don't think so... I believe the majority will still be purchasing their ebooks same as they did their paperbacks, as long as the pricing remains reasonably in line with a paperback. If they're going to start asking me to pay $20 for an ebook when I can buy the paperback for $9, something is very wrong with the system. I'll buy the real book in that case and not even have to deal with the "do I own the book or did I just license it for a one-time read for my current reader only" BS. At my library, there's a limit on the ebooks they have to offer, usually only 1 or 2 copies per book (usually just 1 though), just like having the real books on the shelves. So sticking to that model makes it very unlikely, actually impossible, that libraries will ever take away funding from authors, editors or publishers. You still have to wait often months to download the library copy of the ebook after being on a waiting list. It's not unusual to have 4 people ahead of you on the list and these are older books I'm checking out from probably the 1950s or earlier. A current best-selling novel would probably have 100 people ahead of you on the list. And that works the same as if you were waiting for the hard copy of the book to become available. And most everyone who is employed will choose to purchase a copy rather than wait months and months for a book. If libraries were purchasing one ebook copy, and then able to lend that one book to 1000 people simultaneously, then yes, I'd say there would be fear of taking away funding from the industry, but that's not how it works. They can only lend out the one copy to one person at a time. Two to three weeks later, another person can then borrow the book. There is no way around that to abuse the system to take any money away from authors or publishing houses. Quote:
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12-14-2012, 03:14 AM | #9 | ||||
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Sure, make it as inconvenient as possible, that's gonna help. I like to get my books legally as much as the next guy, but if my library ever introduced a policy like that I couldn't guarantee I won't check out other, hassle-free (if less legal) venues.
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12-14-2012, 05:30 AM | #10 |
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12-14-2012, 11:28 AM | #11 |
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I do not agree with the gist of he suggestion that says easily being able to borrow a book from a library would hurt the funding stream of authors, et. al. I mean it was what was being done before ebooks came along and authors seemed to be able to eat and keep a roof over their head. People bought books then and people will still buy books now. One thing a library has always done for me is to alert me and let me sample books from authors that I was not familiar with. That, I believe, is a good thing for authors. The more people that become aware of them, the better. Libraries and the ability to borrow from libraries is not the enemy here.
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12-14-2012, 12:30 PM | #12 | |
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Quote:
I have bought books when I discovered series or authors I enjoyed via library books. Typically, the library will have only part of a series, or only a few books by an author, and I have gone looking for the others via paid sources. |
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12-14-2012, 12:36 PM | #13 |
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Or when the waiting list is too long, as Ripplinger mentioned above...
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12-14-2012, 04:01 PM | #14 |
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Very interesting read.
I wish libraries didn't have to put up with this "war." If they owned their books, then no problem. |
12-14-2012, 08:18 PM | #15 | |||
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Quote:
We might not be talking about the same thing. If this was true, I suspect we would have heard of Simon and Schuster, and the like, working to thwart the rule. Quote:
I'm sure you would prefer something more convenient than either physical visit or chapter-at-a-time. My point is that friction in return for eBook borrowing is inescapable, even for a highly pro-patron librarian. Quote:
I can borrow an Overdrive book right from my computer -- any day of the week. This makes Overdrive much more convenient than the library ever was. Also, the paper library book is used. This doesn't bother me, but many people find it sub-optimal. By contrast, the Overdrive eBook is just as perfect as the same title purchased from Kobo or Amazon. I'd love to read Simon and Schuster eBooks, but don't because they boycott Overdrive. Do I like this? No. Are they making a stupid business decision, or harming their authors? That I can't say. |
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