Falling in Love with E-books -- Harlequin does the full "e"

[HarryT]

"Secure Mobipocket" is the name of the format.

[da_jane]

<i>Ehrm, I'm sorry but my mother and my sister do re-read them and I know many more people who do. I also read them but not re-read them which isn't strange since I never re-read a book of any genre... (good memory + bored easily...)</i>

It really depends on the book, but yes, I re-read some Harlequin books that I bought, oh, 10 years ago.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

This should be a boon to reader sales, mostly because it is pulling the readers out of the "geek" universe and into the mainstream. When it's not just "those Star Wars nuts" asking for e-books at the stores, but regular (and frequent) mainstream-reading customers, the stores will take notice.

And when those mainstream customers take a break from reading romance novels and start asking "Where's your NYT bestsellers?" there will be even more notice.

[Aenea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

"Secure Mobipocket" is the name of the format.

Mweh, I call it 'Unsecure Mobipocket' these days... hehe, sorry, couldn't help myself and yes I know you are 100% right....

[da_jane]

Steve, don't you think most of the NYT books are available in ebook format? It seems to me that its the mid list authors that we need to see in ebook format.

[NatCh]

... and the back-lists!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by da_jane

Steve, don't you think most of the NYT books are available in ebook format? It seems to me that its the mid list authors that we need to see in ebook format.

Well, I admit I've never checked, so I don't know. As you pointed out, many authors may be resistant to releasing their books as e-texts, so I expected that not all NYT bestsellers would necessarily be e-books.

On the other hand... the observation stands, because if I don't know if NYT bestsellers are available in e-books, a bookstore clerk might not know, either... and the growth of e-book readers will prompt more such questions.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by NatCh

... and the back-lists!

Which may be beginning to happen. But it leads to a thorny question.

Currently, when an author sells a book to a publisher, the publisher's rights last as long as the book is in print. If the publisher permits the book to go out of print, the author may request the that rights revert, and attempt to resell the title elsewhere.

eBooks and print-on-demand raise the question of what is meant by "out of print", and current contracts are being structured to include a combination of print sales, PoD sales, and ebook sales to make the determination.
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Dennis

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Which may be beginning to happen. But it leads to a thorny question.

I agree, but it's a market question, with a market solution. Book contracts will shift and twitch for a while and then settle back in around some kind of "norm". Authors and agents are already paying attention to e-rights. They have been since Tasini v. NYTimes. They'll just have to do some tweaking to the rights reversion clause. Personally, I don't think anything makes sense but a strict time limit for e-rights.

Print rights have a built-in milestone that the publisher has to cross to keep a book in print, that being another print run. That milestone requires a certain level of commitment from the publisher. E-rights don't have one, and the old phrases like "substantial effort to promote and sell the book" just don't make sense in e-.

[HarryT]

Some of my favourite authors, eg R.F.Delderfield, appear to have none of their books available as e-Books. Very irritating.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

I agree, but it's a market question, with a market solution. Book contracts will shift and twitch for a while and then settle back in around some kind of "norm". Authors and agents are already paying attention to e-rights. They have been since Tasini v. NYTimes. They'll just have to do some tweaking to the rights reversion clause.

Which is what's been happening.

Personally, I don't think anything makes sense but a strict time limit for e-rights.

Print rights have a built-in milestone that the publisher has to cross to keep a book in print, that being another print run. That milestone requires a certain level of commitment from the publisher. E-rights don't have one, and the old phrases like "substantial effort to promote and sell the book" just don't make sense in e-.

It won't be a strict time limit alone. Sales will also factor into it. If the book is selling well in an electronic edition, you don't want the rights to magically lapse because the time limit has expired.

Publisher commitment can take the form of attempts to promote the ebook to the intended audience, with success measured by sales.
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Dennis

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

If the book is selling well in an electronic edition, you don't want the rights to magically lapse because the time limit has expired.

Oh, yes I do. I want them coming back to me or my agent and saying "Please, sir. I want some more."

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

Oh, yes I do. I want them coming back to me or my agent and saying "Please, sir. I want some more."

Assuming they even know they need to.

Years back, I attended a talk by Dave Hartwell, who is currently a Senior Editor at Tor. At the time, he was consulting for Signet/NAL, working on their SF line. He described taking seven months to dwetermine who Signet had under contract for waht, and five more months dotting Is, crossing Ts, and making sure various rights were renewed. At that, Signet lost some properties because they'd forgotten they had the rights, but the author or agent hadn't, and sent the reversion request quite promptly as soon as rights lapsed.

I haven't seen much indication things have changed.
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Dennis

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

Harlequin also seems to "get it". They're including both MobiPocket and Sony formats, and the e-books will be "priced slightly lower" than the paper versions.

Ever been to a used book store? What's one of the largest sections? That's right - Romance Novels.

So today, person reads romance novels. Brings bag of read novels to used bookstore. Gets a couple bucks for them. But here's the important part: picks up another bag of used romance novels for pennies on the dollar. Reads them. Brings them back to the used book store. Repeat as needed.

Tomorrow, the proposal is:
Reader spend $300+ to buy an eBook reader.
Reader spends almost full price for the eBook version, then throws them away.
Reader cannot buy the eBooks used. Reader cannot trade them in.

Doesn't seem like Harlequin "gets" anything.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

Ever been to a used book store? What's one of the largest sections? That's right - Romance Novels.

So today, person reads romance novels. Brings bag of read novels to used bookstore. Gets a couple bucks for them. But here's the important part: picks up another bag of used romance novels for pennies on the dollar. Reads them. Brings them back to the used book store. Repeat as needed.

In the used book stores I know, the only thing you can do with Harlequin Romances is exchange them for other Harlequin Romances. They have no cash value.

Tomorrow, the proposal is:
Reader spend $300+ to buy an eBook reader.
Reader spends almost full price for the eBook version, then throws them away.
Reader cannot buy the eBooks used. Reader cannot trade them in.

Doesn't seem like Harlequin "gets" anything.

So why should any publisher issue ebook versions given that assumption?
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Dennis