Libraries Can’t Buy Many of Amazon’s Ebook Hits

[xendula]

... Happy New Year! But it’s not so happy for libraries and ebooks. As the first pricing comparison of 2013 shows, fully half of Amazon's top 20 bestsellers are not available from either OverDrive or 3M. Of those that are, none of them is available to us at the consumer price. Some of them cost over 5 times as much. ...

Full article here , found via Teleread

Unless I misunderstood the article, it sounds like it is Amazon's fault that so many of the latest additions to my library sites are only offered in ePub. Don't they realize that this may influence device buying decisions in the future?!

[HarryT]

It's absolutely nothing to do with Amazon. It's the publisher who decides whether or not to make a book available to Overdrive or 3M.

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by xendula

Unless I misunderstood the article, it sounds like it is Amazon's fault that so many of the latest additions to my library sites are only offered in ePub. Don't they realize that this may influence device buying decisions in the future?!

Four of the big six publishers refuse to sell ebooks to libraries and the two that do sell to libraries either charge very high licensing fees or restrict lending (after 26 loans the ebook must be repurchased). This has nothing to do with Amazon who are only mentioned in reference to a bestseller list. Would you think the New York Times was to blame if the article had referenced their bestseller list instead?

[JSWolf]

The way to maybe get Penguin back with Overdrive is for Overdrive to honor their contract(s) and dump partnership with Amazon and remove all Kindle eBooks.

Overdrive is violating the terms and conditions that Overdrive is to be serving the eBooks using their DRM servers. Kindle eBooks violate this as Amazon's servers are now in use to serve Kindle eBooks.

Personally, I'd rather have access to new Penguin eBooks then Kindle eBooks.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The way to maybe get Penguin back with Overdrive is for Overdrive to honor their contract(s) and dump partnership with Amazon and remove all Kindle eBooks.

I doubt it. This is the same Penguin which has knowingly absorbed and run vanity press scams in the last few years. Just have a look at Book Country.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Personally, I'd rather have access to new Penguin eBooks then Kindle eBooks.

Given the fact that you make your dislike for Amazon evident in virtually every post you make at MR, this does not fill me with astonishment.

[andreabc]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's absolutely nothing to do with Amazon. It's the publisher who decides whether or not to make a book available to Overdrive or 3M.

Say I'm a self-publisher with a Kindle bestseller... Can I just ask Overdrive to make my book available to libraries or is the process more cumbersome?

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given the fact that you make your dislike for Amazon evident in virtually every post you make at MR, this does not fill me with astonishment.

Agreed. JSWolf has quite the crusade going against all things Amazon.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's absolutely nothing to do with Amazon. It's the publisher who decides whether or not to make a book available to Overdrive or 3M.

Yes.
Also, libraries dependence on Overdrive, 3M, and other intermediaries is part of the problem.
Some (few) libraries are starting to actually buy ebooks, like from Smashwords:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...es/#more-45165

Sooner or later libraries are going to have to realize there are better ways to spend their limited funds than to rent BPH "bestsellers" at $80 a year. Especially when they are missing out on a lot of quality reads from small and indie publishers.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by andreabc

Say I'm a self-publisher with a Kindle bestseller... Can I just ask Overdrive to make my book available to libraries or is the process more cumbersome?

I'm afraid I've no idea. Perhaps you could contact Overdrive and ask them?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by andreabc

Say I'm a self-publisher with a Kindle bestseller... Can I just ask Overdrive to make my book available to libraries or is the process more cumbersome?

You have to apply to be a publisher with them (there are "publishers" that publish titles from only one author). I don't know what the exact process it is, nor how hard it is. This earlier thread has a very small amount of info...

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=139872

[llcj]

I'm wondering if someone could fill in a few blanks for me. The publishers and Overdrive and 3M have some sort of deals about the published works, but how does Amazon figure into this? Does Amazon, because its format is proprietary (I'm assuming), have licensing agreements with the publishers only, with Overdrive and 3M only, or with all parties involved?

It seems to me that because the works belong to the publishers and because Amazon's format belongs to Amazon you would need to have some sort of agreement all around. It also seems like it could get complicated.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by llcj

It also seems like it could get complicated.

Common-sense-making prohibitively so.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by llcj

I'm wondering if someone could fill in a few blanks for me. The publishers and Overdrive and 3M have some sort of deals about the published works, but how does Amazon figure into this? Does Amazon, because its format is proprietary (I'm assuming), have licensing agreements with the publishers only, with Overdrive and 3M only, or with all parties involved?

It seems to me that because the works belong to the publishers and because Amazon's format belongs to Amazon you would need to have some sort of agreement all around. It also seems like it could get complicated.

Overdrive has deals with the publishers to sell (or lease) licenses to (a very limited selection of) ebooks to libraries. For ePub, they also host servers that serve out DRM'ed files when a library user checks out an ebook license via an ADEPT-compatible reader or app.

They have a side-deal with Amazon where Amazon effectively subcontracts with Overdrive to deliver kindle-format files when a library user checks out an ebook license via a Kindle reader or app. (I'm not sure if any money actually changes hands or in which direction.)

[llcj]

Thanks, fjtorres.