Monday News: Debates over fee access to digital lending; DIY bookshelves; Avon to increase brand awareness
Publishing NewsAmazon / Avon / Book Reviews / Bookshelf / digital lending / Literary Agents14 Comments
Public Libraries News: Should Library ebooks be charged for? – “Against free library e-book accessible at home (Justin Tomlinson) Most publishers do not want e-book lending in libraries (DJ) therefore it’s better to charge to get them on board otherwise libraries are going to be left behind (JT) This would “protect footfall” by encouraging people to go to the branches to lend ebooks. Model preferred by Justin Tomlinson is for ebooks only to be available for loan by going to the branch (JT) Charge for e-book lending profits would be divided between library and publishers. (JT)” Public Library News
This post contains pro and against charging for library lending of digital books. The Society of Authors chimed in and wants digital loans to be “controlled and limited”. Honestly I don’t know how I feel about a fee for lending from home. In some cases, people are borrowing from home because they are housebound (physically) or they come from homes where they work during most of the libraries’ open hours. Maybe there could be a charge and then an application process to have the fee waived based upon a person’s particularly circumstance?
25 Awesome DIY Ideas For Bookshelves – “These easy and clever bookshelves look so much cooler than anything you can buy from a store. Finding creative ways to display books can be just as alluring as any kind of art.” Buzzfeed
Using found items or cheap items to create innovative bookshelves. I was cleaning out the room where Ned built a wall to wall bookshelf and we came across about a dozen extra shelves. I laughed and said he made too many but he reminded me that when we (okay Ned) built the shelves, I owned a few thousand paperbacks at the time. He then said, “thank god for digital books.”
Avon increases brand awareness through the RWA Literacy Signing – Courtney Milan posted on her blog a notice for her readers that she can be found in section 1000 of the Literacy Signing at this year’s upcoming Romance Writers’ of America convention. The Literacy Signing is open to the public from 5–8 pm on Wednesday July 25. The publishers or, in the case of self published writers, the authors themselves, donate books to be sold. All proceeds go to a literacy charity. In every previous year for as long as I can recall, the literacy signing has been alphabetic. This year, however, the signing is underwritten by Avon, according to the RWA website and the seating chart. PDF here.
Whether it is a marked coincidence or quid pro quo, all the Avon authors are grouped together in five tables in the front entrance and center of the room. It appears that Avon is trying to increase brand recognition. The front cover emblem of Avon Romance is becoming more and more noticeable on the front covers of books as you can see by the on our new releases site. This is smart by Avon.
Why RWA decided to un alphabetize everyone else in the room, though, seems like a move to disrupt and confuse readers. I suspect that sales will be down this year as readers spend a lot of time trying to decipher the map and find the location of their favorite authors.
Special authors that are broken out include Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, Barbara Freethy, Brenda Jackson, Robyn Carr, Victoria Alexander, Nalini Singh, Kristan Higgins, Jill Shalvis, Christina Dodd, Simone Elkeles and Sylvia Day. How these authors were picked to get break out tables over others, I know not.
How Much Does the Times Book Review Matter? – “The front page of the New York Times Book Review has always been—and continues to be—a much coveted spot for authors and publishers alike. But just how much does a Book Review cover affect a book’s sales in today’s publishing climate—does the revered paper publication still move units in the digital age? Using six lower- profile titles featured on the covers of two May issues of the Book Review, as well as numbers from Nielsen BookScan, which covers between 75% and 80% of print sales, PW found that the Gray Lady still has influence in the minds of readers, though not nearly on a big enough scale to seriously alter a book’s fortunes.” PW
The Agent as (Sort of) Publisher – “Diversion, like many of the endeavors agents have started (or become involved with), focuses almost entirely on digital, but does offer POD. The company launched with about 12 titles and has now published more than 60. The standard royalty split in Diversion contracts is 50/50. So what does Diversion do for half the proceeds from authors’ titles? According to Cummings, quite a bit. “We spend a huge amount of time working with metadata,” she said. That attention to metadata, which Cummings believes, is one of the key ways to sell an e-book that is not being supported by a traditional print marketing campaign. ” This is a piece by PW on agents as publishers. While the opening suggests that there are legal and ethical concerns, most of the article is spent explaining that the agents are really offering a valuable service. And what about the ethics? One agent explains it this way “I don’t think there’s a conflict of interest when people are working on commission. The AAR [Association of Authors Representatives] canon says that our fiduciary responsibility is to our clients.”PW
Egads. The statement by the agent on the meaning of fiduciary duty is frightening. Fiduciary law prevents an agent from double dealing or engaging in a conflict of interest. As Jason Ashlock said back in September 2011 :
The boundaries are clear — agents are disallowed from producing their own clients’ works; managers are disallowed from negotiating on behalf of their clients whose work they are producing. There are loopholes and creative manipulations, of course (and the entertainment attorneys on Wilshire may reap the most benefit from this structure), but the talent — the writers — benefit from a degree of protection. Why more authors organizations aren’t concerned about this is beyond me. Why agents don’t have a better grasp on the law is also beyond me.
Amazon Once Again Working on a Smartphone – The Digital Reader – “Earlier today Bloomberg reported that they have 2 creditable sources who have told them that Amazon is indeed working on a smartphone. They said it’s going to run Android and that it will be a phone, but that’s about as far as the rumor goes. Amazon is supposedly working with Foxconn on the new phone, but that doesn’t tell us anything. Fosconn is one of the largest manufacturers in the world, so saying that they’re working on a phone is about as important as saying the phone will have a battery and a screen.” the Digital Reader
“Protecting footfall” strikes me as a new way of ignoring many potential readers in order to protect the status quo. An exemption for the housebound means that the handicapped or their carers will have to trek to the library to fill out intrusive forms. Busy people who live in small towns with limited library hours will be out of luck.
I certainly hope libraries realize that their mission is to help potential readers access books and the publishers’ goal is to make money and the two are not the same.
Seems to me that I already do pay for the privilege of using books at my local library – e or paper. It’s called taxes. (for what it’s worth, I have no bone with paying my taxes either as I see it as the cost of participating in civilization)
Our library system allows you to borrow paper books from home too. I can request a book and it will be pulled from the shelves of whatever branch that has it and delivered to my door. Considering that, it seems extra burdensome for patrons to be charged to borrow ebooks.
My nearest library is in the downtown core and hell to get to any time of the day, and so I’d just as likely avoid the library altogether and go to one of the three used bookstore in walking distance from my apartment. At least with ebook lending they’re getting me on their website every week or so.
I’d be up for a subscription service, assuming I don’t have to sit on a waitlist. Unfortunately, since I live in Canada, I’d probably be shut out of that service the same way I can’t access Amazon Prime.
Honestly, I’m not sure why publishers aren’t pushing the subscription thing more a la the Harry Potter books. Libraries purchase a license for X number of years for X number of copies. When that license is up, libraries then make the decision to renew or not – or maybe only renew a select number of copies. We have a model for this already with databases – it’s something we’re used to. Also, while there are many authors you need a bazillion copies of out of the gate (the new John Grisham, the new Nora, Fifty Shades) – a couple years down the line? You don’t need all those copies anymore. You need some, but you don’t need a bazillion. So instead of renewing say 25 licenses, you renew only 5.
The authors with their own tables at RWA (besides the HUGE names like Nora) tend to be those folks being “featured” at the conference in some way. For example, Brenda Jackson is getting the lifetime achievement award. Robyn Carr is speaking at the awards luncheon etc.
(And ugh, on the signing not being alphabetical. I’m reserving final judgment until I actually attend the thing – but my first reaction is ugh and double ugh).
The map I was sent says the shaded areas are YA. The Avon authors are in the rows that are front and center at the entrance. Carolyn Jewel says she figured out the formula for the rest of us, but I honestly didn’t understand her explanation (not a math person, LOL!). It’s not by publisher, or genre, or anything that makes sense to me (but I did notice that my pub seems to be spread out with one author per table, e.g. my row is Jami Alden, me, and then Eileen Dryer). By genre might have been nice, as then readers could easily browse. I’m hoping it will lead to more interaction, but my concern is that it’s going to cause sales to plummet as readers wander about with their eyes glued to the map.
@Isobel Carr: You are right. I was confused by the numbers and the tables.
From a reader’s standpoint, I really don’t see a problem with the seating at RWA. Assuming that maps are being handed out at the literacy signing, then it’s fairly easy to find an author. If there aren’t any maps, then it’s a different story. Authors at tables 1000-1006 might actually get some additional sales since Nora Roberts is seated right behind them. That’s assuming the long lines don’t block those tables.
Aloha! For the past two years, I have volunteered with the Literacy Signing, so I offer my perspective to the seating chart. I was told that it was tradition to seat the authors alphabetically and “switch off” every year whether the entry spilled to the beginning or the end of the alphabet. In Orlando/2010, the hotel required it to be the middle. In New York/2011, it was the end. But the long lines from the breakout authors, especially Sherrilyn Kenyon, created havoc with the entry and the “Z” authors. So I think a large center aisle will address that problem.
I also noticed that the YA authors embedded in the alphabet were creating havoc, too, such as Ally Carter’s teen line was clogging up the C row. I had recommended clustering the YA authors, which seems to be the case for 2012.
“Breakout authors” are big sellers, such as Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, Christina Dood, Simone Elkeles, Nalini Singh, Kristan Higgins, and Jill Shalvis.
Other “breakout authors” have a role in the RWA conference. Brenda Jackson is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award; Robyn Carr is hosting the awards luncheon; Victoria Alexander is hosting the GH/RITA ceremony; Silvia Day is the incoming president.
No matter how RWA plans the Literacy Signing, something will go awry with that many people. It’s the nature of the beast and hopefully readers will patiently try to figure it out. The signing has been extended from two to three hours.
Regarding the rationale for the overall seating chart – has anyone asked RWA?
Cute bookshelves – that actually hold books! I love the ladder one. I get so fed up of trendy bookshelves that you can only fit a handful of books on.
25 Awesome DIY Ideas For Bookshelves
I like #4 Ladder + Wood Bookshelves the best. The others seem particularly impractical, and are truly for people who rarely buy DTB or just rarely read or are more interested in having their house look fashionable.
Public Libraries News: Should Library ebooks be charged for?
Now there’s a contradiction if I ever see one. Seems like the SoA just don’t want libraries to exist, imo.
@Kim in Hawaii – Oh probably because RWA kicked me out several years ago. I don’t think the DA readership has a huge interest in RWA events. I only thought this was interesting because of Avon’s increased brand awareness campaign.
@Jane: We’re all confused, LOL! It’s certainly got me scratching my head.
The problem with this: “it wants a deal based on the following rules: Library ebooks do not compete with commercial sales of ebooks,” is that no one has researched the effect of libraries on sales in any depth. In the absence of data, the assumption seems to be that any reading of a book that wasn’t purchased new is a lost sale
I find it tedious to read about another set of Luddites trying to close down the opportunities digital books offer, rather than figuring out how to use them to profitably make readers happy.