Wednesday Midday Links: Libraries search for better deals to provide digital lending to customers
Publishing NewsAmazon / Apple / digital lending / Smashwords10 Comments
Califa Lands $325,000 in Funding for Ebook Ownership Project; Deal Close With Smashwords — The Digital Shift – “The San Mateo-based Califa Group, which is the largest library network in California, has made major strides in its project to create an ebook ownership model along the same lines as the Douglas County Libraries in Colorado. Califa has substantially increased its funding for the project from an initial $30,000 to $325,000, and Contra Costa County Library is going to be the pilot library for the project; The consortium, which represents 220 multi-type library systems, is on the verge of striking a deal with Smashwords for outright ownership of its top-selling titles, which will also include a self-publishing option for patrons;” The Digital Shift
The less that public libraries have to rely on traditional publishers to provide content for its patrons, the more dangerous it is for traditional publishers. I would expect to see Kindle strike some deals directly with libraries as well.
Apple Releases Standalone Podcasts App — AppAdvice – “Podcasts app is the easiest way to discover, subscribe to and play your favorite podcasts on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Explore hundreds of thousands of free audio and video podcasts from the Podcasts Catalog, and play the most popular podcasts, organized for you by topic, with the all-new Top Stations feature.” App Advice
Apple eliminated Podcasts from being included in the iTunes app and has rolled out a standalone app to replace it.
Karen Baney» The Pros and Cons of KDP Select – “By participating in the KDP Select program and taking advantage of all of the features of the program, I damaged my credibility to readers. I got tons of exposure, but some of it turned out to be very negative. I turned away fans by removing books that they were looking forward to reading” Karen Baney
I know that there is a lot of resentment toward Kindle only available books. Readers email me about this regularly.
Jeff Bezos quote | We’re not going to make our customers pay for any of our inefficiencies | Rumspeed – “Our profitability is not our customers problem… We’re not going to make our customers pay for any of our inefficiencies.
“Rumspeed
Rumspeed has a video of an interview with Bezos. This quote, pulled by Rumspeed, highlights the difference between mainstream media and Kindle. I don’t mean just book publishers because music is much the same way as evidenced by the fight between NPR intern and David Lowery, an establishment musician. The argument that we should care about the culture of musicians, record labels, and publishers holds little weight with consumers. The customer only cares about the product and trying to sell them on the process is a losing game.
That library infographic is brilliant and sad.
As both a librarian by training and a library user, I hate seeing all the cuts. I love that there’s something that shows the positives too — ebooks, training, apps. It would be great if the infographic got a lot of publicity so the non-librarians of the country can see what good the libraries do.
My library (shoutout: Mid-Continent Public Library, which is not only awesome, but brilliantly managed) asked me to participate in that survey, and I did gladly. (I never participate in surveys.) I got the vibe that the questions hinted at providing office-conference room services. I would PAY for that, since I go there to work to get away from my home office. Now, I go to my alma mater’s library to work when I absolutely do not want internet access (since it’s not available to alums without paying a fee).
Never say never. I said I would NEVER use KDP Select and have actively tried to guide my clients away from it, but you know what? After a client of mine had mind-boggling success with it, I had to reassess my strategy. I decided that as low as my sales on Amazon were for my doorstopper book, they were nonexistent everywhere else. I figured I could spend 90 days on an experiment if it were possible I could get the title listed for free for five days (psst: July 6-10) and have a chance at hitting a list. I understand the concern and I share it, but I could not longer ignore some of these numbers I’m seeing for the price of a 90-day exclusive.
I am surprised Indiana is not a state showing decreased funding. They closed one of our libraries here and only the main branch is now open on Sundays, all the others are closed. They also decreased the hours of all the branches. Maybe all of the big cuts happened in 2009-2010 and so 2011 showed the same budget?
“The less that public libraries have to rely on traditional publishers to provide content for its patrons, the more dangerous it is for traditional publishers. I would expect to see Kindle strike some deals directly with libraries as well.”
Yes! This is such a smart move on the part of libraries. It forces traditional publishers to compete.
The less that public libraries have to rely on traditional publishers to provide content for its patrons, the more dangerous it is for traditional publishers. I would expect to see Kindle strike some deals directly with libraries as well.
This. Traditional publishers continue to think of ebooks as competition, when they should be thinking of ebooks as a weapon against their real competition: movies, TV, video games, social networking, and the entirety of the internet.
I’m living, breathing proof of this: I started reading when I was three years old, and I’ve been reading a ton ever since. I even have a Masters in Library Science, though I’ve never worked as a librarian. Last week, I realized that it’s been THREE MONTHS since I read a fiction book (ebook or paper, self-published or traditionally published). What happened? The Avengers. I’ve been consumed by fandom, and since March I’ve been reading nothing but fanfiction and immersing myself in Tumblr, both of which I can do on my phone. This is your true competition, Simon & Schuster, et al.; why do you continue to do things that make me have bad associations with your very names?
I really have to take the time to sit and watch Bezo’s interview. I did get a chance to read the blog posts for NPR’s Emily and David Lowery.
Fact of the matter is this: Your career is your problem. I am not going to spend my time worrying about someone’s livelihood who is not worrying about mine.
I can’t be arsed to pirate music (ebooks either) however. I just don’t buy it at all. Not sure if that’s what David Lowery was looking for but there it is.
When I got on Overdrive, which has both a retail and a library arm, I was told that many publishers “customarily” price their Overdrive ebooks to libraries 15 to 25% higher than to retail.
I find this completely backwards. There’s a place where people can try my books and the librarians may actively tell them to do so, and I’m supposed to charge them MORE?
Crazy talk.
My library in Ohio is one of those that allows people the loan of preloaded Nooks. Each type of Nook has different type of books preloaded, for instance, Nook Colors have the picture books.
I didn’t even know about this though until I signed up for the summer book club because of a pamphlet in my welcome bag. (Side note: I also got a free book! For keeps!)
I wish that the general public knew how important libraries are, not just for books, but for educating and enhancing a community.
I think I saw in the Smashwords email that once they get the library program established, they may allow authors to offer their book for free to libraries. I wonder, though, how the librarians will select which self published books to add to the collection? They’ll either get them in bulk, like widgets, or it will take a lot of time, I guess. Should be interesting.
@Courtney Milan: I work for a library in Ohio that uses Overdrive and have been keeping an eye on articles and info about ebooks, publishers and libraries. Random House has actually increased most of their prices for ebooks to libraries by close to 300 %. E-books are also not discounted to libraries like paper books, so we have to pay the full price, increase and all. You can read about it here: Librarians Feel Sticker Shock as Price for Random House Ebooks Rises as Much as 300 Percent