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Amazon To Offer Kindle ebooks Via Public Libraries
destinyland writes "Amazon announced this morning that they're making Kindle ebooks available for free in America through 11,000 local public libraries. 'We're thrilled that Amazon is offering such a new approach to library ebook...' said one Seattle librarian, and one Kindle blog listed out the top advantages to having them available in libraries."
I presume the service will automatically delete the books a week after borrowing?
With tech tools, the better way to create envy for something you're selling is to give a try to your futurs consumers.
I would be curious to see if my library system is on it. And I know damn well that they don't update their website except maybe once a year.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Congratulations Amazon! You now offer a service that ALL OF THE OTHER ereader sellers have been able to take advantage of for years! B&N, Sony, Kobo, Bookeen, etc...
Nothing exposes the primitive nature of profit quite like the arbitrary rules that govern the copying of easily copied information.
As an aside: Somebody is getting paid; library books are by no means free. That is the great deception propagated by social programs: "The benefits are free."
I don't really understand why this system should work long term. What benifet does the local library add to a website where you borrow books? I would think you could cut the libraries out of the equation and not lose anything.
The thing I like about the Kindle is that it's software as well as the hardware device. I have a Kindle app on my phone, desktop, laptop, and tablet, but no hardware from Amazon.
I think they're more interested in the part where you can press a button and buy the book from Amazon and keep your bookmarks and annotations.
Overdrive offers library e-books in several formats. All the books I browsed through at my library today were offered in Kindle, ePub, and PDF.
So, libraries having limited resources will buy titles in one maybe two formats. And considering the popularity of ereaders, I'm guessing that Kindle versions of titles will be purchased with the books on tape version - no expensive printed books. Which means, if I want to read some of those titles, I'll have to buy a Kindle. It's not like they'll buy Kindles for patrons use and if they do, they'll have to be kept on the premises.
So, this is just a way for Amazon to sell more Kindles.
None of you thought they were doing this for the public good, did you?
Except that isn't what's happening. That one copy (or two, or however many for popular novels) the library buys will, as I understand it, be available in any format, but only one of them checked out at a time, of course. If the book's in, you can choose your format and go. There's no "I'll have to buy a kindle" or "I'll have to buy X e-reader".
Today is red jello day - all workers must eat all of their red jello. Failure to comply will result in five demerits.
FYI for Canadians waiting to borrow eBooks for the Kindle from their local library, I received the following response from the Kindle feedback team:
Barnes and Nobles has been doing this for some time now. In fact BN has used this in their advertising.
Amazon provides Kindle client apps on practically all platforms today - even WP7 and webOS have them. And now they also have a "cloud reader" that works in any WebKit browser.
Amazon's business model with respect to Kindle and associated services seems to be about making money on book sales, not making money on Kindles. Which also explains why they keep pushing the price on the device down steadily over the last few years. With this program, I'd imagine that library books would automatically expire after a set date, and you'll be given an option to buy the book if you want to continue reading. Also, it'll probably also offer you to buy the book if all "copies" are already checked out at the library.
If they are using Overdrive, you don't need a reader. The app works on your PC, smart phone, notebook, whatever.
This is a service called Overdrive which has been around for quite a while. My understanding is that each library has to "buy" the eBooks, and can only lend out each of their "copies" that they "purchased". They can't lend out 2000 copies of a book if they only bought 3. It's basically setup to mirror the physical book model.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Sounds like you have a nice oppurtunity. You have a known proven buisness with no competition.
I have borrowed books from the library that I went on to buy.
And honestly most people do not take advantage of the library. You wont be losing many sales. If any.
I sort of feel like I should have just called you a dick and been done with it. Any author who would essentially say F the Library is a dick.
The libraries buy the books they lend, including ebooks. If they buy five copies, they can only lend five copies at a time. So, if 11,000 libraries are lending your book, there should be at least 11,000 sales to you. You imply that you are already publishing electronically, so why don't you already know this?
You should have spent the time typing your long-winded response to actually researching the topic.
If I used a sig over again, would anyone notice?
Amazon doesn't particularly care if you buy a Kindle. At the prices they're charging, it's doubtful that their profit margin is very high.
They want you to *have* an Kindle, or Kindle software, so that you will buy Kindle books. *That* they care about.
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
You are still selling to the libraries. There is nothing different from selling a dead tree book. The same lending policies apply to ebooks as to regular books.
11 thousand views of your book is 11 thousand more people who know of it versus zero who know about it at all or care.
All removing your book from kindle will do, is reduce your market, sadly. Amazon may have retarded DRM (and it does, and all ebooks do - Nook is just as horrid) - but at least it's an additional market to your book. 11 thousand now have access, somewhere in there is more than 0 sales for you - yes, amazon makes more money here. That is why you *never* rely on a publisher or 3rd party that has full control of your information anyway. All they do is limit the market for their own profit.
Nobody said you have to do an epub version, but it is simply an additional option for you. Or you could make your book available in some format that people can put into an ebook reader in the first place.
What other formatting are you using other than epub, anyway?
Uhh no. Those libraries each have to purchase the book for their local collection. So you would still get 11,000 library sales. Only participating publishers books are available for the libraries to purchase. This isn't copyright infringment.
Where does this or any other article say that Overdrive isn't buying the books through payments to the publishers? Because this is through Overdrive and because of the description of the changes to Whispersync, I'm more inclined to think these books are provided from Overdrive themselves and Amazon has simply provided this already-existing library service to push their books to Kindles. Either way, the library of works available goes through Overdrive, not through Amazon. Overdrive has explicit, direct partnerships with the publishers of the content the serve.
Previously, if those 11,000 libraries wanted to be able to lend my book, I would have gotten 11,000 sales. Now, if I interpret this correctly, all those people checking out the book translate into zero sales.
These two sentences don't go together. If a library wants a lending copy, it would buy it. There are your 11,000 sales. Then (whether dead tree or data) they lend out their copy. You wouldn't get sales from lent paper copies any more than you get them from data copies, so all those people checking it out would mean zero sales for hard copies as well. Only people who liked it enough to buy it after they got it from the library would pay for a hard copy, and those people can buy a Kindle copy as well. You could make the argument that every single borrower who checks it out will steal it, but I'd have to see some proof that that's the case before I'd buy it. If someone checks a book out of the library and then likes it so much that they decide they want a copy to reread, it stands to reason that they'd want to support you by buying that copy. It may make it easier to steal the book, but that would be true for every eReader anyway.
Virg
That isn't what this says at all. Nowhere did it say that Amazon was giving your books away for free. Did you even read the article? They're teaming up with libraries using a service they were already using and making it more convenient to use with the Kindle. That's it. They're giving free Kindle VERSIONS of books available through the over drive service.
Chill out. Seriously. I can't believe you produced such a huge rant on so little information.
"Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - BenF
The knowledge of a civilization now in the hands of a corporation(s) thanks to DRM and a society that sold freedom for convenience.
one Kindle blog listed out the top advantages to having them available in libraries.
It is an interesting blog entry, that points out a bunch of the selfish little things that blogger gets out of it, but he missed one advantage:
It is in the long-term best interests of society to make works of science and the useful arts available for borrowing to all. In fact, broadening the reach of such information is the only reason we suffer copyright to exist in the first place. The profit creators are granted through the right of first sale is just a means to that end.
The amazing part of this story is not the wondrous new opportunity we have to borrow published materials from others after the first sale -- it is the chutzpah of the kleptocracy that kept it from happening on day one. And that selfish little kleptocrat blogger is no better. The point of this is not what it does for you, little man, it is what it does for society.
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See Neil Gaiman's take on e-book piracy, then re-think your stance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qkyt1wXNlI
This may seem like a minor nit, but as someone who has depended on it in the past, I have to mention that you're completely ignoring inter-library loans. The number of books paid for depends more on the borrowing load than on the number of institutions involved in the lending -- and I'm talking about paper, not etexts.
I'm pretty sure there will be some kind of compensation model here.
Also note that Amazon isn't the first to do this. They are in no way blazing new territory here. They're partnering with OverDrive, and OverDrive has been lending out etexts for a while now. It's just that in the past, they were EPUB or PDF format with Adobe's DRM, and so were largely unavailable to Kindle users specifically (but Sony and Nook and iOS users could already get 'em).
http://www.overdrive.com/
Speaking as someone in the last stages of preparing content for publication, I'm seriously leaning towards dropping plans for a Kindle edition because of this.
Maybe you could tell us the name of your book? You give the impression that it has been very thoroughly researched, and provides an insightful look at something or other.
Bah. There's nothing inherently wrong with writing for the purpose of making money. As you note it's generally not nearly as efficient as a lot of other methods of earning money, but "writing for the sake of the art" isn't all it's cracked up to be, either.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
My local library has been offering ebook lending for several years. They recommend Overdrive but the drm is just Adobe so you can use any ebook reader which supports adobe drm. You download the book in encrypted format and you get a time limited license which allows you to read it. After the 3 week lending period expires you cannot read the book anymore. There also seems to be a lockout in place so that only a one person can read a given ebook at a time. That sounds pretty silly but I guess it is a requirement of the publisher.
Its a pretty good system and I like being able to browse from home but the selection is still fairly poor.
Are you aware that the library lending program is administered through OverDrive, not directly through Amazon? Are you also aware that it is opt-in only on a per-title basis?
The library is a marketing arm for you - if it buys your book it will publicize it as a new acquisition. People are also impatient they got this newsletter from their library on the new release but it is currently checked out at the moment.. time to buy it online.
People who like a book after reading it from library will buy it for themselves or as gift for someone. I've bought 3 books off Amazon as gifts for others in the past year because I was exposed to them in the library one of which had an $80 price tag. I would have never seen or heard about the book and it would have been off my radar.. instead it helped me give a great gift that the recipient really appreciated and helped the author with another sale.
I can't speak to the experience of epub vs.kindle but more exposure is usually not a bad thing and owners of the kindle apparently like the device. Freeloaders freeload... You won't sell to them regardless of platform and if you have spent anytime on slashdot and read an RIAA/MPAA/Gaming Torrent thread you would already be aware of this dynamic (I'm neither supporting or admonishing this behaviour. Just pointing out that it exists).
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
Furthermore, if someone is going to pirate an ebook, why would they bother going through their library's website? I'm sure a few people will do this, thinking that they are somehow doing something "more ethical" or whatever (I've heard this argument from people who check out CDs and rip MP3s as opposed to just torrenting the albums), but it's not going to be very many. Why put up with the extra hassles?
If I had to take a guess, I'd say that the vast majority of people borrowing ebooks through their local library wouldn't even know what DRM is, let alone how to go about removing it.
Best thing for authors (such as GP) to remember when publishing electronically: the people who are going to pay for your content will pay for it if the quality is there. The people who are going to pirate it aren't likely to buy it at any price and aren't even worth worrying about.
Yep. It works pretty well , too. The only real problem is that the libraries are stupidly limited to a certain quantity of each book. So if someone else has "checked out" the e-book you want, you can't have it. What was a real limitation of physical books being loaned, has become a gimped feature of electronic books. Of course, it's not B&N's fault... the publishers simply don't know what to do with e-books at all. That's why you see them priced higher than physical hardcovers a lot of the time.
I'll take my Nook over the Kindle any day. ;)
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
Yeah, that seems to be a recurring pattern for me too - outside of the US = not eligible to access some Amazon Kindle titles period (like the full set of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), buy some products from Amazon store (Tachyon HD Micro for example), be eligible for their free shipping, watch Hulu (or a billion other video streaming services), access good half of Netflix titles... you name it. If you ask me - that's US companies missing out on business, while consumers have to suffer... for whatever reason.
Bow before me, for I am root.
Where did this article mention overdrive? The summary says that Amazon is "making Kindle books available for free". Neither the Slashdot article nor the Amazon press release provided any indication that authors would get paid for this in any way. So my reaction is exactly what Amazon should expect from anyone who isn't already familiar with Overdrive and how they operate....
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Yes, I did. Nowhere in the Slashdot article or the press release or the blog entry did Amazon say anything about teaming up with anyone, much less the name of the service. Go read it again.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
But do you expect the publishers to let the library have an unlimited number of copies for one flat fee? (Flat fee, regardless of the # of copies read.)
Or do you expect the library (and thus me, the taxpayer) to pay per e-book checkout? I don't expect that there are always N checkouts, regardless of what titles are available. If some new title becomes available, I suspect there are/would be a lot more checkouts of that particular title, compared to total checkouts in an average time period... That would make the library run out of money sooner.
Thanks. See that's the sort of information that the Amazon press release should have contained. If it had said, "Local libraries can lend any book that they have on their shelves electronically in a Kindle edition", I wouldn't have jumped to a very wrong conclusion. Instead, the article said Amazon "is making Kindle ebooks available for free in America through 11,000 local public libraries." I'm not sure how to read that sentence other than the way I read it, and the Amazon press release did nothing to change my interpretation of that sentence.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
There is such an incredible degree of irony in all this. Libraries were created with the idea that information should be free, but due to the physical cost of the book, we could only check books out for a small time. Now ebooks can be created for free, and we are doing the best we can to make sure they don't get too free. Its time to deal with the practically unbounded copy-write law, and make our libraries just websites that let you download public domain books.
Well, I'd guess starting a business that complies with US laws would be difficult enough. I'm glad I don't have to build one that complies with 194 legal customs and intellectual property laws. So from that point it's understandable, albeit still sad. (I'm outside the US myself)
bickerdyke
It's a work of fiction, though it is pedantically researched in a lot of areas.
If I took the time to research my Slashdot posts to the same degree that I research my novels, I wouldn't have time to post. Or write, for that matter. Or do my day job. Just saying. :-)
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Ok, and that is a problem how? That is part of their business model, selling the 'portal' to more sales.
As long as they don't pull anything funny with the libraries its a good thing.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Hmm. Let's see. First line of the press release (which in this case is the article): "Amazon.com today announced that Kindle and Kindle app customers can now borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 local libraries in the United States." I fail to see how "borrowing books from libraries" is substantially different from "libraries lending books" other than point of view.
Slashdot doesn't have articles, it has summaries, which generally should not be relied on as the sole source of information. In addition, the press release has a link 'for more information' in the very first paragraph. And that page has a bullet which says "Visit the website of a U.S. library that offers digital services from OverDrive." I would think that as a writer you would know that summaries and press releases seldom contain all the information someone would like to know about a subject.
In the time it took you to write your little rant you could have found out that not only is this service provided by OverDrive, but also that:
OverDrive was a founding member of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). Established in 2000, the IDPF promotes the development of electronic publishing applications and products that will benefit creators of content, makers of reading systems, and consumers, including the industry standard EPUB format.
Yeah, sounds like they are really out to screw authors.
Speaking as someone in the last stages of preparing content for publication, I'm seriously leaning towards dropping plans for a Kindle edition because of this.
Good.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Hes just an idiot.
Tho, don't libraries still get a discount on what they purchase? "oh no, i wont publish in print either beacuse its not fair"
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Amazon "is making Kindle ebooks available for free to the borrowers in America through 11,000 local public libraries." I'm not sure how to read that sentence other than the way I read it, and the Amazon press release did nothing to change my interpretation of that sentence.
That's how I read it. I don't think that's an unreasonable inference as it's how libraries currently work and Amazon wouldn't do well to go with a self-destructive lending model.
Call me an optimist, I guess.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
So you were expecting me to:
All because Amazon couldn't be bothered to put even one single sentence in their press release targeted at anyone other than end users.
My concerns are also pretty unique among authors in that I'm anti-DRM. For most folks, this would be a non-issue because by authorizing Amazon to use DRM on the title, the rental model would, at least to some extent, "just work". So it's not that I suspected Amazon would jeopardize all of their sales, but rather that this was a stealthy attempt to get publishers and authors to publish content in a locked-in-to-Kindle DRMed format.
And this is why most companies have dozens of people reading over their press releases before they go out. A press release is not a marketing blurb targeted at a single audience. A press release is an informational statement that is read by a wide range of audiences from stockholders to users to strategic partners. A proper press release must not scare the living crap out of any of those audiences. If it does, you're doing it wrong.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
I absolutely expect that libraries be granted an unlimited amount of time-sensitive loans for a reasonable fee. Sadly that [i]obvious[/i] and very doable solution is hampered by greed on the publisher's behalf. The publishers wouldn't loose any money. People don't go out and buy books because they're not available at the library at that exact moment. If anything, it would promote sales through both the library itself and people generally being more inclined to buy and use e-readers.
There is no reason, at all, to put a theoretical limit on a public service such as this. It's just another example of middle-men and distributors kicking and screaming as they are made obsolete in the wake of an emerging digital alternative.
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
How do you know that?
Again, "a reasonable fee" for unlimited amount means they get less money per book for more downloads.
Sounds like you have a nice oppurtunity. You have a known proven buisness with no competition.
That's the great thing about capitalism. I'm free to compete in this market with Amazon, just like I can compete in the desktop OS market with Microsoft or the shiny electronic toy market with Sony or Apple.
And everyone's free to dine at the Ritz.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I know because most people don't even bother to go to the library (or read for that matter) in the first place. :P
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
I applaud your stance on DRM but I am annoyed by your laziness on reading about this particular subject. I came into this article probably knowing as much about this as you...nothing. It took me like 5 minutes to get up to speed. You and I both know you could have spent a little more time reading and a little less time complaining.
It's not that I'm picking on you, but I get tired of seeing rants going off half cocked like this. Some of the discussions on here are just ridiculous. I generally consider the discussion on this site much better than Digg or Reddit (less lol more informative) and it irritates me to see people pulling shit out of their asses in discussion here. Granted I'm not perfect but I'll still call you on your shit and would expect the same in return when I get a little overly excited about something.
"Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - BenF
It mentions Overdrive when you click the link contained within the press release. This is also one of several published within the past year related to this new feature. The other press releases were more explicit about how this would be through a partnership with Overdrive.
And honestly most people do not take advantage of the library. You wont be losing many sales.
That is because libraries are inconvenient --- there is a physical location you actually have to go to to find your books, and even once you know where it is, you still have to walk down the stacks to actually get it, assuming they are at the branch you visit. Otherwise you have to wait for ILL to ship it over.
And also because library books are a little gross. It's not their fault, they're just trying to preserve the books so they can lend them to a lot of people, but they have these disgusting cellophane covers that pick up fingerprints and scratches like nobody's business, forcing you to think about all the myriad of fingers that have touched that cover before you, and whether or not some of them read those books in the bathroom....
The only thing more disgusting to touch while you're reading is the glossy cover of a magazine at the doctor's office, where you know at least some of those fingers were almost certainly attached to people with contagious illnesses.
You don't get any of that with digital distribution. Every copy is as pristine as the original. You read it on your own device, so you know where it's been. And you don't have to hunt for it. You just type in the library's website and the name of the book and whether they have it or not, you know within seconds. No worrying about inconvenient hours or locations or waiting on book post.
I think that as e-readers become more popular (and people realize the facts of the previous paragraph), we're going to see quite a lot of growing pains as the industry and readers shift to the new marketplace conditions.
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