Kobo is keeping mum about the official launch of its joint ebookstore with Walmart, but all signs point to the launch happening in the second half of August.
Initially announced in January, the new ebookstore was going to be located on Walmart.com and would feature both audiobooks, comic books, and ebooks sold through Kobo as well as Kobo ereaders.
That was about all we knew at the time, but in the past few days I have managed to glean a few additional details.
For example, I can now point you to a couple new pages on Walmart’s website where you will shortly find Kobo’s ereaders and ebooks. The pages currently contain dummy images, but the section headings and the page URLs give away a lot of the detail.
I checked the source code for the pages, but I could not find any clues about the launch day.
I do know, however, that Kobo is currently recruiting authors through Kobo Writing Life in preparation for a big marketing push. It is all very hush-hush, but getting ready for the launch and checking details like book description length has been absorbing so many work hours at Kobo that Kobo Writing Life has stopped answering emails.
What we do know is that the marketing campaign will coincide with the launch of the ebookstore on Walmart.com. Kobo has even set the date for the launch, and sworn everyone to secrecy.
I think I am now up to seven people who know the date but cannot tell me.
Unfortunately for Kobo, the ebook distributor Streetlib has let the cat out of the bag. The big day is 21 August, but I have doubts about whether Kobo and Walmart will be ready.
If the ebookstore on Walmart.com were more complete, I would say that the launch is happening sooner rather than later. But in its current state I don’t see the site being ready in three weeks.
If you have inside knowledge about the launch day or any other inside info, I’d love to hear from you.
Amazon rolled out a new update to its Kindle Android app today. They’re finally adding split-screen support, and they announced a new feature.
First, anyone with a device running Android 7.0 Nougat is in for a treat. With this update, the Kindle app now supports Android’s native split-screen multitasking mode. While this feature won’t be useful everyone, it’s undoubtedly handy to have for this sort of app, especially for those who need to flip back and forth a lot between a couple apps.
In addition to the split-screen mode, Amazon also announced that they’d be launching a new notifications center in a few weeks. Amazon doesn’t get into specifics, just that it will include "new releases, receive deal alerts, reading insights, and more".
I have found the Kindle app notifications to be a complete waste of time in that none of the notices interested me, so I am not looking forward to the new system. Then again, the new system could not possibly be worse than the old.
Introducing Notification Center, a quick way to learn about new releases, receive deal alerts, reading insights, and more. Tap the bell icon to see it in action. Coming in the next few weeks.
Split screen is here! Resize the app to multi-task while reading without ever switching context.
The 2018 election cycle has taken a turn for the obnoxious. There’s a story going around that the candidate for a Congressional district in central Virginia has written about Bigfoot.
However, I’ve looked into this and I can’t find any evidence, just allegations.
Democrat Leslie Cockburn sparked a Twitter frenzy on Sunday by sharing a curious drawing, apparently taken from Republican rival Denver Riggleman’s Instagram page, showing a Bigfoot-like creature with its genitals obscured by a “censored” sign.
“Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica,” Cockburn continued.
Cockburn faces Riggleman on the November ballot for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Charlottesville, the site of last year’s deadly white supremacist rally.
She later shared another image from Riggleman’s Instagram page (which has since been set to private). That image shows Riggleman’s face superimposed on a drawing of Bigfoot, which also has its genitals censored.
“My ‘buddies’ thought this pic was fitting for my birthday next week,” read a caption, “and to celebrate my new book release in about a month or 2… ‘Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him.’”
Riggleman until recently had been promoting a self-published book with the same “Mating Habits of Bigfoot” title on Facebook, according to The Cook Political Report. He has since deleted that page.
You can see the two tweets below.
My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/0eBvxFd6sG
The problem with this story is that the allegations are being flung around without really any proof. All we have are two screenshots from Instagram but no context to understand them. There’s also no evidence of the supposed author page on Facebook, and the book that everyone says he wrote cannot be found on Goodreads and does not appear to exist.
Even assuming all the sources are legit, I can’t see anything here to convince me that he was doing anything more than joking around. The thing about a published book, folks, is that it is almost impossible to erase all evidence of it, so if you can’t find the book then there probably isn’t one.
Update: Rigglesman told the WaPo that there is no erotica, and what you see on Instagram is just a long-running gag about the satire he wrote 14 years ago.
While I am more than willing to change my opinion if anyone finds the book in question, right now there’s really no story here.
If you are an author with zero page views in Kindle Unlimited, you can put down the absinthe – -it’s not just you.
Dozens of authors on KBoards and in FB groups such as SPF community and 20BooksTo50K are all reporting that their dashboard in KDP is also reporting zero page reads in Kindle Unlimited.
This is a bug, but alas we do not know when it will be fixed. This is why I recommend that authors salve their suffering with alcohol while maintaining an expression like this cow’s:
Publisher ebook revenue continued to decline in the first third of this year, while trade revenues fluctuated upwards, increasing by 7.3% over the same period in 2017.
Same song, different verse.
press release:
Publishers’ revenue increased by $172.8 million (+5.5%) for the first four months of 2018 (Jan – April) compared to the same period in 2017. Publisher revenue in April 2018 was up by 4.4% over April 2017. These revenues from AAP’s StatShot Monthly Report, which tracks publisher revenue comparatively each month, represent all tracked categories (Trade – fiction/non-fiction/religious, PreK-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses).
Trade books had the greatest gains in April 2018. Compared to April 2017, revenue was up by 12.2% for Adult Books, 8.3% for Children’s/Young Adult, and 9.8% for Religious Presses. Overall, Trade was up 11.1% in April. Looking at the year-to-date (Jan – April), revenue for Trade was up 7.3% compared to the same time in 2017.
January to April: Trade Book Revenue (in millions)
Jan. – April 2018
Jan. – April 2017
Percent Change
Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction
$1,519.0
$1,415.5
+7.3%
Children’s/YA
$536.8
$503.3
+6.6%
Religious Presses
$144.6
$131.6
+9.8%
Total
$2,200.3
$2,050.7
+7.3%
Trade Book Formats
Revenue for all print formats was up in April 2018, compared to April 2017. For the year-to-date, print formats comprised $1.6 billion of revenue, up 7.4% from the same timeframe in 2017. Downloaded audio continued its significant growth and revenue for eBooks declined slightly.
Total Trade Net Revenue by Format (in millions)
Jan. – April 2018
Jan. – April 2017
Percent Change
Hardback
$769.6
$688.5
+11.8%
Paperback & Mass Market
$789.8
$759.1
+1.4%
eBooks
$358.7
$373.0
-3.8%
Downloaded Audio
$137.0
$100.6
+36.1%
Physical Audio
$12.5
$14.1
-11.4%
Board Books
$36.9
$39.0
-5.5%
Other
$95.9
$76.4
+25.5%
January to April 2018: Education and Scholarly Publishing (in millions)
Jan. – April 2018
Jan. – April 2017
Percent Change
Higher Ed Course Materials
$552.1
$527.8
+4.6%
PreK-12 Instructional Materials
$344.8
$365.3
-5.6%
Professional Books
$176.4
$161.9
+9.0%
University Presses
$17.4
$15.9
+9.5%
Total
$1,090.8
$1,071.0
1.8%
Publisher net revenue is tracked monthly by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and includes revenue from about 1,100 publishers, with participation subject to change over time. AAP also measures the revenue of the overall publishing industry with AAP’s StatShot Annual Report, which was released July 20, 2018 and can be purchased here.
I just found a 100% effective way to cut back on my time wasted on Twitter.
In what is very likely a response to scammers impersonating the South African billioniare, Twitter is now automatically suspending all accounts that have the user name "Elon Musk".
According to The Verge, this is intended to fight cryptocurrency scammers.
If you have a non-verified account that is not associated with a phone number, changing your display name to that of the SpaceX and Tesla CEO will result in an immediate lock out. Twitter will then ask you to pass a CAPTCHA test, as well as provide a phone number, to regain access.
“As part of our continuing efforts to combat spam and malicious activity on our service, we’re testing new measures to challenge accounts that use terms commonly associated with spam campaigns. We are continually refining these detections based on changes in spammy activity,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement given to The Verge. The company declined to comment on whether the measure has been put in place for any other public figure’s Twitter account.
I tested this report, and I can confirm it is true. I am locked out of my main Twitter account. Twitter is insisting that I provide a cell phone number which I may or may not give them. (I want to see how long I can go without using Twitter.)
Barnes & Noble’s publisher portal sent an email yesterday to authors announcing that it wasn’t dead – in fact, it even started accepting authors from outside the US.
Summer is upon us and things are heating up at B&N Press! We wanted to let you know about our recently launched features:
B&N Press is now open to users from Canada, Australia and New Zealand! Authors based in these countries can now start selling their books direct to B&N/NOOK readers in the U.S.
Top 5 Bestseller Sales Reporting Widget: Now you can see which titles are top performers over the past 7 or 30 days.
Category Search Tool: This tool lets you easily type to search for your most relevant categories (we recently added 4,000 additional categories, too!).
We’re adding new partners each month and recently partnered with Reedsy, who offers editorial services of all kinds, and Girl Friday Productions, who offers full service publishing packages, author logo and website design at a special price for B&N Press users.
Reedsy is also offering a FREE webinar on How to Create the Ultimate Book Launch plan exclusively for B&N Press users at 1 PM EDT on Tuesday, September 11th. Sign up here.
Sincerely,
The B&N Press Team
I was frankly surprised to read about this development; B&N’s ebook division is in a death spiral, and only generated $111 million in revenue last fiscal year.
One would think that anyone with the motivation to add new features would have left for greener pastures, but I guess not.
The recent revelation of Google making a play for the audiobook market with DRM-free audiobooks got me curious about audiobook consumption.
Do you listen to audiobooks? How?
I don’t, and after being frustrated with the format for a number of years I have come to the conclusion that I’d probably prefer the "abridged" version of an audiobook – one that more closely resembled story-telling rather than simply reciting the contents of a book. (If you’re not sure what I mean, think of how the War of the Worlds radio play differed from the book – it’s the same story, only in very different forms.)
Amazon is now selling refurbished units of its latest and greatest ereader at a 28% discount.
The Kindle Oasis 2 normally retails for $249 and up, but you can get a refurb for $179 (for the 8GB model) or $209 for the 32GB model. This is the cheapest the Kindle Oasis 2 has sold for, and it’s kind of surprising they have it priced that low given that it was just released just 8 short months ago.
The second-gen Oasis is the only Kindle with a 7″ screen, and it’s the only waterproof model – and it’s now selling for $20 less than the previous Oasis.
Amazon just hammered another nail into Createspace’s coffin.
The retailer sent out an email this morning to select Createspace users, informing them that Createspace’s disc production unit was shifting over to Amazon.
Hello CreateSpace Video and Audio Content Provider,
We are excited to announce the launch of Amazon Media on Demand and are letting you know the important steps you need to take with your CreateSpace account. Amazon Media on Demand is a new portal where our disc content providers can sell their video and audio assets as physical media products on Amazon. In addition to current CreateSpace product options, you’ll have access to exciting new features, such as the ability to create multi-disc titles and a simplified product setup workflow. Please click here to learn more.
As part of our improved service to media creators, we are moving all CreateSpace’s Disc on Demand services to Amazon Media on Demand. To prepare for this move, you will want to take the following steps:
1) Make sure that your payment/banking and tax information is up to date.
2) If you are receiving payments by check, update your payment information for electronic payment (Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or wire transfer) if you’re able to receive payments in this manner (click here to learn more).
3) If you’re planning to request proof or member orders, place your orders before August 1.
In the next few weeks, we will begin transferring your existing CreateSpace disc titles to Amazon Media on Demand. You will no longer be able to access your CreateSpace account or create new disc titles after August 31. Titles manufactured via Amazon Media on Demand will continue to be manufactured in the same facilities, on the same machines, and by the same people. Focusing our efforts on the Amazon Media on Demand portal will allow us to innovate faster on your behalf. Because of the size of our catalog, we will move all CreateSpace CD, DVD, and Blu-ray titles over to Amazon Media on Demand over the course of several weeks. During this time, your titles will remain available on Amazon.com.
You will receive an email with next steps on how to access your Amazon Media on Demand account by September 15. If you would like to move to Amazon Media on Demand earlier, please contact us.
To learn more about the great things Amazon Media on Demand has to offer, click here.
Best regards,
The CreateSpace Team
Bit by bit, Amazon has been shutting down different parts of Createspace. First they launch KDP Print, a competing/replacement POD service, then they shut down Createspace’s publishing services unit, and now they have shifted the DVD and CD production to another part of Amazon. As a result, there isn’t much left in Createspace besides the book POD service.
All of a sudden my report earlier this month about Amazon merging Createspace into KDP Print suddenly looks less like a rumor and more like a leak that revealed Amazon’s future plans, doesn’t it?
That merger is supposed to be announced in another couple weeks, and be complete by the end of the summer. I still expect that to happen but it’s also worth noting that there are certain similarities between today’s news and that two week old leak. There’s an excellent chance that the leak I reported two weeks ago was actually supposed to refer to today’s news, but was garbled at some point before it got to me.
Even if that is the case, I still expect the rest of Createspace to shut down by the end of the year at the latest.
An investment group led by Richard Schottenfeld, head of New York City-based Schottenfeld Management Corp., has acquired a 5.68% stake in Barnes & Noble.
According to a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Schottenfeld began buying B&N shares on May 29 and made his most recent purchase July 16, accumulating 4.2 million B&N shares. Schottenfeld paid between $5.32 and $6.57 per share for his stake. B&N’s shares began the year trading at $6.70, and closed at $5.65 per share on July 23.
In its filing, Schottenfeld said it purchased its stake believing B&N’s shares are “substantially undervalued and represent an attractive investment opportunity.” The filing further stated that representatives from Schottenfeld have already talked to B&N about ways to increase shareholder value, and intend to continue to hold discussions with B&N management and its board to review strategic alternatives the company might pursue.
It’s worth noting that Schottenfeld last invested in B&N in 2012, and then sold off its stock in 2015 after B&N spun off B&N Education. One of the things Schottenfeld wanted back then was for B&N to spin off the Nook division. They made this proposal only a few weeks before Nook imploded and began its permanent decline into irrelevance.
Then, as now, Schottenfeld was driven not by making B&N healthier but by getting the biggest return for stockholders. After Schottenfeld sold its stock, B&N continued to decline both in value and revenue.
Whatever Schottenfeld is proposing this time around isn’t going to kill B&N but it certainly will not help the retailer any in the long run.
Really, what we have here is a light version of the vulture investment funds that buy up retailers like Toys R Us, load them up with debt, and sell them off. While Schottenfeld isn’t quite that bad, they certainly aren’t out to help the company, either.
When Google started selling audiobooks in Play Books back in January I was quick to dismiss their service because the audiobook experience was simply awful. It was so bad that I concluded "Google clearly does not" care about selling audiobooks.
It looks like I will have to revise that opinion.
Boing Boing has brought my attention to the fact that Google will let you download your purchased audiobooks as DRM-free files.
You can find the download option in the audiobooks tab in the "My Books" section of the Google Play website. Simply click the 3-dot menu icon for a given ebook, and then select the export option.
I checked, and I can confirm this is true. I was able to download both of the audiobooks I bought from Google, and play them in VLC. I got the complete file, and not just a sample.
This is great news for anyone who wants to protect their investment, and it also gives Google a competitive advantage. Amazon refuses to let you download DRM-free audiobooks from the Audible website; when I try, they give me a file that is intended to be opened with their abysmal Audible Windows app. (I gave up in despair a while ago.)
I know where I will buy my audiobooks in the future; how about you?
Do you know how companies sometimes like to buy editorials that support their position (I see this a lot in the WSJ), or even go so far as to fund think tanks to produce position papers to order?
Amazon should open their own bookstores in all local communities. They can replace local libraries and save taxpayers lots of money, while enhancing the value of their stock.
There was a time local libraries offered the local community lots of services in exchange for their tax money. They would bring books, magazines, and journals to the masses through a borrowing system. Residents could borrow any book they wanted, read it, and return it for someone else to read.
They also provided residents with a comfortable place they could enjoy their books. They provided people with a place they could do their research in peace with the help of friendly librarians. Libraries served as a place where residents could hold their community events, but this was a function they shared with school auditoriums. There’s no shortage of places to hold community events.
Libraries slowly began to service the local community more. Libraries introduced video rentals and free internet access. The modern local library still provides these services, but they don’t have the same value they used to. The reasons why are obvious.
This piece was written by a professor of economics, and it is so lacking in facts or any real connection to reality that the writer gives other ivory tower intellectuals a bad name.
There is literally not a single sentence in this piece that stands up to scrutiny. Not only has the writer never used a library, he is equally unacquainted with Amazon Books – a cursory visit would reveal it cannot provide half the services we get from libraries.
And that is just the beginning of the ignorant nonsense he spouted.
Here are my favorites:
There’s no shortage of places to hold community events – says the guy who has never tried to organize one. I have a Meetup group that is on hiatus because it is so hard to find meeting spaces; if not for libraries, we would not meet at all.
streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have replaced video rentals – but they only work in the about half of the country that has fast internet. And guess what? People who live in rich parts of the country still have slow internet; until I got service through Comcast, I had Verizon DSL. It was barely capable of streaming one SD video at a time, and only if you stopped all other web activity.
streaming services (cont’d) – Furthermore, streaming services are great if you can afford to pay for all of the upgrades to get all of the content. I can’t even afford to do that; can you?
streaming services (cont’d) – Another problem with streaming services that the Forbes writer didn’t mention is that the services are great right up until a studio decides to pull its content. You can’t watch what isn’t there, but you can borrow DVDs from the library (hat tip to Michael Carusi for making this point on Twitter).
Technology has turned physical books into collector’s items, effectively eliminating the need for library borrowing services – for rich people like the Forbes writer who can afford to collect them, this is true. It is not true for the rest of us.
Amazon have created their own online library that has made it easy for the masses to access both physical and digital copies of books – Again, if you can afford it. Sadly, many of us are not as rich as the Forbes writer.
Amazon Go basically combines a library with a Starbucks – no – just no. (If I had allowed myself to become emotionally involved, this is where I would be gibbering in anger.)
And finally:
The problem with market "solutions" to public services is that it conveniently ignores the realities of market economics. There are many places that do not have bookstores because the local market will not support one. Many of those places do have libraries, however.
Furthermore, the other problem with so-called market solutions is that it frequently makes sense for a business to ignore, say, 90% of a market and instead concentrate on the 10% that is profitable.
Edit: I can phrase that better.
The other problem with so-called market solutions is that they depend on businesses that are motivated by profit rather than serving the public good. If it makes sense for a business to ignore, say, 90% of a market and instead concentrate on the 10% that is profitable, then the company will do so.
I should not have to point this out to a professor of economics, but a market solution to a public program that ignores 90% of the public is by definition not a solution, but that is academia for you.
Anyone who thinks that Amazon Books can replace a library is just as wrong as the fools who argued in 2013 that libraries could be replaced by Kindle Unlimited.
My local library serves a population of 463 thousand at a cost of $37 per resident in FY2017. It used those funds to:
give 92 thousand people internet access,
answer over 600 thousand questions,
loan 3.6 million books, media, and other item, and
host 5,152 special events and programs where 186,273 attended.
That is only a tithe of what my local library does. I have left out at least a dozen other services, none of which I could get from an Amazon Books store.
The Association of American Publishers released its annual StatShot estimate on Friday. You can buy the report from the AAP, or find the press release below.
There isn’t much detail in the public press release, so I won’t be adding much commentary.
However, as I have previously reported, the AAP’s annual estimates are not considered reliable, so you should take these figures with a grain of salt.
Press release:
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) issued its 2018 StatShot Annual Report today which found, among other things, that the U.S. book publishing industry generated an estimated $26.23 billion in net revenue for 2017, representing 2.72 billion units. All figures represent publishers’ net revenue from tracked categories (trade, higher education course materials, preK-12 instructional materials, professional books, and university press), in all formats, from all distribution channels. These are not retailer/consumer sales figures.
Publisher revenue for trade books (fiction, non-fiction and religious presses) were flat (0.3%) increasing by $45 million in 2017 over 2016. Since 2013, publisher revenue for trade books increased by around $820 million.
StatShot Annual is based on a unique methodology that combines annual data submitted by publishers, along with market modeling, to estimate the total size of the U.S. publishing industry. It is a different report than AAP’s monthly statistics reports, which track publisher revenue comparatively on a month-to-month basis. Below is a top-level summary of the data, but the entire report is available for purchase.
Publisher Revenue in Billions 2013 – 2017
Year
Trade
Higher Ed
PreK-12
Professional
University Press
Other
Total
2013
$15.13
$4.81
$3.84
$2.97
$0.30
$0.02
$27.07
2014
$15.43
$4.85
$4.27
$3.09
$0.30
$0.00
$27.96
2015
$15.82
$4.53
$4.11
$3.05
$0.29
$0.00
$27.80
2016
$15.90
$3.96
$3.73
$2.37
$0.28
$0.04
$26.27
2017
$15.95
$3.98
$3.62
$2.35
$0.29
$0.04
$26.23
Some highlights from the report:
Non-fiction books for adults is the category with the largest growth for publishers, with a 5.4% increase in publisher revenue from 2016 to 2017. Since 2013, revenue for the category has grown 28.4% to $6.18 billion. Nearly 150 million more adult non-fiction books were sold in 2017 than in 2013.
Publisher revenue for adult fiction declined slightly, by -1.2% to $4.38 billion. From 2013 to 2017, this category saw only one year of revenue growth (2015).
Both fiction and non-fiction books for children and young adults saw more units sold in 2017 than in 2016, up 1.1% and 4.4% respectively. Over the past five years (2013 – 2017) publisher revenue for children’s and YA fiction has grown by 11.3% to $3.67 billion and non-fiction has declined by -2.3% to $652 million.
Downloaded audio remained the fastest growing format, with 28.8% year-over-year growth from 2016 to 2017 and 146.2% growth over the past five years (2013 – 2017).
More than 1 billion paperback books were sold (more than any other format in 2017) comprising 36.9% of books sold in all categories.
For the first time publisher sales to physical and online retail channels were approximately equal at $7.6 billion and $7.5 billion respectively in 2017. Within online retail channels, 43.2% were print formats, 27% were eBooks, 16.3% were instructional materials, 10.5% were downloaded audio, and 3.1% were physical audio or a different format.
Revenue from higher education was flat (0.5%), revenue from pre-K-12 and professional books declined in 2017 by -2.9 and -0.7% respectively.
About StatShot Annual:
AAP member and non-member publishers provided data in response to a 2018 statistical survey that covers revenue and units by categories, channels, and formats. Survey participants in StatShot Annual may not be the same as those who participate in AAP’s monthly surveys. Since the annual survey does not include all known industry publishers, estimates are used for publishers who do not participate directly in data collection. These estimates are based on sales data included in company financial reports, trade and news media reporting, government filings, BooksinPrint, press releases, third party research services, and private sources.
StatShot Annual Distribution:
Participants receive a complimentary copy of the full StatShot Annual Report. Otherwise, the report is available for purchase here. For more information about the report, email Syreeta Swann at [email protected].
Tor Books has just demonstrated that the decision makers at Macmillan are surprisingly ignorant on the basic principles of microeconomics in general.
Earlier this weeks Tor Books informed libraries that it was windowing library ebooks. Starting this month, ebooks would be delayed by as much as 40 months.
Here’s the statement, as reprinted by one of the Upper Arlington Public Library:
Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers and a leading global publisher of science fiction and fantasy will be changing our eBook lending model to libraries as part of a test program to determine the impact of eLending on retail sales. Our current analysis on eLending indicates it is having a direct and adverse impact on retail eBook sales.
Effective with July 2018 publications, all new titles from Tor Books will become available for library eBook distribution four months after their retail on-sale date rather than the current program which allows libraries to purchase the titles on their retail on-sale date. During the test period, we will work closely with our library vendors who service this channel to evaluate the results and develop ongoing terms that will best support Tor’s authors, their agents, and Tor’s channel partners.
In addition, Macmillan will actively participate in the recently launched “Panorama Project,” the first large-scale, data-driven research project focused on understanding the impact of library holdings on book discovery, author brand development, and retail sales (panoramaproject.org).
With data from both programs, we will be in a better position to analyze and understand the impact of eLending on our publishing program. The timing of the test period is open-ended.
OverDrive also sent a message to libraries, but I don’t have it yet.
Edit: It has been added to the end of the post, along with the ALA statement.
I do, however, have the statement that Macmillan sent to PW. "We have been seeing an adverse impact on our ebook sales over a period of time," Macmillan said, "and are using this test to determine if library ebook lending is one of the contributing factors."
This is so bizarre that I had to read it twice before I could beleive that Macmillan could say something this clueless. (I also have to wonder what drug Andrew Albanese is on, that he did not react to the quote – Xanax?)
The thing is, I know why Macmillan has poor ebook sales, and so do you.
Macmillan has poor ebook sales because they have adopted a policy of discouraging ebook sales in favor of print sales. Macmillan adopted this policy in late 2009 when they conspired with Apple and 4 other publishers to violate antitrust law by forcing Amazon to accept what is called agency pricing, a system where the publishers set the price and retailers are prohibited from deep discounts and sales.
That is established historical fact, and so is the antitrust suit brought by the DOJ, Macmillan settling the lawsuit, its punishment, and Macmillan’s return to agency in 2014.
Everyone knows this; you could even ask Mike Shatzkin and he’ll tell you pretty much the same thing. To pretend that Macmillan’s poor ebook sales are a result of anything other than Macmillan’s own policies shows a basic lack of awareness of consumer behavior.
Pretending that the cause might be library ebooks, on the other hand, is reminiscent of Animal Farm (or possibly 1984, but either way Orwell nailed it).
It almost makes you wonder if this is really just a smokescreen for something else, doesn’t it?
At the beginning of July, Tor, a division of Macmillan, announced without warning that it was immediately beginning to embargo ebook sales of new titles to libraries for four months. Today American Library Association (ALA) President Loida Garcia-Febo issued the following statement:
“The American Library Association and our members have worked diligently to increase access to and exposure for the widest range of ebooks and authors,” said Garcia-Febo. “Over years, ALA made great strides in working with publishers and distributors to better serve readers with increasingly robust digital collections. We remain committed to a vibrant and accessible reading ecosystem for all.
“I am dismayed now to see Tor bring forward a tired and unproven claim of library lending adversely affecting sales. This move undermines our shared commitment to readers and writers—particularly with no advance notice or discussion with libraries. In fact, Macmillan references its involvement with the Panorama Project, which is a large-scale, data-driven research project focused on understanding the impact of library holdings on book discovery, author brand development, and sales. For this reason, this change by Tor—literally on the heels of Panorama’s launch—is particularly unexpected and unwelcome.
"The ALA calls for Macmillan to move just as quickly to reverse its course and immediately lift the embargo while the Panorama Project does its work.”
The American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice of libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org.
And here’s the email OD sent to libraries
Dear ****
On behalf of **********, your account manager, I am writing to let you know we received notice from Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers, regarding a change in policy for eBook lending availability for libraries. Tor Books titles will now be delayed for library availability for four months from their retail release date, beginning with the July 2018 releases. As your library has placed pre-orders for titles affected by this change, we are cancelling orders for these titles. You can see affected titles in your “Recalled Content” report in Marketplace. We have attached Macmillan’s notice of this policy change.
OverDrive is dismayed and disappointed in Macmillan’s decision. We take issue with Macmillan’s conclusion that library availability has an adverse impact on retail sales and Macmillan has not shared the data or analysis that supports this statement.
We are in ongoing and active dialogue with Macmillan to provide data and information to advocate a change of this policy. Macmillan plans to participate in the Panorama Project, which is undertaking a series of pilot programs and research projects to provide objective evidence of the impact of library catalogs and lending as it relates to book discovery, author brand, and retail sales.
We encourage you to contact Macmillan directly to provide your feedback at [email protected].
