This Is One Of My Pet Peeves, And I’m Going To Loosen Its Leash A Little.  The Way The Big Five Publishers

This is one of my pet peeves, and I’m going to loosen its leash a little.  The way the Big Five publishers handle e-books “sales” to libraries is depressing.  (I put “sales” in quotes because it is frequently more like leasing than buying.)  Libraries pay more, have limitations on the number of check-outs (which can only be used sequentially, no matter how many people are waiting to read the book), and/or have limitations on how long they can “own” an e-book.  Libraries also have to make their patrons jump through numerous hoops in order to access their e-books.

Want some examples?  These are books currently on the New York Times best seller list.

Where the Crawdads Sing -- list price: $26 (hardcover), e-book price on Amazon: $15, e-book price for a library: $55 (for a 24-month lease)

The Art of Racing in the Rain -- list price: $17 (paperback), e-book price on Amazon: $9, e-book price for a library: $17 (for 26 check-outs)

Becoming by Michelle Obama -- list price: $32.50 (hardcover), e-book price on Amazon: $15, e-book price for a library: $55 (for a 24-month lease)

Bitterroots -- list price: $28 (hardcover), e-book price on Amazon: $15, e-book price for a library: $60 (for the earlier of 52 check-outs or 24 months)

Bear in mind, if a library needs more copies of a physical book to fill holds, their vendors have it at a discounted price.  If not, the library can go to any bookstore or even to Amazon to get the book.  For an e-book, libraries can only buy from a small collection of companies because library e-books need extra restrictions to allow patrons to check them out at all.  A library can’t just go to Amazon to get e-books at consumer prices because they wouldn’t be able to loan that copy to people.

Libraries are fighting to preserve your right to borrow e-books
Creating barriers to access to e-books, which is what publishers are doing to resist dominance by Amazon, says Jessamyn West, disrupts the public good libraries were created to serve. Public libraries exist in large part because they are necessary to a functioning democracy, West writes.

As publishers struggle with the continuing shake-up of their business models, and work to find practical approaches to managing digital content in a marketplace overwhelmingly dominated by Amazon, libraries are being portrayed as a problem, not a solution. Libraries agree there’s a problem – but we know it’s not us.

More Posts from Bibliofran and Others

7 years ago

This is totally a feature!  We should exploit the coat hangers out of it.  

Does anyone know if it works the same for different flavors of English?  If a group of people from the US, Canada, Britain, and Australia are all absolutely coat hangered, are they all in the same condition, or are some of them drunk, some of them shocked, and some of them just confused?

you can make nearly any object into a good insult if you put ‘you absolute’ in front of it

example: you absolute coat hanger


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6 years ago

They’re so cute!

Funky Lil Pride Kitties!

funky lil pride kitties!

planning on making them into holographic stickers ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜


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8 years ago

Pride dice!  They’re so pretty!!

I made some tiny pixel polyhedral die pride banners like the queer tabletop dork I am. please like or reblog if using :-) Part two here with even more pride!

bi pride

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ace pride

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gay pride

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genderqueer pride

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trans pride

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pan pride

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11 months ago

Agreed -- this is a very good time to remind voters that US presidents come with a built-in backup.

I wonder...

The media cannot get over the Biden Old thing, and of course the more they talk about it, the worse that is for everyone.

There are Dems in power that are calling for Harris to be the nominee.

What if...

Biden and Harris gave a simultaneous speech. Like they're both on stage. They both have their own lines throughout the speech, trading off to make different points. I wonder if you could remind everyone that Kamala Harris is already on the ticket.

If Biden really is too old and really can't do the job, surprise! That's what we have a VP for! He can step aside when that time comes and Kamala can take over, a process that we already have rules in place for. (And hey, Black female president, everyone!)

And you drive that point home by having them tag team a speech, which I'm pretty sure has never been done before, and acting like a team. Like a well-oiled speechifying machine. Maybe people would feel better if they weren't thinking that it's just one old man, alone?


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7 years ago

ACA open enrollment starts soon!

bibliofran - The Dragon's Hoard

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7 years ago

This sounds like a variation on Tom Smith’s Undead Happy Trees.

imagine Bob Ross painting in the style of Hieronymus Bosch

“this little demon down here is kind of lonely, let’s give him some happy little friends. little demon party.”


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6 months ago

If you don't run, VOTE. (Vote if you do run, for that matter.) There is a lot at stake locally and in your state, and the ability for one person to make a difference in these elections is very high.

I know it feels like we just did this, but voting is like doing the dishes or laundry -- you have to keep at it. Unlike housework, you don't want to designate one person in your community to handle the chore for everyone else. (Let's be honest, they would probably fold your shirts wrong, too.)

Hey, USAmericans? Wanna Save Your Country? Run For Something!

Hey, USAmericans? Wanna save your country? Run For Something!


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8 years ago

Reblog if you go to fictional characters for comfort.

Whether it be when you feel you don’t belong, when you feel upset, when you’re angry, when you’re going through a hard time or when you’re feeling empty. (Social Experiment: I want to see how many people do this)

7 years ago

I’m a little over half-way through and really enjoying this book.  The short stories are based on fairy tales, and they feature a variety of asexual, aromantic, and other LGBTQIA+ characters.  It’s worth way more than 99 cents!

Unburied Fables Is 99 Cents Until June 10th!

Unburied Fables is 99 Cents Until June 10th!

This collection enlisted talent around the world. From students to seasoned professionals, these writers came together to raise awareness and reinvent classic stories. While they showcase a wide variety of origins, styles, and endings, all the tales in this anthology have one classic element in common: a happily ever after. Fifty percent of this collection’s proceeds will be donated to the Trevor Project, a non-profit focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual and other queer youth.

Or donate directly to @thetrevorproject anytime in the month of June and I’ll send you the ebook! 


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bibliofran - The Dragon's Hoard
The Dragon's Hoard

Random stuff I have collected. All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer.  (Icon by Freepik: www.freepik.com)

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