On HarperCollins Library Love Fest blog, HarperCollins president of sales Josh Marwell wrote an open letter explaining the publisher’s controversial new eBook lending policy for libraries.
Here’s an excerpt: “We have serious concerns that our previous e-book policy, selling e-books to libraries in perpetuity, if left unchanged, would undermine the emerging e-book eco-system, hurt the growing e-book channel, place additional pressure on physical bookstores, and in the end lead to a decrease in book sales and royalties paid to authors.”
The publisher decided that eBooks can only be checked out 26 times by library patrons until they expire, setting off a wave of Twitter protests and a call for boycott. What do you think of the response?
Here’s more from the open letter: “We spent many months examining the issues before making this change. We talked to agents and distributors, had discussions with librarians, and participated in the Library Journal e-book Summit and other conferences. Twenty-six circulations can provide a year of availability for titles with the highest demand, and much longer for other titles and core backlist. If a library decides to repurchase an e-book later in the book’s life, the price will be significantly lower as it will be pegged to a paperback price point.” (Via Jennifer Howard)