LendMe torpedoed by Kindle

[Tweedledee]

Business does not use common sense - let's face it what makes sense to us as consumers and ultimately as rational thinking folks, is not in the business model. 

You are right, a borrowed or lent e-book (or DTB for that matter) might just lead to future sales, but the fact, that is business, the model can see no further than the nose on their face and what fee income, revenue, etc....can I make today, this second, nano second - this model is their motto.  

This is my experience in a fee income driven intangible environment, bluntly there is/was no forward thinking or looking around the corner - it is in the moment only.

Honestly I do not believe that they can see the "point".....that is how badly and severely the in the moment is driven.

This is just my opinon - driven by my daily experience.

[javabird]

Umm, the TOS say (bold text is mine):

"Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right to modify or discontinue the offering of any Digital Content at any time. If a unit of Digital Content becomes unavailable prior to download but after purchase, your sole and exclusive remedy is the refund of the purchase price paid for such Digital Content. Some Digital Content may not remain available for re-download from your eBook Library, if for example, the publisher of the Digital Content no longer retains the rights or other licenses, consents or permissions to that Digital Content. Digital Content already downloaded to your device[s] will not be affected."

If you purchase an item, the content should not be altered or reduced in your already-purchased book. That 's a bait-and-switch.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

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javabird wrote:

If you purchase an item, the content should not be altered or reduced in your already-purchased book.

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The content isn't altered. Only the ability to lend it is removed, and that doesn't affect the content. In fact, part of the problem right now is that the unaltered content on people's NOOKs say that the NOOKbook can be lent when it no longer can.

You can argue about the change all you want, but it's just posturing. There's nothing to be done about it.

[geatdanemomDT]

You can argue about the change all you want, but it's just posturing. There's nothing to be done about it.

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  Thank you for that, you say it so well.

[Wrking21]

Ya_Ya you are so right. I have bought tons of "series" after reading the first book for free either via lend me which I did buy an entire series from reading a lend me book, library or other sources. I would like to be able to share that love with my friends/family without being dishonest about it. Yes to quote another "side loading is a beautiful thing" however; I would rather be able to point them to a publisher/B&N rather than a USB port. I believe if you go through the process of getting a book lent rather than "acquired" you tend to feel grateful for the free great read which always leads to opening up my pocket book!

My own colander clad opinion of course. I wish we lived in that perfect world I keep complaining doesn't exist. LOL. Many thanks to all the well spoken writers on this board! Keep up the great/magnificent work!

[jewelianna]

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Doug_Pardee wrote:

The content isn't altered. Only the ability to lend it is removed, and that doesn't affect the content. In fact, part of the problem right now is that the unaltered content on people's NOOKs say that the NOOKbook can be lent when it no longer can.

You can argue about the change all you want, but it's just posturing. There's nothing to be done about it.

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Well, you could lawyer the whole thing, but I doubt that'll happen  One could consider the ability to lend once is part of the content that was purchased.

What is sad is that this will send many people underground to pirate sites and torrents, where books can be shared among family and friends as many times as they like, or to DRM ripping programs to get around the rules.  Instead of selling one or two copies, publishers lose a sale in the end.

[sub_rosa]

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jewelianna wrote:

What is sad is that this will send many people underground to pirate sites and torrents, where books can be shared among family and friends as many times as they like, or to DRM ripping programs to get around the rules.  Instead of selling one or two copies, publishers lose a sale in the end.

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There's nothing sad about this reality.  It's the price they must pay for doing business this way.  You disrespect your customers enough, and they'll turn on you.  Hopefully it will come sooner rather than later, and it will humble the publishers into treating their customers more fairly.

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

People are used to being disrespected by business.  Customers won't stop purchasing because they are disrespected.  They're used to it and expect it.

People didn't stop purchasing e-books when the prices skyrocketed.

[wordsandmelodi…]

I'm way too frustrated to even deal with changing books' lending status.  You don't need to hear me ranting.

However, we do need a way to quickly identify which of our books are still Lendable.  I checked a few titles in my Nook Library, and they were marked "Lend me" -- but when I searched for them on B&N's website, the page did not indicate that they were Lendable.  I'm betting the status changed, but my Library, even online, hasn't updated.  As someone with dozens of books on Books For Nooks, I need to know what I can and can't lend...  Checking the titles individually will be a huge hassle.  And with so many imprints of large publishers, it can be less than obvious who the real publisher is, and whether it is on the Lending list or not.

[Whitecat5000]

I wonder what's happening to all the eBooks that are in the process of being lent.

Have they been "un-lent" and sent back to the original purchaser?  Or can you read a book that is in your library that has been lent to you until the timeline expires?

[crafty4life]

I am SO starting to believe in technology conspiracy theories. 

[Bella_Reader]

The sideloading phenomenon may just prove to publishers how valuable and underutilized the LendMe feature could be if tweaked. 

I mean, really, how many "samples" does B&N give out every day? And what is a lent LendMe book but a time restricted free book? The whole point of the LendMe feature was to expand ebook markets, why not use the technology to expand markets through strategic friend-to-friend lending? 

From a marketing standpoint, altering the LendMe program to series-beginning books which could be lent out an infinite number of times for 14-day intervals would be a great way for customers to do marketing for the publishing company. 

Hands down, ereaders are the future of reading. A nice hardcover will be nice every once in a while, but ereaders will be the moneymakers. Using the LendMe feature to expand market share through strategic friend-to-friend lending is the smartest way to get ahead in this transitional period. Publishers need to get with the changing times or it's time for them to find a new line of work.

[Theriot_Publis…]

As an upcoming e-book only publisher, this topic is of obvious importance.  We haven't launched yet, but our values are firmly set.

We simply know to be true that allowing sharing of our books ultimately means more, not less, revenue for us.

We would like to have them shared unlimited times (but only 1 copy at a time).

Frankly, we are of the mind that if you really can't afford it, we'd rather you pirate and enjoy it and hopefully remember us in the future when you can afford to buy that or another book officially.

We also aim to offer more affordable books as standard.  We'd much rather sell 300 copies of a book at $1 each than 100 copies at $3 each. (disclaimer:  this is an example only, our pricing will be by title but our goal is to be more affordable and reasonable than the 'big' publishers).

Eliminating piracy does not increase revenue.  It just makes less people see your work.

The majority of studies have shown that piracy actually increases revenue.

We are in it for profit, but also for the art unlike the handily provided list of corporations posted above. It seems they've forgotten that.

While we will start with a very small catalogue, all original and independent work, that will grow over time.  We believe it will rival most published childrens books in quality, but that is for you all to decide.. after you purchase our books

[ellsbells930]

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Tweedledee wrote:

they will have to buy it to read it. .....Take away that lendme option and they have made another sale  

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  Not necessarily.  People just won't read the book - or they will go back to a DTB version from a library or a yard sale.   Or as someone earlier said... "sideloading is a wonderful thing"

[Theriot_Publis…]

the simple fact is that the VAST VAST majority don't bother with things that only mildly interest them.  They might pirate it or not, but it's not a deciding factor.  Those things that they really want to enjoy, they go and pay for like a movie.

At least as of this date, you are all free to pirate, copy and share a legitimate work of ours (when they come).  Our lawyers may have different things to say, but this is in our hearts and something we will staunchly enforce as a principal. 

Sharing is caring.  And we do care.  Sometimes things don't need to be ALL about the money.  Mostly, sure... but not all.

We feel we will lose nothing in sales.  Absolutely zero and we feel that we will make more sales based upon our work (call it a free sample)

Tweedledee is extremely wrong.  People will find an avenue to get it no matter what.  Embrace those people and pull them to your side is our philosophy.  Sure, we will never get all or perhaps even most of them... but we will get some who found our work and then bought it.  But, pretty much, if you are not well known, you don't get diddly, like netflix... tons of stuff, some great, but it's not something you would have ever bought... but i've found TONS of stuff on netflix that i love that i never would have considered if I didn't sub.

I never would have paid for that movie certainly, but also, it's not a movie i'll forget anytime soon.

The distribution models need to change, but the corporations won't let that happen. This is the problem now.  With them rebuking sharing (a time honored tradition among DTB), they are really in their corporate greed mindset and thinking that every book not shared is one that will be bought.  It won't.  People just won't read it.

Well, not legally at least as JK Rowling has found out.

And on that note, I'm outtie.  Theriot Publishing hopes to do things a bit different than the corporate mongers who suck out your soul.

[Ya_Ya]

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Theriot_Publishing wrote:

Tweedledee is extremely wrong.  People will find an avenue to get it no matter what.  Embrace those people and pull them to your side is our philosophy.  Sure, we will never get all or perhaps even most of them... but we will get some who found our work and then bought it.  

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I don't think she believes what she was saying, just that that is the philosophy of many (most?) large corporations.  

[deemure]

I believe regarding the initial post that Ya_Ya nailed it.  I have read numerous postings on the Kindle boards expressing disdain for nook users, saying that the only reason people buy nooks is for free books which includes lending and library books.  The removal of ebooks for lending may be part of a process to reduce this "free" ebook idea. 

Amazon isn't stupid, after all and they are aware that publishers are in the process of flexing their muscles and trying to squeeze out every penny they can from ebook sales.  Amazon is aware that publishers see freely read ebooks as lost sales, when the reverse is true.  With my colander in place, I know that Amazon knows this little secret.  Library book ereading sells devices-Sony, nook, etc, but kindles don't have the feature.  I believe this is the main target for this shot across the bow.  Lending has always been very limited, and probably even underused, but library books have been a real difference between nooks and kindles.  Amazon knows there is appeal for ereaders that can read library books.  And, ereaders that are sold mean more ebooks will also be bought, even given that a percentage of ereader sales are for those that do want to read library books mainly.

It's all about the percentages.  Amazon has keyed into the paranoia that seems to have infested book publishers as this transition to digital content is taking place.  And publishers are reacting stupidly.  Consider that it is no coincidence that many of the free ebooks we get from BN are the first in a series of ebooks.  This is marketing strategy.  It is known that if we like the first then we may buy the other 8 in the series. 

Similarly, if we borrow a book from a friend or from the library and like that author's work, we may be more likely to buy it (book lovers are like that) or to buy others that author has written.  This is marketing, too.  Publishers are reacting constantly from a purely 1 off sale mentality and not from the traditional idea of 1 sale begets another.  Their colanders are made of paper mache.

The true model publishers should be adopting is the free and fair use of an ebook and treat a sale as a purchase of the actual book.  DRM limits sales since it forces users to choose a retailer in a great many ways so that the ereader fits their ebook DRM.  I personally have bought a lot of DTBs that I have borrowed from libraries or friends, merely so I could have them or so that I could loan or give them to a relative who might not be able to buy.  Free use spurs sales because it causes the proliferation of the work which creates advertising for the author and hence the publisher.  Even giving away or re-selling an ebook that one no longer wants actually will help sell ebooks.  It creates an ebook audience.   

[Wrking21]

Deemure,

So very well said! Our colanders must have been molded in the same factory! I wish the publishers would get one too! Perhaps they could BORROW ours!

[KingAl]

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Wrking21 wrote:

I However; I see a simple solution to all of this. If B&N stopped supporting the publishers that refuse to cooperate in Ebooks or LendMe I'm rather certain that loss in profit which I'm sure is substantial would correct this ill-behavior!

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Won't work unless they can get the other ebook sellers to cooperate. Amazon has more clout than B&N, and they lost their fight with Macmillan over the Agency Model.

[Desert_Brat]

Theriot and deemure, I applaud you!

Theriot, what you are describing is the basis of the Creative Commons License. One of my favorite sci-fi authors, Cory Doctorow, releases his work under this license as well as retail sales. Below is an excerpt from his bio page on his website:

"Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger -- the co-editor of Boing Boing (boingboing.net) and the author of Tor Teens/HarperCollins UK novels like FOR THE WIN and the bestselling LITTLE BROTHER. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in London. ... His novels are published by Tor Books and HarperCollins UK and simultaneously released on the Internet under Creative Commons licenses that encourage their re-use and sharing, a move that increases his sales by enlisting his readers to help promote his work. ..."

He puts the full text of his licensing agreement at the beginning of every e-book if you would like to read it over. Cory is no slouch. He's even served as a Fulbright chair among his many other accomplishments.

Cory freely and humorously states that he doesn't care what you do with his book -- copy it, rewrite it, print it out and use it for wallpaper -- you just can't sell it in any way, shape or form, or otherwise profit from its use.

On his website, on the right side of the page are covers for his books, click on one and it takes you to the subpage where you can get a free ebook in many different formats, sometimes even a free audio book. He even lists the financial information on the book in links across the top of the subpage. The guy is an open book, if you will. And I, for one apreciate it! He has links to submit typos or errors readers find, as well as a link for donations if you so choose.

A number of my favorite sci-fi writers are podcasters, and they very often release their books in pdf format before they go to print. Not only are they released in the author's feed, but quite often the genre podcasters will put these releases into their own feeds as well. So you can find these books on several podcast feeds, not just the author's.

It's called marketing. It creates a fan base. It brings in new listeners and readers who frequently purchase the tangible product. It reduces advertising costs by word-of-mouth. It works!

Recently I read about a podcaster/author who held a booksigning at a small bookstore. Folks came from near and far to get their books signed by him and the bookstore had also purchased a limited number of the new book for sale as well. Well ... the bookstore RAN OUT of copies ... they had only ordered 200. They were scrambling to find items for patrons to purchase that were by the author so people could get them signed -- I had to laugh that some of the items included magazines that had an interview with him.

The point of all this is that sharing, lending and free books PROMOTES sales. But what I see happening is the same as what the music industry has done. And look at the dismal sales figures the artists are complaining about. Recently a music group (Radiohead, but I'm not sure) had a limited release of their new album for FREE via download at their website. The sales of the album skyrocketed after that.

Sure, not everyone will see such results. A freebie doesn't make a bad artist/author better -- but maybe it should serve as a hint that something needs to be changed or improved. Some publishers feel that the freebies, previews and sharing allows them to gauge how well an artist/author might do in the market and whether or not the public would be willing to buy more of that artist/author's work. So the move can serve as a gauge as well as advertising.

But the fact is, when someone shows appreciation for their fans, the fans show their appreciation by participating -- whether it be by spreading the word or buying the product.

Just my two cents.