Not all books are lendable?

[BanjoBen]

I'm a bit confused on why some books are lendable (i.e. show up in the lendme app) and others aren't.  Every book I've purchased from B&N that I actually want to be able to lend doesn't show up as being lendable on my device (and I've never lent any books at all!). 

It just seems to me that while the lendme feature sounded like a really good selling point when I bought the device, I'm finding that it's of virtually no use to me since none of the books I want to lend are lendable.

[scott88]

Whether or not a book is lendable is up to the publisher not B&N.

[BanjoBen]

I was guessing that was probably the case, but wanted confirmation.  Either way, it takes a really nice feature and simply guts it.  The LendMe app is worthless to me as long as this is the case.

[whorledcrzy]

Why? Just because some books aren't available, others still are....it doesn' t make the feature worthless. Besides, didn't you know that before you bought it? Lots of nook users still love that feature anyway. I'm glad it' s there....I use it all the time.

[deemure]

Just to add some sparks to this fire you will be less than interested to know that publishers are starting to pull their support for this feature which inauspiciously coincides with Amazon's new support for a kindle lend me feature. 

There is the presumption that this was an intended consequence and my belief is that since the library book reading function is not available on the kindle that library books are the real target.  The lend me feature is limited and perhaps under-used as is, but library books are another thing altogether. 

Amazon's entrance into lend me seems to have put publishers off of the feature and it won't take too much prodding for them to reject library ebooks-some do this already.  They just don't realize that such things as prohibiting lending and fair and free use do not help them to sell more books, they actually limit sales.

[donc13]

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BanjoBen wrote:

I'm a bit confused on why some books are lendable (i.e. show up in the lendme app) and others aren't.  Every book I've purchased from B&N that I actually want to be able to lend doesn't show up as being lendable on my device (and I've never lent any books at all!). 

It just seems to me that while the lendme feature sounded like a really good selling point when I bought the device, I'm finding that it's of virtually no use to me since none of the books I want to lend are lendable.

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The publisher/author hold the rights to what can and can't be done with an eBook.

If they don't allow "lending" of eBooks, then it can't be lent out.

It is NOT a B&N issue, it is a publisher/author issue.

[Ya_Ya]

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BanjoBen wrote:

I'm a bit confused on why some books are lendable (i.e. show up in the lendme app) and others aren't.  Every book I've purchased from B&N that I actually want to be able to lend doesn't show up as being lendable on my device (and I've never lent any books at all!). 

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See this:  http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/NOOKbook-Discussion/LendMe-torpedoed-by-Kindle/m-p/789086#M17...

[BanjoBen]

Thanks for the replies.  Like I said, I kinda figured it was probably a publisher issue and just wanted to confirm.  At any rate, I would've bought this little beauty even without the LendMe feature being present at all, but I was excited about the prospect of loaning some books to family members from time to time.  It was disappointing though when I found out that with one exception, the only books B&N was allowing me to lend were the books I had gotten for free!

[deemure]

You can assume that for the most part the reason the books are free as well as lendable is the same reason. Ebooks are less likely to be lendable when from certain publishers and generally are not free.

[laurieb52]

There are still a lot of lendable books out there. Of the 371 books in my ebook library, 173 are lendable.

[Karin105]

I LOVE my nook color!  Trying to get all my family members to purchase one as well.

The lendable feature is a great selling point, but I'm disappointed not all the ebooks

I purchase are lendable.  I don't understand why, other than $$$ of course for the

publishers.  But they should think about something before blocking that option....

if I go to the store and purchase a hard copy, I can pass that around to as many

people as I wish.  Why block it just becuase it's an ebook?  This will weigh on

my future purchases for sure!

[KingAl]

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Karin105 wrote:

 But they should think about something before blocking that option....

if I go to the store and purchase a hard copy, I can pass that around to as many

people as I wish.  Why block it just becuase it's an ebook?  This will weigh on

my future purchases for sure!

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If there was any way of blocking transfers of paper books, you can be sure the publishers would do it.

[phoneboy]

Its illegal to copy CDs and DVDS to share with you friends. Y'all know how that worked out. The DRM on your ebooks can be broke now. From what I have read its relativly easy. By next year at the latest you will have easy access to software that strips the DRM and can lend as often and to as many people you want. Multiple copies at the same time. The publishers are well aware of this and scrambling to get ahead of it. The race is on.

[yocalif]

ebook DRM removal tools are already available and easy to find.  So are thousands ebooks with DRM removed.

Publishers should think twice about creating more restrictions, it creates and even greater demand for illegal DRM ebooks and programmers wanting to make a buck off of DRM removal tools.

[BFCoughlin]

I wish an ebook could function the same was a paper book can: one person can read each copy at a time, but when that one person isn't reading it, another person can.  I finish reading it on my Nook, I can pass it along to someone else--deleting it from  my Nook the way it would be "deleted" from my physical library if I lent or gave it to someone else.  I finish reading a book, and I can donate it to my library for their book sale--or leave it ona bench in the part or a table at a cafe for someone else to find and enjoy.

Unfortunately, that's not the model that's being adopted. I find the Lend Me feature to be next to useless.  I can "lend" it to someone ONCE EVER for two weeks?  Why bother? 

[Jackie86]

Hi!

I was wondering if you know of a way to search the B&N ebook library for books by the "lend me" availability feature?

Thanks!

[deemure]

What publishers fail to understand because they seem unwilling to adapt to new technologies and all, is that the things they are doing actually cause them to lose customers and sales and not gain them.

Publishers limit the reasonable use of ebooks, but if they allowed such use they'd garner more sales.  If I can borrow a book by a certain author, I am more likely to want further books by that author.  This has happened to me a lot with DTBs.  In fact, I may read a borrowed book and go out and buy it and others by the author.

One publisher is working on changing how many times a library can loan a book before they must re-purchase it.  But libraries create readers and people that read books tend to buy them at some point.  Especially young readers that are in a family that reads. 

Publishers are looking at ebooks as if they are one off sales and are keyed into immediate sales and not future increased sales.  They are limiting their real world usage to their own detriment.  Of course at this point they see no downside to what they are doing since ebook sales are up.  However, there must be some reason why they are acting as if they are the starving man in a room full of food.  It seems the more sales they get, the more money they want out of each sale.

We can quibble about the cost of ebooks which may have a basis in real world costs for publishers.  But, I do think there would be less disagreement if publishers began allowing buyers of ebooks to use them as if they own them.

[cbtengr]

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Jackie86 wrote:

Hi!

I was wondering if you know of a way to search the B&N ebook library for books by the "lend me" availability feature?

Thanks!

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On the Nookbook Store page, check the left hand column:

[Nallia Distinguished Bibliophile]

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cbtengr wrote:

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Jackie86 wrote:

Hi!

I was wondering if you know of a way to search the B&N ebook library for books by the "lend me" availability feature?

Thanks!

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On the Nookbook Store page, check the left hand column:

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Haven'e seen you around much for a while.  Nice to see you again! 

[BrittLove]

Its a great feature but i agree with the other person.. all the books i acctually want to buy are never any of the lendable books. And so far the books that ive seen which are lendable are in far less quality then the average book.