As ALA leaders and some friends planned to visit Macmillan on Wednesday morning to drop off their petition with over 150,000 signatures objecting to the eight-week windowing of new-release ebooks to libraries that begins November 1, ceo John Sargent wrote to librarians in response to their abundant feedback. He opens, “First, I would like to apologize. It is clear to me that I should have written to all of you directly with our terms change. I meant no disrespect.” Sargent also makes clear that the company consulted with community members before finalizing its new policy: “Please know that this change […]
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ALA Starts Anti-Macmillan Petition, Continues to Give Amazon A Free Pass
The American Library Association has launched a petition in which Macmillan is urged to reconsider the company’s planned eight-week windowing of all but one copy of new-release ebooks to libraries. “ALA’s goal is to send a clear message to Macmillan’s CEO John Sargent: e-book access should be neither denied nor delayed,” said ALA Executive Director Mary Ghikas in the release. We asked the ALA when they would focus their earnest efforts on the largest publisher — and indeed the largest corporation — that does outright deny patrons any access, ever, to their ebooks or digital audiobooks. That would be Amazon, […]
Inkitt Raises $16 Million in New Funding
Berlin-based Inkitt announced a $16 million Series A funding round, led by Kleiner Perkins but including participation from HV Holtzbrinck Ventures. (The company previously raised $5 million.) The new capital will help fund their expansion, which includes plans to add 10 languages in addition to English. With more funding comes ever-greater hype: Founder and ceo Ali Albazaz, Inkitt’s founder and CEO, said the mission is to build the “Disney of the 21st century.” Want more bluster? “Albazaz claims that the average writer on Galatea earns 30 to 50 times more than what would be earned via Amazon, which he calls […]
Salinger eBooks Are Released; New Works Will Take Another 5 to 7 Years
Little, Brown announced that they will release ebook editions of J.D. Salinger’s four books for the first time on August 13. His son Matt Salinger notes in the release, ‘There were few things my father loved more than the full tactile experience of reading a printed book, but he may have loved his readers more—and not just the ‘ideal private reader’ he wrote about, but all his readers. As it became clear to us that increasing numbers of readers today read only ebooks, and after I was taken severely (if also humorously) to task by a reader with a disability […]
Macmillan Splits the Library eBook Baby: A Small Concession, and Broader Windowing
Macmillan is the latest big publisher to announce an adjustment of their library ebook terms, this time in a letter from ceo John Sargent to authors and agents. Their policy has a twist to balance protecting sales with “ensur[ing] that the mission of libraries is supported”: Exactly one copy of every ebook will be available to each library system for purchase upon publication for $30, which is half the current library price, and that one copy will be available in perpetuity, for unlimited one-at-a-time lends. But any additional copies of their new-release titles will be windowed for 8 weeks after […]
Pearson Will Phase Out Regular Print Textbooks to Push Students to Digital Versions
As the textbook market continues to shrink, industry leader Pearson is playing their final card in trying to get budget-savvy college students to fall in line, and as usual pretending it is corporate innovation. They are transitioning away from the printed textbook entirely, hoping to strangle the secondary market for used (and imported) textbooks once and for all. Pearson will no longer update their 1500 active US textbooks every three years with new editions. In 2020 they will update just 100 titles (versus the 500 titles updated in 2019). They say their textbooks will be “digital first” going forward, with […]