Macmillan has fulfilled ceo John Sargent's
end-of-year promise and will start making ebooks available for library lending
for the first time, beginning "before the end of the first quarter."
Macmillan will offer 1200 backlist ebooks from its crime and mystery fiction
imprint Minotaur through several distributors, including at launch 3M, OverDrive,
and Baker & Taylor. Each purchased title will be available for 2 years or
52 lends, whichever comes first.
All of the books in the program will have
the same digital list price. That price was not included in the publisher's
announcement, but InfoDocket reports they
will sell for $25 per ebook according to Michael Lovett at OverDrive.
Interestingly, Macmillan's choice of a dedicated genre imprint as the vehicle
through which it tries digital lending through libraries mirrors its foray into
DRM-free ebooks through science fiction & fantasy imprint Tor.
In a statement Sargent said,
"Librarians have been asking for eBooks from Macmillan for their
collections. Among the many titles we publish, mystery and crime fiction makes
up one of the largest categories and Minotaur Books is the primary source. And,
as the library market has always been one of Minotaur’s largest customers, we
think that this pilot will provide books especially desired by library patrons.
At the same time we do not expect it will heavily impact our retail sales over
time."
Minotaur publisher Andy Martin added:
"The libraries have always been great supporters of the Minotaur
publishing program and a critical mainstay of the category. I am delighted that
our books will be the entry of Macmillan into library e-lending. We know
mystery and crime fiction is a huge category for libraries and this collection
will have something for everyone."
Upon learning of the Macmillan news, ALA
president Maureen Sullivan said in a
statement: "I m so pleased Macmillan Publishers is beginning to sell
e-books to America’s libraries so that we may connect their authors and our
readers in the digital age. This is a welcome acknowledgment of our advocacy and
the importance of the library market. We have always known that library lending
encourages patrons to experiment by sampling new authors, topics and genres.
This experimentation stimulates the market for books, with the library serving
as a critical de facto discovery, promotion and awareness service for authors
and publishers....While today’s announcement is only a first step, we look
forward to the release of more details about the pilot and continuing work
together to bring even more Macmillan e-titles to libraries in the
future."
Though Ingram is not one of the launch
distributors for Macmillan, the company announced earlier this week that they
are adding an ebook lending model to their MyiLibrary platform. Their new Access Model allows
for simultaneous lends to multiple patrons (while Macmillan's pilot sticks to
the standard trade model of one lend at a time per copy). Libraries
purchase a set of "access credits" for an e-book and "lend it
simultaneously to multiple patrons for a set cost, and lending period."
Publishers set the prices for those access
credits, and each publisher on the platform--which Ingram says offers over
400,000 titles--can decide, on a per title basis, which of Ingram's various
sale models apply.
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