Re: ebook acquisition collectives

[Eric Hellman <eric@hellman.net>]

The notes from Sandy, Joe and Todd were outstanding examples of 
the excellence of this list. Thanks!

First, I should point everyone to the talk given by Frances 
Pinter at Tools of Change in February:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3ca42Io0f8&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=C1BD412D581098AF
She proposed the formation of an "International Library Coalition 
for Open Books" which is pretty close to what I was thinking of. 
I'm told she is presenting at Charleston this November; Katina 
was listening, Sandy!

I'm a pretty strong believer in markets. I imagine a library 
collective as creating a more efficient market for assets which 
are current deployed awkwardly. Publishers would be free to offer 
any property at any price so long as it offered appropriately 
open ebook access. The library collective would weigh the price 
and quality of each asset before deciding, using automated 
systems,  which ones to collectively acquire. Building 
internet-based electronic markets is a technology that is 
reasonably well understood; librarians are familiar with 
automated purchasing systems and even with collaborative 
selection. To address one of Sandy's points, I don't think it too 
hard to put an expiration date on an publisher's offer- we've all 
heard of eBay.

I appreciate the clarity which which Joe presented the 
book-as-asset viewpoint. I'm surprised that he thinks publishers 
would be so unbusinesslike about their assets, though. I would 
have thought most publishers are more interested in the 
production and launch of books than in servicing them. From a 
business point of view, books are like the loans made by banks. 
You put out money up front, and then let the cash flow in over 
many years.

The banking industry is far advanced from that. The banks that 
originate the loans don't service them any more, they sell off 
the loans so they can make new loans. And, no that's not what led 
to the banking crisis. Publishers of all stripes should likewise 
be willing to cash in their book assets and use the proceeds to 
produce new ones.

Todd, your point that non-profit publishers have costs, not 
prices, is true when averaged over catalogs. but even non-profit 
publishers have winners and losers that cost about the same to 
produce. Winners subsidize the losers. You wouldn't sell your 
winners at the same aggregate price you'd sell your losers.

Sandy's comments about managing print inventory brings up an 
issue that never occurred to me, as I've not been in the book 
business. There are a couple of answers. First of all, smaller 
print runs and more POD minimize the risk of printing too many 
books. This is happening anyway. Second, I assume that publishers 
can build in print risk to the price they ask for. If it's really 
only 25% of first copy cost, well that's only 25%.

I imagine a heterogeneous channel. Tthe typical library-acquired 
OA title might have had a toll access run of a year or so; the 
publisher could capture the most eager purchasers using DRM'd 
delivery systems. Most libraries would wait for the discounted OA 
acquisition, thus creating a market segmentation similar to 
hardcover/paperback.

Some publishers might try to sell books even before issue; it 
could work. Some books won't get bought at any price, let alone 
the cost to produce them; others would probably be bought even at 
an obscene profit margin. Some things won't change.

Most libraries want to treat anyone who walks in the door as a 
patron. That gets sticky when you consider ebooks. It means DRM 
and access controls, which means a certain amount of hassle. One 
beautiful aspect of the open access ebook is that you don't need 
to invest in a delivery system. the OA books just piggyback on 
the delivery systems built for paid ebooks. The DRM 
incompatibilities between iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony, Google etc 
just melt away. Certainly there will be content for which 
institutional access will be advantageous; but I can't believe 
this is true for all content.


Eric Hellman
President, Gluejar, Inc.
41 Watchung Plaza, #132
Montclair, NJ 07042
USA

eric@hellman.net
http://go-to-hellman.blogspot.com/
@gluejar