Scribd

[Laura]

I previously posted on this thread that Scribd had taken books that I had saved [with no restrictions on them when I saved them] and made them temporarily unavailable. The books were released to me recently and I was able to listen to one. However, within 2 days, the very same books were again put on restriction. I had not saved anything new during the two days. I am going to try to download all the books once they are released to me to see if I can keep them long enough to enjoy them. If this go around does not work, I think I may cancel Scribd.

[Anne ✨]

An update, as I have been using Scribd since October now!

My stats for 4 months:
$27 spent: 3months x $8.99, first month free
18 audiobooks listened to = 4/month average
= $1.50 per listen YAY!
(Ongoing without free month factored in, it's about $2.25/listen at 4 books/month)

Books I listened to:
The Shepherd's Hut , Sadie , Dear America , Washington Black , Runnin' on the Roof of the World , The Geography of Bliss , The Library Book , The Soul of an Octopus , The Dream Daughter, Waiting for Eden, Eleanor Oliphant, American Prison, The Guest Cat, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies, In Cold Blood, The Dreamers: A Novel, My Sister the Serial Killer, The Graves are Walking

Comments:
- I have been impressed with the selection of books both old and new. They have been adding new releases pretty quickly (ie. Black Leopard, Red Wolf showed up today, 2 days after US release date).

- I have been able to listen to about 4 books in a month, before they will restrict some of the newer/in demand books on my saved list until the following month. However, I did find there were still lots of books to choose from for remainder of that month if I wanted.

- They have started a new feature called "Today's Pick" - they feature a new/popular audiobook each day, and it's fully available for everyone to download/listen. (examples: My Sister the Serial Killer last week, today is Black Leopard, Red Wolf).

- Overall I have found this to be a great supplement to my audible credits and library checkouts. It does take a bit of extra time to plan my books, figuring out which ones I'll start with on Scribd. But it's worth it, and it enables me to save my audible credits for the member sales like 2-for-1's etc.

Things I don't like:
- you don't know in advance which books will get restricted, or when. But if a book is newer/in demand, then chances are that book will restrict after you've listened to 4 or so other books. It becomes available again the 1st day of the following month.

- the audio can be a bit glitchy sometimes, even when I have the book downloaded to phone. It will occasionally suddenly say it is 'loading' while still playing, and then it jumps backwards, so you're hearing the same thing again. I have to go into the chapters, click on a future chapter, then click on current chapter, and it fixes itself. It's annoying, and it has happened with a few books but not all.

Hope this is helpful! I listen to 120 audiobooks a year, so this service is a great addition for me, to help me keep my overall spending down.

[Janet]

Anne ✨ wrote: "An update, as I have been using Scribd since October now!

My stats for 4 months:
$27 spent: 3months x $8.99, first month free
18 audiobooks listened to = 4/month average
= $1.50 per listen YAY!
(..."

I just subscribed in December and the first month they limited me after 3 books....I wondered if it had anything to do with being close to the end of the month....i.e. does the revenue cycle with the publishers start over on the 1st? Also, my "Today's Pick" is Bowlaway so I'm wondering if this varies by subscriber ? or some other factor?? And I am not seeing Black Leopard, Red Wolf at all.

I agree with you on the selection....they have had books that are published in the UK but not yet in the U.S. that I have been able to borrow. Not sure how they get around the "rights" issue when Audible claims they can't.

[Anne ✨]

Janet wrote: " my "Today's Pick" is Bowlaway so I'm wondering if this varies by subscriber ? or some other factor??

Oh, that's so interesting to know about the Today's Pick being different, Janet, I never even imagined that it might not be the same for everybody. I'd be curious to know how they determine that!

I hope the subscription works out well for you!

[Robin P]

I was blocked after 2 books, and the ones I wanted weren't current bestsellers. I was trying to go through the Longmire detective series, and I wanted something published about 10 years ago. I just got annoyed that their blocking isn't transparent, you can't tell what will be blocked.

[Janet]

It would be nice if it were more transparent although I’ve now compiled a long enough wishlist that I can always find something to enjoy.

[Jan Mc]

There's a special over at MacHeist for a discount on the annual ($80) and 6-month ($35) subscription to Scribd. https://www.macheist.com/sales/scribd...

[Angela]

you can share your code to friends. If they accept your 2 month free promo, you can one month free!!

&& when you create the scridb account, you can receive a 2 month trial if you wait for an email from scridb team.

[Lisa]

I have been a member for 2 months now. Trying to supplement my audiobook addiction! I'm already 28 books in for the year...
What I have noticed is that they "block" the books you have on your saved list. I[m going to do an experiment and see if I remove those books from my saved list, if I'm able to listen to them without the block, next month. :)
My biggest issue is the inability to browse and find book easily. Almost everything I put in an author or book name it comes back with nothing???

[Kate]

I am in my two month free trial. I chose two moderately popular audiobooks and then any further books I wanted to read were unavailable til next month. Their “bestselling audiobooks” are laughable. *eyeroll*. I’m on my 3rd audiobook now. And can barely find a 4th for my next pick. I’ve been a member less than a week so this is not a good service for voracious audiobook readers. Still good if you get prime pick of 2 books.

I like audible because I can return a book that I DNF or lose interest in. Can’t do that on Scribd - screwed out of prime pick if you do that. I’m also finding Scribd doesn’t have very many audiobooks on my audible list.

[Janet]

I have noticed something interesting. Books I put on my "saved" list are still available for me to listen to but no longer searchable. I hope that makes sense. Anyone else notice this?
I can't imagine the reason for this....unless the demand was so great that they decided to limit access to those who had already requested it. Makes me worry about losing my saved list.

[Anne ✨]

Kate, yes, I agree... once you start listening to a book, it seems like it's "counted" ...this month they restricted me after only 2 books finished, because I had started two others but wasn't interested in them. :(

Janet - I too noticed they changed up their searching, it seems harder to find the good/popular books. It seems they remove all the popular books from showing on their lists when you're in restricted state, and a book only shows up if you search on exactly that book title or author.

Sadly, they seem to have stopped the "todays pick".. I had liked that, because even if you were restricted, that book was available to you, and there were some great ones!

As long as I can still get at least 2 books I'm keen to listen to, it's a good add-on to my audible.. but I just wish they would have more transparency and consistency with how it works, because it lowers the satisfaction level when you get 'surprised' with the restriction :( I ONLY subscribe because 2+ audio books for $8.99/month is still an excellent price.

I hope they can figure it all out. Netflix model has been really successful for tv/movies... they need to find the right model to provide great value AND satisfaction!

[Janet]

Anne ✨ wrote: "Kate, yes, I agree... once you start listening to a book, it seems like it's "counted" ...this month they restricted me after only 2 books finished, because I had started two others but wasn't inte..."

Anne, I am still getting "Today's Pick"......I just think it's bizarre that different people see different things....Audible at least is pretty consistent.

[Kate]

Anne ✨ wrote: "Kate, yes, I agree... once you start listening to a book, it seems like it's "counted" ...this month they restricted me after only 2 books finished, because I had started two others but wasn't inte..."

What really IRKS ME 😡 is that I can’t even do a search of books I want on the app to yield any results (popular authors) but if I use the Scribd website not logged in, there’s tons of audiobooks yielded in my search!!!! How is that explained? They literally fix the algorithm so that members are shielded from results?!?!? 😤🤷‍♀️ How do they address this when written a complaint? And will be these be available in my searches next month on app?! I just wanna add them to my list for next month - jeez!

[Janet]

Kate wrote: "Anne ✨ wrote: "Kate, yes, I agree... once you start listening to a book, it seems like it's "counted" ...this month they restricted me after only 2 books finished, because I had started two others ..."

Yeah, there's some screwball stuff going on. Maybe send them an email and tell them specifically the titles you want and ask why you can't have them. That's what I'm going to do. Do they think we're stupid?

[Anne ✨]

Janet wrote: "Anne, I am still getting "Today's Pick"......I just think it's bizarre that different people see different things....Audible at least is pretty consistent"

Huh! That's so crazy! I'm going to email them about that one, that feature was good for me!

[Robin P]

I agree, they should be upfront that you get 2 books and then you can choose from other things if you want to. That's not a bad deal. My main issue with subscriptions is that I prefer to listen from my small iPod and Audible is the only service I know of where I can put the book on my computer, then download it when I am ready. When services are providing the book by streaming, it can be removed at any time. And I have to use my (larger) phone to listen.

I think I posted on another thread that I see 2 decent options - either you buy and own the books, or you stream, but if you are streaming, as with Apple Music, Spotify, etc., content should be unlimited. Some of us would pay a larger monthly fee if we could get truly unlimited listening. There may be an issue about author royalties though, which is legitimate. It would be good if all the services were upfront about their structure.

[Robin P]

I just got an email from Scribd offering me another free month. I may take them up on it and then cancel again.

[Kate]

Robin wrote: "I just got an email from Scribd offering me another free month. I may take them up on it and then cancel again."

Yeah I plan to use my 2nd free month. And if my wishlist books disappear I will be writing ✍️ a strongly worded email 📧 to see what they have to say about their “unlimited” claim. 🙄

[Janet]

They put the brakes on me really early this month, like around the 15th and I think I only had read 2 audiobooks. Also, they don't seem to be acquiring a lot of the new books I want to read. I think I'll give it one more month and then cancel.

[Robin P]

Janet wrote: "They put the brakes on me really early this month, like around the 15th and I think I only had read 2 audiobooks. Also, they don't seem to be acquiring a lot of the new books I want to read. I thin..."

Mine happened after only a few days, once I had downloaded 2 books. I'm not sure I'm even going to do the free month, since I have so much already to listen to, and I don't prefer listening on my phone, which is what I have to do to use it.

[Robin P]

I kept getting ads to rejoin Scribd so I emailed them my concerns and after a week or more I got this "explanation":

There aren't exact numbers that we can provide with this new subscription plan for how many books and audiobooks you can read each month, or a way to flag such titles in your specific account as there's quite a few moving pieces to our content availability system. There is no definitive line in the sand. I apologize for any confusion this caused you within your subscription. As stated, your reading activity can trigger the temporary limitations and behaviors that we cannot bypass. Since our catalogs start rotating the more you read, titles were added to your reading history in a way that impacted the availability algorithm when the reading time passed the "preview" portion, at which point we issue a payout to our publishing partners. I do apologize if this was not explained previously!

[Angela]

I have listened to 3 books/ month and 4 books/this month. The # is inconsistent

[Faith]

Robin wrote: "I kept getting ads to rejoin Scribd so I emailed them my concerns and after a week or more I got this "explanation":

There aren't exact numbers that we can provide with this new subscription plan ..."

Admittedly, I have never tried this service, but their explanation does not appear to be written in English. I am even less tempted to try them.

[Anne ✨]

It's most often 3 or 4 audiobooks (popular/mainstream titles) before you get "throttled" and the mainstream books are then not available until the following month.

Here's my numbers: Nov: (5) , Dec (4) , Jan (4), Feb (5), Mar (3), Apr (3) . On months where I've gotten 5, it's because one of the books was a less popular title that was still available after throttling.

Ebooks seem to have a greater availability of mainstream titles even after throttling, so seems the audiobook is the demand item!

For me, 3 popular audiobooks for $8.99/month is still a great deal, so I've stuck with it.

I emailed them to complain that they "hid" the mainstream books after throttling (their term is "rotate the catalog") - which is frustrating when I want to plan for upcoming months reads. (I would prefer to be able to at least see the book, even if it's not available to listen to until the next month). They responded to my email thanking me for my feedback, apologizing for frustrations, and giving me a month free :)

I did discover that if I log-out of scribd on my computer, then I can search and see all the books, so that's what I do to plan, and then I just keep a running list of the 3 top titles I will listen to each month. Anything beyond that is bonus!

I do applaud them for trying to find a way to make a subscription service work that includes more popular/mainstream titles and that includes audio :) So I hope they continue to work at it, and make it viable longterm! The audiobook market seems like a tough nut to crack!

[Robin P]

I would feel better if they would be honest about it, saying something like this needs to be done to guarantee authors enough royalties (which I think is why the public libraries have waiting lists for audiobooks - otherwise the whole world would only need 1 copy and everyone would download from it.) Or that as a member, you are guaranteed 2 books a month of your choosing and as many as you like from their selection. That's still a good deal. I might even take it but I have so much backlog already.

Another thing for me is an unrelated issue, that I don't like to listen from my phone, tablet or computer. I like to download to my computer and then put the books on my iPod nano, which is so much more portable. I have a feeling that someday I won't have that option anymore but for now I'm sticking to it.

[Janet]

Ordinarily I run into restrictions after 2 audiobooks but this month I've downloaded 4 (all new titles) and haven't been throttled yet. Is Scribd doing something new or have I just been lucky? Has anyone ever had them take away a book you've already downloaded?

[Angela]

I noticed that I'm seeing future dates on Scribd after two books so I downloaded two books that is unbarred ahead of time.

[Margo]

I have been reading through this thread with great interest. I started my free trial about a week ago and so far I am loving it! I have only listened to two books so I haven't experienced the problems you all talk about.

My only gripe so far is that certain titles are showing up as "not available in your country". These are titles I can buy on audible so it's not a copyright thing. I have plenty to be going on with though and I think it should be a great cost saving way to supplement my local library and my owned audible books.

So far I have streamed my listens (I only do audio) as I mostly listen at home. Has anyone experience restrictions with streaming?

After reading comments posted here I downloaded about 9 items (space on my tablet being the limiting factor). All seem to have gone on successfully. I will keep you posted ;-)

[Margo]

Okay, I see what you all mean. I have downloaded 2 and streamed 2 and now I am cut off! I can only see my saved books and a library of classics. It is telling me I can access my saved books on may 15th, the date my free trial ends. Not too impressive!

[Anya]

Four books for $ 8.99 seems good to me! Not even the best daily deal on Audible are so cheap, and you get to choose from so many books, some of them just published!

[Margo]

Yes, it is good (depending on final cost!) but it is not as advertised. Plus, ì streamed the first 2. If it turns out, as is suggested in this thread, that your downloads are limited to 2, that is not so good.

[Janet]

I had 9 books downloaded and they took back 7. I’m thinking of getting an extra (older) iphone for this purpose. Has anyone successfully managed to keep Scribd out of their TBR?

[Margo]

Hmm, that's what happened to me aswell Janet. My mission this month is to check out if the streaming in unlimited. That would be be worth the money to me as I mainly listen at home. There were none of the sales taxes that have made Audible US such a bad deal for me so I am willing to give it a chance.

Don't uderstand your question about TBRs. I have 3 TBRs set up; Owned TBR, Library TBR and Scribd TBR.

[Janet]

By TBR I just meant that I had already downloaded the books because I meant to read them for sure. You’ll find that they limit streaming as well. They always offer you “something” but it’s often something you don’t really care to read. This service is really frustrating for people who have specific reading goals but I guess if you treat it like a lark and are open to suggestions of what you will read it’s good value.

[Janet]

I’m thinking if I had downloaded them to an old iPhone and taken it “offline” they couldn’t have taken them back. Am I wrong?

[Specs]

Don't no. Maybe the content has a ticking time bomb.

[Margo]

I will see how many I can stream this month then I've decided to let my membership lapse. I had such a huge splurge on the recent audible UK fantasy sale that I don't need another source! I will be doing a lot of mood reading for the rest of this year and my library is well stocked ;-)

I am disappointed that the Scribd blurb is so misleading but if I decide to go there again at least I know what they do, and more importantly DON'T, provide.

[Margo]

Janet, I tried to download 4 audiobooks at once last month and only the first 2 downloaded for me :-/

[Janet]

Interesting....they did let me download 8 last month but about a week later they took 6 of them back. I wonder if they’re still figuring this out like we are.

[Angela]

no sales tax paid for using scribd. I don't mind paying 8.99 a month for 3 to 4 books

[Angela]

I wish they wouldn't use unlimited on their promotion ^^

[Dawn]

Margo wrote: "Janet, I tried to download 4 audiobooks at once last month and only the first 2 downloaded for me :-/"

There's one title I've tried to download repeatedly and it just will not download to my phone. I went through customer support and after a few weeks and trying a few different things, they let me know it was a known issue with some titles. They gave me a free month for my trouble. I could stream the title.

[Margo]

Dawn, decent outcome😊

Angela, it's great that there's no sales tax. It worked out at €8 for the 4 books I listened to aswell. As you say, not bad value but the misinformation has tarnished it for me. I will probably revisit it next year though when my pile has gone down a bit.

[Janet]

I discovered (through trial & error) some interesting things about Scribd over the weekend. There are a few holes in their algorithm....I'm sure it's just a matter of time until they plug them but I am willing to share what I learned with anyone who is interested enough to private message me.

[Margo]

I forgot to cancel my membership in time so I have another. When I logged in Friday a pop up came up to ask what I thought of the service. I gave them some polite suggestions and they came back with what amounted to "we already do that". I replied in more forcefully. This is what they said the second time:

Thanks for reaching back out! I totally understand your frustrations and where you're coming from. While I am an employee, I do get frustrated by this very thing too! My own personal account has also encountered this in recent months.

I wish I could provide a more concrete answer with an exact formula of how to avoid having fewer titles, but the factors that affect content availability are complex and vary greatly from user to user, since we all use Scribd differently.

A monthly subscription entitles you to access an unlimited number of books and audiobooks during the subscription period. I can guarantee you that we will never say, "That's it, no more for you!"

However, there are various factors that dictate content availability, such as:
* Conditions regarding the deals we have with our publishing partners
* General consumption level see more below
* Cost
* Popularity, etc.

Based on all of this, you'll occasionally see that select titles within specific content libraries will not be immediately available, but the following months' membership renewal will remove this factor - in the meantime, we mark these titles with an "Available Soon" banner.

****Our system is designed to allow users to browse for a bit and even preview books before available content rotates. That said, it's complicated and varies from title to title because of the factors stated above.

We are working on a new system that will hopefully have fewer complexities, but it still is highly dependent on getting better publisher agreements. In the meantime, we can assure you that while some content is unavailable there will always be other books available.

As our way of saying thank you for your patience, I have added 30 days free to your account.

Again, I’m sorry for the inconvenience you are experiencing with these titles, and hope this clarifies your experience. If you have any additional questions, please let me know. Take care and have a great day!

Sometimes it pays to complain ;-)

[Specs]

Sometimes it pays, but you do have to get the nice employee apparently. Great you got lucky Margo, and kudos for this service (or to this particular employee).

[Whitney]

I think I finished one audiobook this month. I started two others but didn't get to finish them. Now when I search for books I'm only getting books that are basically free ( classics etc.) or ebooks which I'm not that interested in since I can't read them on my e-reader. Anywho, I have been limited until the last day of the month. :) :) I'm thinking of going back to audible as well. It's more expensive and I get fewer books, but at least I can listen to the books I want when I want.

[Margo]

Whitney wrote: "I think I finished one audiobook this month. I started two others but didn't get to finish them. Now when I search for books I'm only getting books that are basically free ( classics etc.) or ebook..."

Whitney, I noticed before that that happens around the middle of the month. Maybe something to do with the timing of their licences? I also notifed that, after I complained, I had access to the wider range for a longer tim3. In my last month on membership I listened to 8 books off of my list. Oh, and it seems to be important to add plenty of books to your save list, it allows you to access your saved titles for longer.

[Whitney]

Update: This month I have finished one audiobook it was 15 hours long. I'm already getting audiobooks taken off of my saved list and it says they will be available to me on the 30th of this month. It's the 10th of the month... I've literally finished one audiobook. What is happening? Should I try to contact them and ask about it?