The American Library Association is fighting the embargo.
I understand the publishers need to hit their bottom lines, but public libraries are what they are for a reason! And more and more people are buying ebooks over print books. The embargo is ridiculous. Especially for such a large public library system like the one I use- King County Library System (over 50 libraries and one of the largest public library systems in the nation). Can you imagine waiting for your ebook for over a year? It totally undermines the goal of equal public access that is the foundation of public libraries.
Penguin doesn’t have an embargo. The embargo and the “concession” blatantly ignore the purpose of public libraries. And they’re really putting authors’ bottom lines at risk with the embargo. If I have to wait a year for a book, I’ll likely forget I wanted to read it and move along to something else. If I remember, I’ll just wait until the library has more copies to lend (if they do) and then get it then. Or download the audiobook, since the ebook is limited.
If I REALLY can’t wait, I’ll buy it (only for my absolute favorite authors am I willing to fork over full price for a book and on release day so I don’t have to wait with 100+ people on hold for the same book with my public library. I’ll fork over Kindle price for them. (Nalini Singh, Elizabeth Hunter, J.R. Ward, and Rebecca Zanetti are 100% hands down pre-orders for me, regardless of title.)
I understand the publishers need to hit their bottom lines, but public libraries are what they are for a reason! And more and more people are buying ebooks over print books. The embargo is ridiculous. Especially for such a large public library system like the one I use- King County Library System (over 50 libraries and one of the largest public library systems in the nation). Can you imagine waiting for your ebook for over a year? It totally undermines the goal of equal public access that is the foundation of public libraries.
https://kcls.org/blogs/post/publisher...
http://www.ala.org/news/press-release...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn....
https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detai...
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...
Penguin doesn’t have an embargo. The embargo and the “concession” blatantly ignore the purpose of public libraries. And they’re really putting authors’ bottom lines at risk with the embargo. If I have to wait a year for a book, I’ll likely forget I wanted to read it and move along to something else. If I remember, I’ll just wait until the library has more copies to lend (if they do) and then get it then. Or download the audiobook, since the ebook is limited.
If I REALLY can’t wait, I’ll buy it (only for my absolute favorite authors am I willing to fork over full price for a book and on release day so I don’t have to wait with 100+ people on hold for the same book with my public library. I’ll fork over Kindle price for them. (Nalini Singh, Elizabeth Hunter, J.R. Ward, and Rebecca Zanetti are 100% hands down pre-orders for me, regardless of title.)
Authors take:
https://www.authorsguild.org/industry...
Overall, I think this will increase instances of pirated books online. Which is what really hurts the bottom line.