Publishers might be forced to lower the cost of ebooks

Major Publishers control the entire book market in the United States. Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan control approximately 80% of all trade books sold. Audiobooks and e-books are not expensive, and it’s easy to purchase them from anywhere for $9.99 to $19.99. Publishers set the prices of digital content to ensure a level playing field, where all booksellers charge the same amount for their products. However, libraries are in a dire predicament due to the high costs of e-books and audiobooks.

Overdrive is the most prominent digital distributor for public libraries, powering the audiobook and ebook collections of the vast majority of them. If libraries wanted many books by a bestselling author, they had to pay for each title individually. Each publisher has different rates; some books expire after a certain number of loans.

There are several ways publishers sell digital content to distributors, including Overdrive, Hoopla, and CloudLibrary. One is the “one copy, one user” model. If a library buys a bestselling title, only one copy can be loaned out at a time. Larger library systems can ensure they have enough copies to meet demand, while smaller branches can only afford to buy a few copies. This is why wait lists can be weeks or months long; there isn’t enough high-quality content to go around. Sure, libraries can spend more, but only the largest libraries have the budget to do so.

Metered access is another popular method publishers have developed in conjunction with digital distributors. This is a system where an audiobook or e-book is available to your library for a fixed number of checkouts. Multiple users can borrow the title concurrently until all checkouts are used. For example, if you purchase an audiobook under this lending model with 100 checkouts, 100 users could check it out simultaneously, or the title will be available until the unit has circulated 100 times.

One of the newest systems appealing to smaller libraries is OverDrive’s Max, which was launched in April 2022. OverDrive Max is a digital book access model designed to meet the growing demand of readers. Under the OverDrive Max model (metered concurrent use), libraries can stock bundles of up to 100 loans for popular digital books with no expiration date. With each Max title, the cost to serve each reader is typically the lowest available for libraries and schools to lend the ebook or audiobook.

The average cost the library pays for a print book can range from $8 to $30, and they get to keep that book in their collection forever (hypothetically). In contrast, the average cost for an e-book is around $40, and for an audiobook, it’s approximately $73; the library must renew these licenses on a regular basis.

The high cost of audiobooks and e-books, along with the various licensing methods, is inciting the ire of some US states. According to the New York Times, ” In May, the Connecticut legislature passed a law aimed at reining in the cost of library e-books, and other states have introduced similar legislation.

The Connecticut law restricts the types of e-book purchases libraries can make. For instance, librarians won’t be able to purchase e-books for which inter-library loans are prohibited or enter into licensing agreements that are simultaneously time-limited and cap the number of checkouts permitted. Policymakers in Hawaii and Massachusetts are also exploring e-book legislation, and library advocates are talking with politicians in several other states about introducing bills.

Ellen Paul, the executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium, said these provisions will prevent libraries in the state from buying many e-books under their current terms and therefore force publishers to the bargaining table. Librarians will then be able to negotiate e-book prices the same way they currently negotiate prices for print books, frequently paying less than the jacket price. Paul said this legislation is needed because e-book pricing is a problem for libraries nationwide. “Every year, libraries spend more and more of their budget feeding the beast that is e-books to meet their patrons’ demands, and yet we still have wait lists of over six months long to get that book that you want.”

However, larger states have attempted to pass similar laws to make e-books and audiobooks more affordable for public libraries. In 2021, New York’s governor, vetoed legislation that would have required publishers to offer libraries e-book access with less expensive and restrictive terms, arguing that it violated federal copyright law. The following year, a Maryland law aimed at lowering library e-book costs was struck down by a U.S. District Judge who also cited federal copyright law.

Want to find out the exact terms each publisher charges libraries and what lending model they adhere to in Canada and the United States? We have current data from late 2023 that includes all the models.

The post Publishers might be forced to lower the cost of ebooks first appeared on Good e-Reader.