[Libs-Or] HarperCollins

[Bob Jones]

I received an e-mail from Mr. Marwell today, with a "statement" attached:

Dear Mr. Jones,

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your thoughts re: our new eBook terms.

While obviously we don't agree with your conclusion, we do agree with your statements regarding the importance of libraries as customers for publishers and as bedrocks of our local communities.  I'm attaching a statement that puts our decision into more context.

Please review and let me know your further thoughts.

Sincerely,
Josh Marwell
President of Sales
HarperCollins Publishers


From: Bob Jones [mailto:Bob.Jones at milton-freewater-or.gov]
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 3:49 PM
To: Marwell, Josh
Subject: New Pricing Structure for Downloadable Books

Mr. Marwell:

It has come to my attention you have decided to change your pricing policy for downloadable books sold to libraries.  Under the new scheme use will be limited to 26 circulations, after which the library must re-purchase the item.  This may seem to you to be a very good idea, but it is in fact a very short-sighted and greedy idea.  Let me tell you why.

Libraries are very good customers for publishers.  They buy lots of books day in and day out, year after year.  For certain book categories (poetry and reference books come to mind) libraries are your major customers.  Without them you would not have enough sales of such books to justify publishing them at all.

Libraries are a cornerstone of our democracy, providing access to information not elsewhere available or affordable to millions of people.

Libraries are chronically underfunded and must watch their expenditures carefully.  Your company watches its expenses in order to maximize returns to shareholders.  Libraries strive to return not monetary profits, but educational, instructional, and entertainment benefits to the public, especially to people who cannot afford to buy books.  They can ill afford to fatten the wallets of greedy publishers or their greedy shareholders.

If 10,000 libraries declined to buy a new bestseller, you might hardly miss the lost sales.  But if they decided to not purchase ANY book in ANY format from ANY HarperCollins imprint, I think that would get your attention because it would have a significant negative impact on your sales and your bottom line.  I'm sure you wouldn't want to see that happen.

As your new policy seems totally indefensible to me as a librarian, responsible for the wise use of taxpayer dollars, I must inform you that, effective immediately, my library will not purchase anything from your company until this new grab for money is rescinded.  I will encourage other librarians nationwide to follow my example.  We simply can't afford to do business with you.  It would be an irresponsible use of public funds.

While we strive to provide the materials our patrons want, we will simply have to inform them why we cannot submit to this form of extortion on the part of a profitable corporation.

Very sincerely yours,

Robert A. Jones

Library Director
Milton-Freewater Public Library
Milton-Freewater, Oregon



10 East 53rd Street

New York, N.Y  10022-5200



Telephone: 212 207-7000

Fax: 212 207-7909



HarperCollins Publishers



March 1, 2010



HarperCollins is committed to libraries and recognizes that they are a crucial part of our local communities. We count on librarians reading our books and spreading the word about our authors' good works. Our goal is to continue to sell e-books to libraries, while balancing the challenges and opportunities that the growth of e-books presents to all who are actively engaged in buying, selling, lending, promoting, writing and publishing books.



We are striving to find the best model for all parties. Guiding our decisions is our goal to make sure that all of our sales channels, in both print and digital formats, remain viable, not just today but in the future. Ensuring broad distribution through booksellers and libraries provides the greatest choice for readers and the greatest opportunity for authors' books to be discovered.



Our prior e-book policy for libraries dates back almost 10 years to a time when the number of e-readers was too small to measure. It is projected that the installed base of e-reading devices domestically will reach nearly 40 million this year. We have serious concerns that our previous e-book policy, selling e-books to libraries in perpetuity, if left unchanged, would undermine the emerging e-book eco-system, hurt the growing e-book channel, place additional pressure on physical bookstores, and in the end lead to a decrease in book sales and royalties paid to authors. We are looking to balance the mission and needs of libraries and their patrons with those of authors and booksellers, so that the library channel can thrive alongside the growing e-book retail channel.



We spent many months examining the issues before making this change. We talked to agents and distributors, had discussions with librarians, and participated in the Library Journal e-book Summit and other conferences. Twenty-six circulations can provide a year of availability for titles with the highest demand, and much longer for other titles and core backlist. If a library decides to repurchase an e-book later in the book's life, the price will be significantly lower as it will be pegged to a paperback price point. Our hope is to make the cost per circulation for e-books less than that of the corresponding physical book. In fact, the digital list price is generally 20% lower than the print version, and sold to distributors at a discount.



We invite libraries and library distributors to partner with us as we move forward with these new policies. We look forward to ongoing discussions about changes in this space and will continue to look to collaborate on mutually beneficial opportunities.


To continue the discussion, please email library.ebook at HarperCollins.com
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