Ebooks: OverDrive and Smashwords Announce Distribution Deal; 200,000 Titles by 80,000 Authors Now Available via OverDrive
From Today’s Announcement:
OverDrive and Smashwords, the world’s largest distributor of self-published eBooks, today announced that 200,000 self-published titles will be available for public libraries in OverDrive’s global network.
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To streamline collection development, OverDrive and Smashwords are creating curated lists of Smashwords bestsellers and popular genres. Libraries will soon have the option, for example, to purchase the complete catalog of the top 100, 500 or 1,000 bestselling Smashwords authors.
Smashwords will also produce curated buy-lists by genre, such as the top 1,000 bestselling Smashwords romance titles, or the top 1,000 bestselling mysteries and thrillers.
Under this agreement, readers may borrow each eBook on a one copy/one user model. Alternately, patrons can purchase the eBook through a link on participating libraries’ websites and support their local libraries through OverDrive’s “Buy It Now” feature. Readers are also able to recommend titles to their library from the Smashwords catalog. Smashwords’ full Premium Catalog of non-erotica titles is eligible for the program, including new releases.
Among the Smashwords authors planning to provide their full indie catalogs to OverDrive include Amy Miles, Brian S. Pratt, Chanda Hahn, Colleen Hoover, GJ Walker-Smith, Jamie McGuire, JD Nixon, Kirsty Moseley, Kristen Ashley, Lauren Blakely, Melody Grace, Natasha Preston, Quinn Loftis, R.L. Mathewson, Randolph Lalonde, Shayne Parkinson and T C Southwell.
For the past two years Smashwords has had distribution agreements with 3M and Baker & Taylor
In 2012 the company also announced their Library Direct program for libraries that host and manage their own ebook checkout systems.
See Also: Take a Look at the Current Smashwords Bestseller List
See Also: Smashwords Announces a Distribution Deal with Berlin-based Txtr
Filed under: Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.
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