D2D Overdrive sale

[guest78]

Did anyone else get an email from D2D about its Overdrive sale? It sounds like something I'd like to do, but I'm afraid to click the link in the email. lol

[123mlh]

Mark posted about it in a group I'm in so I think it's legit.

[guest78]

Mark posted about it in a group I'm in so I think it's legit.

Sweet. Thank you.

[notthatamanda]

Since we submit via a form do we have to price match on other vendors?  I know it's for libraries, but that's just further confusing me.
I'm guessing not, but I've never done one of these before.
Any clarification welcome.

[Alice Sabo]

In the email I got they said it does not affect your price. You grant Overdrive permission to discount the book at the rate chosen in the form 25 - 50%.

I signed up all my first in series books at 50% off. You need to file out a separate form for each book and choose the discount %.

[Eric Thomson]

I signed up all my first in series books at 50% off. You need to file out a separate form for each book and choose the discount %.

Ditto.  Hopefully my local public library will finally give indies the time of day, especially since the library's CEO was on the radio last week whining about McMillan's new ebook restrictions for public libraries.

[notthatamanda]

I'd be interested in hearing about how this went from you guys.  Something wasn't working when I went to try to do it (can't remember what exactly) but I ended up not submitting. 

I'm trying to understand how overdrive works.  I asked my local librarian and got this:

 Overdrive is the nationwide mechanism for borrowing free ebooks and digital audiobooks through your local public library.  It's not a digital version of our collection, so if Overdrive has a given title, it means that book's publishing house made the title available through Overdrive.  So when you the patron request a given Overdrive title, the library does not need to purchase it.  Either the title is already in Overdrive, or if it's not available, it means the publisher declined to participate. In that case, you can still request a print, CD or Playaway copy through us.

Overdrive limits the patron to downloading no more than five titles at the same time. The titles will delete themselves off your device as their due dates roll around. You can also return/delete a title ahead of time if you wish.  For detailed instructions, go to https://mvlc.overdrive.com/ and click Help in the upper right-hand corner. Scroll down and choose whether you're interested in ebooks or digital audiobooks, and you'll be taken to a FAQ that covers all the bases.  Thanks, and let us know if you have any other questions.

Emphasis on free is mine.  So I guess the takeaway is if you have permafrees, offer them on Overdrive as well.  I have managed to sell 5 copies of one book and 1 of another on Overdrive, so I assume some libraries somewhere bought them.   I just went to check my permafrees on D2D and it won't let me list them for free.  The lowest price allowed is 99 cents.  So, hmmm.

[Marti Talbott]

I think we had to submit by October 31st. The first email was incorrect and said November 31st. I entered, but I usually don't see any sales from Overdrive until a month or so after the sale.

[notthatamanda]

I don't know if anyone is interested but this is what I got from D2D re: the 99 cents minimum for libraries.

Hello Amanda --

Thanks for taking the time to reach out to us. I am sorry you are running into this question. The reason the price is required is because the file must have DRM encryption on it. Overdrive will receive our files even those that do not request to have DRM and they will set DRM encryption on the file. Because of this process to cover the cost associated with this the minimum price is .99 cents. So when a library users checks out that book, no one else can check it out. At the end of the two weeks if they do not renew the book, it disappears from their device and becomes available to all users of that library.

[Mammasan]

 Overdrive is the nationwide mechanism for borrowing free ebooks and digital audiobooks through your local public library. 

I think she means the library patron can borrow the book for free, not that the book has a free list price.

[Lynn]

I'd be interested in hearing about how this went from you guys.  Something wasn't working when I went to try to do it (can't remember what exactly) but I ended up not submitting. 

I'm trying to understand how overdrive works.  I asked my local librarian and got this:

 Overdrive is the nationwide mechanism for borrowing free ebooks and digital audiobooks through your local public library.  It's not a digital version of our collection, so if Overdrive has a given title, it means that book's publishing house made the title available through Overdrive.  So when you the patron request a given Overdrive title, the library does not need to purchase it.  Either the title is already in Overdrive, or if it's not available, it means the publisher declined to participate. In that case, you can still request a print, CD or Playaway copy through us.

Overdrive limits the patron to downloading no more than five titles at the same time. The titles will delete themselves off your device as their due dates roll around. You can also return/delete a title ahead of time if you wish.  For detailed instructions, go to https://mvlc.overdrive.com/ and click Help in the upper right-hand corner. Scroll down and choose whether you're interested in ebooks or digital audiobooks, and you'll be taken to a FAQ that covers all the bases.  Thanks, and let us know if you have any other questions.

Emphasis on free is mine.  So I guess the takeaway is if you have permafrees, offer them on Overdrive as well.  I have managed to sell 5 copies of one book and 1 of another on Overdrive, so I assume some libraries somewhere bought them.   I just went to check my permafrees on D2D and it won't let me list them for free.  The lowest price allowed is 99 cents.  So, hmmm.

When they talk about free in that context, they totally mean free to their library users, not free in any other sense. :D

The libraries themselves buy the licenses that allow them to offer the books to their users. Overdrive gets a cut/charges libraries a fee, so of course it's in their interest not to allow "free" books, etc, and generally most libraries want a system with a gatekeeper of some sort, so they don't really want "free" either, because "free" is associated with junk.

[Marti Talbott]

Walmart won't take free either. Shucky darn.

[notthatamanda]

Okay, thanks guys.
I guess I should really sign into my library's Overdrive and look around a bit.

[Marti Talbott]

Okay, thanks guys.
I guess I should really sign into my library's Overdrive and look around a bit.

So much to do and no time to do it.