Bibliotheca Earnings Reports

[LilyBLily]

Like many of you, I just got emails from D2D saying my books had earned a few pennies via Bibliotheca. I contacted D2D and they explained that these were reading fees. I'm okay with that. Of course I wish it was more, but the buy in for the libraries is low, and this could lead to more people reading my books.

[guest14]

$3.38.. I spent $22 on coffee tonight :(

[Virginia McClain]

Oh good. I'm glad to see this didn't just happen to me. So... my question is this. Why is this the first time we've heard from Bibliotecha?

[Maggie Ann]

Yup, 25 borrows across July and August. I'm happy. 

[Authoress]

Very happy with my 6, 3 from July, 3 from August, what a lovely surprise to get the 1st email & quite a shock to get the 2nd.

I hadn't noticed that the 1st was from July & as they both said 3 for the same book, I thought the 2nd was a duplicate until I opened the 1st again, 1 was 2 from US & 1 from AU, the other was 2 from AU & 1 from US.
Both emails estimated a different price, so I guess that's to do with the exchange rate

[Bill Hiatt]

I didn't get those emails. Now I feel left out. :cry:


But at least that indicates I could be getting a few extra pennies in the future.

[Tiffmeister]

I just started publishing wide my back catalog, and I'm happy to be seeing a few pennies from Bibliotheca. I'll take it. More than I got from Amazon's KU per read. I think I get 20 cents a short and I got like 14 cents a short on KU. I slowly took everything out starting in April, and am starting to release it wide with about one a week. Working on my vampire series now so it's all out by Halloween. 


It's really cutting into my earnings, not to mention my dashboard sales data all messed up with the CS-KDP Merge. I'm happy at least I wasn't Zon exclusive when that happened. At least I've got D2D income.


And yes, this board is helping. The timing of everything going up in flames has not been making me feel the happiest.
But I guess that's what happens in self-pub, there are ups and downs.


But like I said, 20 cents is better than 14 cents. Now, if they'll take off on iBooks, I'll be happy.

[guest14]

Is anyone making any serious money out of libraries? I'm on Overdrive via Kobo and that brings in $50-$60 a month, and Bibliowhatyacallit produces a day's coffee money a month... anyone doing better?

[Maggie Ann]

Is anyone making any serious money out of libraries? I'm on Overdrive via Kobo and that brings in $50-$60 a month, and Bibliowhatyacallit produces a day's coffee money a month... anyone doing better?

Good thing I don't drink coffee.

I've only been wide a few months so I've made very little.

[CoraBuhlert]

I got those e-mails, too, yesterday and got a very pleasant surprise, because it turned out that I got 77 borrows altogether in July and August. Of course, the payout is only about 10 Euros, but it's 10 Euros I didn't expect.

[Kate Elizabeth]

I was tickled to death when I got my emails about Bibliotheca.  I got 38 borrows, and around $15, I think.  Woohoo!

[Jeff Tanyard]

I'm not on Bibliotheca yet.  I've been reluctant because I don't understand how it works.  If y'all don't mind, could you tell me how you price your books for Bibliotheca compared to how you price them on Overdrive and Amazon?  Also, I don't know what questions to ask, so if there's something I need to know, please volunteer it.  I've already solicited info on another forum, but I'm trying to collect as many anecdotes as I can in order to have a well-rounded picture of this thing.   

[Maggie Ann]

D2D suggested setting the library price at twice the ebook price which I did. But then I got my first royalty statement from Biblioteca. Peanuts. Actually, not even enough to buy peanuts.

I'd seen where others were charging libraries three and four times the ebook price so I raised mine. I guess the price change doesn't go through until at least the next month because I'm only getting between 9c and 14c a book on the October statement.

I think it's time to email D2D support to find out how long the price change takes to go through for Biblioteca.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Just FYI: D2D allows you to disable the cost-per-checkout payment option.

https://www.draft2digital.com/library-pricing/

If I recall correctly, Baker & Taylor pay out on the "One Copy, One User" model, so you might want to take that into consideration when thinking about how to price for libraries.

I think it's time to email D2D support to find out how long the price change takes to go through for Biblioteca.

Don't hold your breath.  D2D told me that Bib sort of got swamped with the huge influx of authors.  They're trying to catch up and sort themselves out.  I added my books to Bib in October.  They're still "publishing."   

[Maggie Ann]

Just FYI: D2D allows you to disable the cost-per-checkout payment option.

https://www.draft2digital.com/library-pricing/

If I recall correctly, Baker & Taylor pay out on the "One Copy, One User" model, so you might want to take that into consideration when thinking about how to price for libraries.

I think it's time to email D2D support to find out how long the price change takes to go through for Biblioteca.

Don't hold your breath.  D2D told me that Bib sort of got swamped with the huge influx of authors.  They're trying to catch up and sort themselves out.  I added my books to Bib in October.  They're still "publishing."   

Thanks, Jeff. Now I understand. I think I'll switch to the OCOU method for a few months and see how that does. I really have nothing to lose.

[LilyBLily]

I'd love to know what the trad pubs charge libraries. Obviously, most libraries have very limited budgets and they're going to go for the mainstream bestsellers first and our random genre material later, possibly only after genre that is trad pubbed. Anybody know how to find out?

[Maggie Ann]

I'd love to know what the trad pubs charge libraries. Obviously, most libraries have very limited budgets and they're going to go for the mainstream bestsellers first and our random genre material later, possibly only after genre that is trad pubbed. Anybody know how to find out?

An author friend of mine used to work in a library. She's indie, not trad, but she's on Overdrive and charging from $4.99 to $7.99. I assume that's based on whatever insider knowledge she had while working there. I'm guessing that the trad pubs charge more than that. I'll ask her what she knows.

[Vijaya]

I was delighted to finally see a statement through D2D!

Bill, hang in there.

Jeff, here's some info: https://draft2digital.com/blog/d2d-adds-bibliotheca-for-library-distribution-plus-a-new-way-to-get-paid-and-increase-discoverability/

[Bill Hiatt]

I was delighted to finally see a statement through D2D!

Bill, hang in there.

Jeff, here's some info: https://draft2digital.com/blog/d2d-adds-bibliotheca-for-library-distribution-plus-a-new-way-to-get-paid-and-increase-discoverability/

Actually, I started getting Bibliotheca statements in October. Because only a small part of my catalog is wide, I only get a few pennies each month, but it's still something.

[Maggie Ann]

According to D2D, CPC gets you higher visibility but that also means lower payouts. Much lower from what I can see. I'm going to try OCOU for three months to see how it works. If I'm making the same or less money, I'll go back to CPC. In that case, I'd rather have the visibility.

I spoke to my friend who used to work in a library. This was some time ago, but I'm guessing that the same things are generally true now.

The trad publishers had rules about borrowing ebooks. If the library wanted multiple patrons to check out an ebook at the same time, they had to buy multiple copies and the books could only be checked out for two weeks at a time. Even if the book was returned prior to the deadline, it could not be checked out again until the two weeks was up. There was also a time limit on the purchase. The library might only be able to purchase it for a year and then had to repurchase if it wanted to continue to stock that book.

[CoraBuhlert]

I got my September and October reports yesterday and another nice surprise.

[spin52]

I got 19 cents! 
But where on the D2D reports does this show? Or do you just have to wait until the email arrives? I've only had Biblioteca for two months and haven't seen it on the normal reports.

[Kate Elizabeth]

I got my report 2 nights ago.  I made $4.08 in September, and only $1.63 last month.  I was hoping for more reads, but I'll take the extra money and be happy.

[Maggie Ann]

I got 19 cents! 
But where on the D2D reports does this show? Or do you just have to wait until the email arrives? I've only had Biblioteca for two months and haven't seen it on the normal reports.

I just got my October report today showing all outlets, books sold for each and royalties earned. You should get your, too.

You're not going to see the Biblioteca sales on your dashboard. They probably only report to D2D once a month.

When my last month's "books sold" changed the first time, the freeloads were deducted and only paid sales showed. Then right after I got the Biblioteca report, the "books sold" increased by the amount of those reports.