Random House Says Libraries Own Its E-Books

Of all the "Big Six" book publishers, Random House is the only one that has held fast to its stance on libraries' ownership of its e-books. Last year, Ruth Liebmann, director of account marketing at Random House, told attendees at a library panel, "A library book does not compete with a sale. A library book is a sale." And just last month, Skip Dye, RH's vice president of library and academic marketing and sales, reiterated to Library Journal, "Random House's often repeated, and always consistent, position is this: when libraries buy their RH, Inc., e-books from authorized library wholesalers, it is our position that they own them."

        Book publisher Random House has not waivered in its long-held assertion that libraries own its electronic titles. (Image via http://www.applebitch.com)

Random House's belief that libraries own its e-books is in stark contrast to the viewpoint held by the other big book publishers, especially Penguin, which feel "the ready download-ability of library e-books could have an adverse effect on sales," according to Molly Raphael, president of the American Library Association (ALA). As a result, they've developed an increasingly adversarial relationship with libraries, finding more ways to limit libraries' access to popular electronic titles, or even going as far as refusing to offer any of their e-books to libraries for fear of lost sales. That Random House has confidently allowed libraries continuous access to its electronic titles is commendable. 

Yet, this action doesn't completely absolve Random House of accusations of greed. Earlier this year, it drastically raised the prices of its e-books - in some cases, as much as 300 percent - eliciting both exasperation and consternation from librarians across the country and the world. The South Shore Public Libraries system in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada, actually  boycotted Random House e-books in the wake of the steep price increase. "I don't want to pick a fight with them," said Troy Myers, chief librarian of South Shore Public Libraries, "but their pricing's unfair and I think they need to change it." Despite calls from the ALA to reconsider the price increase, Random House has, as of yet, not done so. I doubt it will. After all, once prices go up, they're not very likely to come down.

Excitement Gathers for Grace Coddington's Memoir

Ever since I saw The September Issue, the 2009 documentary on the making of the 2007 fall-fashion issue of Vogue, I've had a soft spot for Grace Coddington, who is the magazine's flame-haired and refreshingly down-to-earth creative director.

Vogue magazine's Grace Coddington (in the center) is at last releasing a memoir.
Image from http://nymag.com

Watching her fearlessly go toe-to-toe with Vogue's steely eyed editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, warmly comfort those on the receiving end of Wintour's wrath, and superbly weave together fantastical fashion sets and ensembles endeared her to me. The segment of the documentary where Coddington reflects on her earlier years as a successful model in Swinging London intrigued me so much that I swore if she ever wrote a memoir of those years, I'd snatch it up. Those in the publishing world must have realized that such a book would be a hit because, barely a year after the theatrical release of The September Issue, Coddington was "approached by agents and publishers looking to translate her September Issue fame into a bestseller," reported WWD.com on August 22, 2010. According to WWD.com, the book would cover "her modeling days in Sixties London, the car accident that changed her career path, and her ascendancy through fashion's ranks as a stylist and editor at British Vogue and, later, its American counterpart." It would be cowritten with Jay Fielden, the former editor-in-chief of Men's Vogue, and published by Random House. Fast-forward to two years later, and Fielden has been replaced by Vogue writer Michael Roberts and the book is given a release date.

Image from http://www.amazon.com

Grace: A Memoir will at last be released by Random House on November 20, 2012. The 416-page memoir promises to "introduce readers to the colorful designers, hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, models, and celebrities with whom Grace has created her signature images," according to the book's description on Amazon.com. The memoir also "reveals her private world with equal candor - the car accident that almost derailed her modeling career, her two marriages, the untimely death of her sister, Rosemary, her friendship with Harper's Bazaar editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis, and her thirty-year romance with Didier Malige. Finally, Grace describes her abiding relationship with Anna Wintour, and the evolving mastery by which she has come to define the height of fashion."

Vogue.com posted an excerpt from Grace: A Memoir. Here is a snippet:

My contemporaries were girls like Bronwen Pugh; Sandra Paul, a classic English beauty who married a politician; and Enid Boulting, whose daughter, Ingrid, also became a famous model and went on to marry John Barry, a composer of much of the music for the James Bond films. Another contemporary, Tania Mallet, was cast in a Bond movie herself (only to be killed off after a fleeting appearance), and many of the other girls ended up marrying lords. There was a kind of "Upstairs, Downstairs" feeling to things at the time. I suppose that's why my mother didn't object to my going to modeling school. But the models-pursued-by-aristocrats phenomenon was not destined to last. The Profumo affair, a sex scandal that hit the British headlines in 1963, was a sordid sensation involving government ministers, aristocrats, Soviet spies, and two good-time girls, Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. They were referred to in the popular press as "models" - which gave our profession a terrible name because, to the British public, the word "model" became pretty much synonymous with "prostitute."

To read much more of the excerpt from Grace: A Memoir, go HERE.

Random House Reviewing Library E-Book Policy

Just like the rise of the MP3 rattled the record companies, the popularity of the e-book is discombobulating the book publishers. What has industry execs running scared? The specter of lost sales.

The publishers that make up the "Big Six" are Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin, Macmillan, and Hachette. Of these, only Random House sells e-book versions of frontlist titles to libraries. The rest do not, for fear that digital library sales will infringe upon retail sales.

image source: blog.companylogos.ws

At a conference earlier this year, Random House's Ruth Liebmann made clear her company's stance on libraries: "A library book does not compete with a sale. A library book is a sale.” According to Publishers Weekly, Liebmann "added that Random House's goal was to have books available in libraries at the same time and in the same format they are available in retail."

But with Penguin's recent removal of its frontlist e-book titles from libraries, many now suspect that Random House may change its mind on the matter. Fueling this suspicion is Random House's recent statement that it is "actively reviewing" its library e-book policy.

See the Publishers Weekly article below for more information on this development.

PublishersWeekly.com * November 22, 2011

No Change, But Random House Says It Is "Actively Reviewing" Library E-Book Policy

By Andrew Alabanese

And then there was one. After Penguin announced this week that it was pulling its frontlist e-book titles from libraries and disabling all Kindle library lends, Random House remains the only “Big Six” publisher to embrace library sales of e-book editions. But with the e-book market changing, and discord over Amazon’s recent moves in the marketplace simmering, is the company reconsidering its position?

In a brief statement, Random House officials said that for now the company was "maintaining its current policy regarding digital library sales," but added it is “actively reviewing” that position. Asked if that meant changes were under discussion, Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum told PW it would be “inappropriate and premature” to infer that the company’s review of its policy meant a change was coming. “We regularly review our sales practices and policies for all channels,” Applebaum noted, adding that the company was engaged “in internal and also external discussion with our partners."

At a library panel at Digital Book World earlier this year, and reiterated at a Tools of Change panel a month later, Random House v-p, director of account marketing Ruth Liebmann described Random House's position on libraries: “A library book does not compete with a sale,” Liebmann said. “A library book is a sale.” Liebmann acknowledged that libraries' economic power is in “the same ballpark as indie bookstores.” And, they “never send books back." She added that Random House's goal was to have books available in libraries at the same time and in the same format they are available in retail.

The library e-book landscape is evolving rapidly, however, spurred by the September launch of OverDrive’s library lending program for the Kindle. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the already growing popularity of library e-books has surged dramatically since the Overdrive/Kindle library lending program launched weeks ago, stoking fears among some publishers that the program could cut into sales.

Librarians, however, counter that library e-books fuel sales, not only as a direct sales channel but in promoting authors and reading, a position that appears to be bolstered by a recent study published by Library Journal. "Our data shows that over 50% of all library users reported purchasing books by an author they were introduced to in the library,” Library Journal executive editor Rebecca Miller told PW, and noting that libraries are "an active partner with the publishing industry in building the book market, not to mention the burgeoning e-book market."

Of the "Big Six" publishers, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster do not sell e-books to libraries. Hachette no longer sells frontlist e-book editions to libraries. And HarperCollins drew the ire of librarians in March when it capped the number of library e-book lends at 26 before the title must be re-purchased. HarperCollins has since mended its image somewhat by at least engaging the library community on its policy.

Meanwhile, Penguin's abrupt decision to suspend library sales of frontlist titles in e-book format, as well as the way it communicated that change, citing unexplained "new security concerns," while assuring librarians they could still buy print books, is yet another sign that despite considerable talk of librarians and publishers coming together to work out solutions, the tension over digital content is in fact escalating. In 2011 alone, two major publishers have scaled back their policies on library e-books; the Author Guild is suing university libraries over its plan to digitize out-of-print and orphan works for use in an educational setting; and three publishers, backed by the AAP, went to trial in Atlanta over Georgia State University's use of e-reserves.