Tor is Taking Their eBook Problems Out On Us, But How Should We Respond

Tor Books, the largest publisher of speculative fiction in America is not selling as many eBooks as it thinks it should, so they are seeing if libraries are the problem?!? The basics here-- no new books in “e” format can go to libraries until at least 4 months after their initial release.

Obviously library workers are mad, very mad.

Outrage and boycotting are all of our first instincts, including mine, but I am torn on how to act. This is not an all or nothing type situation and it needs us to think about how we respond in a way that doesn’t hurt our readers and the authors but still shows our displeasure. In this post I will break down this complex issue and all of the different moving parts that are creating it and then I will address what we should do.

First here is some background for those of you who are not up to speed. I am going to refer to this article from The Digital Reader which has been adding new information and statements as they come out. Please click here and read their reporting. It is well cited and has followups. It is a great resource.

From that piece here is the original statement from Tor:

Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers and a leading global publisher of science fiction and fantasy will be changing our eBook lending model to libraries as part of a test program to determine the impact of eLending on retail sales. Our current analysis on eLending indicates it is having a direct and adverse impact on retail eBook sales. 

Effective with July 2018 publications, all new titles from Tor Books will become available for library eBook distribution four months after their retail on-sale date rather than the current program which allows libraries to purchase the titles on their retail on-sale date. During the test period, we will work closely with our library vendors who service this channel to evaluate the results and develop ongoing terms that will best support Tor’s authors, their agents, and Tor’s channel partners. 

In addition, Macmillan will actively participate in the recently launched “Panorama Project,” the first large-scale, data-driven research project focused on understanding the impact of library holdings on book discovery, author brand development, and retail sales (panoramaproject.org). 

With data from both programs, we will be in a better position to analyze and understand the impact of eLending on our publishing program. The timing of the test period is open-ended.

I responded to this statement immediately without calling Tor out specifically on their argument that libraries lose them money. Here is my series of tweets when this change in their ebook lending policy was first announced:

1.  Jul 10
   Why do you constantly make it harder for us to get books in the hands of potential customers? I thought you wanted to make money. Over charging us & not allowing us access to the newest titles hurts you way more than it hurts us. We have plenty of backlist books we can give out.
   1 reply4 retweets13 likes
    
    
    
    Jul 10
   First it hurts because your books don’t get in front of potential readers who may want to give an author a try for free before buying more.
   1 reply4 retweets8 likes
    
    
    
    Jul 10
   Second, it hurts you because readers are already paying for these library copies with their tax dollars. Don’t you want them to have as many of your books to preview as possible? Making them pay twice gives them less money in their pockets to buy more.
   1 reply5 retweets9 likes
    
    
    
    Jul 10
   I feel like we have been fighting this fight for too long and the publishers never learn. Here’s a way to put it into their tiny little, dollar signs only, brains which can’t get past the fact that library books are “free”....
   1 reply4 retweets6 likes
    
    
    
    Jul 10
   Every book a library buys is an advertisement for your company. Can you get cheaper advertising than that? Heck we are already paying you to advertise & you are getting more sales. What about that doesn’t benefit you?
   1 reply4 retweets10 likes
    
    
    
    Jul 10
   Stop being bad business people and make it easier for us to help you. It makes economic sense to allow us easier access to your titles. I may not have been an economics major, but even I can see libraries are an easy way for you to make money.
   2 replies3 retweets8 likes
    
    
    

[The link to that Pew Report from my first Tweet is here.]

Now that Pew Report is from 2014. We need more current data to prove that libraries help, not hinder sales. And in fact, a new study has begun and Tor even referred to it in their statement above-- The Panorama Project, which is going to delve into how libraries fit into the for profit book world.

It is upsetting that Tor will be participating in that study but will NOT wait for the results before testing the theory that libraries are cheating them out of sales.

ALA released the following statement which refers to this. Again, quoting from the Digital Reader piece:

At the beginning of July, Tor, a division of Macmillan, announced without warning that it was immediately beginning to embargo ebook sales of new titles to libraries for four months. Today American Library Association (ALA) President Loida Garcia-Febo issued the following statement: 

“The American Library Association and our members have worked diligently to increase access to and exposure for the widest range of ebooks and authors,” said Garcia-Febo. “Over years, ALA made great strides in working with publishers and distributors to better serve readers with increasingly robust digital collections. We remain committed to a vibrant and accessible reading ecosystem for all. 

“I am dismayed now to see Tor bring forward a tired and unproven claim of library lending adversely affecting sales. This move undermines our shared commitment to readers and writers—particularly with no advance notice or discussion with libraries. In fact, Macmillan references its involvement with the Panorama Project, which is a large-scale, data-driven research project focused on understanding the impact of library holdings on book discovery, author brand development, and sales. For this reason, this change by Tor—literally on the heels of Panorama’s launch—is particularly unexpected and unwelcome. 

"The ALA calls for Macmillan to move just as quickly to reverse its course and immediately lift the embargo while the Panorama Project does its work.”

So here are the HUGE problems with Tor doing this. Obviously, it is bad for our readers because they won’t get the ebooks in a timely fashion. 4 months is a long time in the new book landscape. But, let’s think about it from a collection development standpoint as my friend @vantine mentioned on Twitter:

This point that those titles will get missed is a big deal especially because we are talking about the largest publisher of speculative fiction. That means our ebook collections in this genre will suffer.

This leads to my problem with calling for an all out boycott of Tor in any format. That is a terrible idea because first and foremost, it hurts our readers. They will miss out on wonderful titles. It hurts our collections because we will be missing key titles in popular genres. But, it also hurts the authors and editors, many of whom, in this case, are people I know personally. It hurts their livelihoods if we don’t buy their books and help readers discover them.

Remember, they did not have any say in this policy change. In fact, a few authors have told me that they are not happy that their ebooks will not be available at libraries when they are released now. They know this will hurt their bottom line.

So, I can’t support a full boycott for all of those good reasons. Yet, I also will not stand by and do nothing. So here are a few things we can do:

1. Contact some of your more popular Tor authors. Many of them are active on Twitter, or go to their websites and use the contact link to send them an email. Explain how hard this is going to be on your patrons and especially mention the point in @Vantine’s Tweet above-- that you will inevitably lose track of their titles after the 4 month embargo ends because you are already on the the newest titles. This is an argument they will listen to.
2. Contact Tor directly-- over and over and over again and express your displeasure. Call, email, Tweet. Have your patrons who enjoy Tor titles and authors do the same.
3. Our partner in this endeavor with the biggest sway is OverDrive. Working with them, whether your library uses OverDrive or not, may be our best shot at convincing Tor to change their mind. Let’s follow their lead here. Again, from the Digital Reader article, here is the letter OverDrive shared with libraries:

Dear ****

On behalf of **********, your account manager, I am writing to let you know we received notice from Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers, regarding a change in policy for eBook lending availability for libraries.  Tor Books titles will now be delayed for library availability for four months from their retail release date, beginning with the July 2018 releases.  As your library has placed pre-orders for titles affected by this change, we are cancelling orders for these titles.  You can see affected titles in your “Recalled Content” report in Marketplace.  We have attached Macmillan’s notice of this policy change.

OverDrive is dismayed and disappointed in Macmillan’s decision.  We take issue with Macmillan’s conclusion that library availability has an adverse impact on retail sales and Macmillan has not shared the data or analysis that supports this statement.

We are in ongoing and active dialogue with Macmillan to provide data and information to advocate a change of this policy.   Macmillan plans to participate in the Panorama Project, which is undertaking a series of pilot programs and research projects to provide objective evidence of the impact of library catalogs and lending as it relates to book discovery, author brand, and retail sales.

We encourage you to contact Macmillan directly to provide your feedback at elending.feedback@macmillan.com.

Thank you,

Finally, I also have some personal issues with all of this that I need to work through because the Speculative Fiction world is made up of my people I am feeling hurt by those that usually have my back. This is making the entire issue that much harder for me.

For example, when Tor.com, who I love and support in general does things like Tweet this:

And all I want to do is Tweet back:

“I know a great book, but you’ll have to wait 4 months for my suggestion.”

But I am not a troll and that will do no good to help our overall cause.

It took me a few days to sort through my feelings and gather information to make this a useful post. Please heed my advice and don’t just be reactionary and unilaterally boycott Tor. Instead use the tips I have shared and together we can make a difference.