Simon & Schuster is starting a pilot project where they will allow libraries to buy e-books at a two year term at 50% off. The major publisher has selected over 550 bestselling titles to participate in this program and they want to gauge if libraries are willing to buy e-books and keep them longer, instead of having them expire after one year.
Overdrive is spearheading the pilot project on behalf of S&S and any library that does business with them will immediately be able to buy e-books at the optional two year term.
How is the e-book pricing actually changing for the two year period? Well one, Tales from a Not-So-Happily Ever After is available for a one year price at $12.99, or for a two-year term for $19.49. eBooks offered with this new two-year option include fiction and nonfiction best-sellers, front list releases, and engaging fixed-layout EPUB titles for children and young readers.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
