A self-published novel, The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken, was the best-selling ebook on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble during the week ending April 13, 2013. This statistic demonstrates a major shift in our literary ecosystem—self-published books have become culturally important.

Our society is now producing relevant books—books worth reading, books impacting our culture—from individuals, not just publishing houses. This is a significant change and has real ramifications for libraries.

“Are we offering enough self-published titles?”

Librarians are taking notice of the phenomenon of self-published bestsellers, and asking themselves, “Are we offering enough self-published titles?”

Libraries have historically stocked their shelves almost exclusively with books produced by publishing companies—not individual authors. Their purchasing systems are set up to buy from mass-market distributors, not lone writers. Libraries historically have not, generally, purchased self-published books. This is starting to change.

Librarians in the past haven’t bothered much with self-published ebooks because too many of those titles have been low-quality or “vanity” volumes with little cultural significance. But now, self-published ebooks titles are becoming important parts of our contemporary literary environment—and they need to be in libraries.

Self-published books are a big part of our culture

If today’s libraries are to fulfill their missions “to ensure the preservation and transmission of society's knowledge, history and culture,” (borrowing from the mission statement of the Brooklyn Public Library in New York) then they must make the top-selling self-published ebooks available to their readers. After all, these bestsellers are part of our “society's knowledge, history and culture.”

“A library’s job is to leverage the civic investment and work as a cooperative purchasing agent for the output of our culture,” says Jamie LaRue, Director of the Douglas County Libraries in Colorado, “Self-published titles are becoming a bigger percentage of the total output of our culture.”

With several self-published books at the tops of the charts, and more high-profile writers breaking ties with their publishing houses to market titles on their own, we cannot keep brushing self-published books to the edges of cultural importance. Libraries know this and are beginning to change their buying habits.

Some libraries are increasing e-book lists

Only 12% of people with digital readers look to the library first for e-books, whereas 75% of readers go online for e-books, according to research conducted by Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project. This is probably because they know libraries don't stock all of the most popular ebooks.

Some libraries are making strides in bulking up their e-book collections. The Califa Group, a library consortium in  California, established a contract with Smashwords to purchase roughly 10,000 top ebooks for about $3 a title. Douglas County made a similar deal, agreeing to acquire 10,000 digital books from Smashwords. In addition to providing access to these popular titles to their patrons, through this deal Douglas County owns the e-book titles they purchase and their catalog allows readers the additional option of purchasing, as well as borrowing, e-books.

A big future for e-books in libraries

Self-published books now make up a portion of the legitimate, culturally significant intellectual content of our society. Libraries have begun to acknowledge this fact and are beginning to make changes in their purchasing procedures and budgets, so they can stock more self-published ebooks to better reflect the realities of our reading public.

This article first appeared in Digital Book World. 

What if libraries around the world offered a single eBook to all of their patrons for free? Library e-book resource Overdrive and independent publisher Sourcebooks have created Big Library Read. The goal of this pilot program is to create a global library book club by selecting one title for library patrons around the world to read simultaneously. The innaugural title is The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone. Malone is a professor of English at Duke University as well as a daytime TV writer (meaning: he also writes soap operas). This is not a children's book, but an adult drama. We are hoping that Overdrive will initiate a similar project for children's sbooks. 

In creating this program, Overdrive and Sourcebooks aim to create buzz over the "positive exposure and sales influence library eBook catalogs provide to authors and publishers." 

Details

Date: the first Big Library Read runs May 15-June 1, 2013.
Title: The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone’s
Genre: Adult Fiction
Description: This is a novel of love, secrets, and the mysterious bonds of families. Malone explores the questions that defy easy answers: Is love a choice or a calling? Why do the ties of family bind so tightly? And is forgiveness a gift to others…or a gift we give ourselves?
Formats: OverDrive Read, Kindle (US only), EPUB, PDF
Lending Model: Simultaneous Use for May 15–June 1, 2013 and then one copy/one user following the pilot program.

The Annual Children's Book Art Online Auction begins this Saturday, May 18 at 9:00 a.m. EST and runs through Friday, May 24 at 9:00 p.m. EST at http://myworld.ebay.com/abffe. The auction is open to the public and offers a chance for those outside of the book and publishing industry to participate in the fight against censorship of books for young readers as well as buy great art.

Art from leading children's book illustrators include Sophie Blackall, Frank Dormer, Nathan Hale, Tad Hills, Jeremy Holmes, Daniel Kirk, Helen Lester, Betsy Lewin, Ted Lewin, Jeff Mack, Bob Shea, Meilo So, Rosemary Wells, and many more. A preview of the online art can be found here.

This online auction is a component of the book and publishing industry's Annual Children's Books Art Silent Auction at BookExpo America at the end of the month.

Proceeds from both auctions support the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression's defense of the free speech rights of young readers. ABFFE is a co-founder of the Kids' Right to Read Project (KRRP) and a principal sponsor of Banned Books Week, the only national celebration of the freedom to read. The auctions are presented by ABFFE and the ABC Children's Group at the American Booksellers Association.

For more information about both auctions and to preview all of the art, visit the auction website or contact the auction's manager, Kristen Gilligan.

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 1, 2013 – Worldwide tablet shipments continue to surge, growing 142.4% year over year in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. Tablet shipments totaled 49.2 million units in 1Q13, surpassing that of the entire first half of 2012. With growth fueled by increased market demand for smaller screen devices, tablets have shown no sign of slowing down.

Apple outperformed IDC's most recent projections for the quarter, shipping 19.5 million units compared to a forecast of 18.7 million units. The company, which historically has experienced a steep drop off in first quarter shipments (following strong holiday sales in the fourth quarter), saw some smoothing of that seasonality this year. Number two vendor Samsung also performed above expectations and managed to grow its shipments over the fourth quarter as more of the company's smaller-sized tablets began to gain traction in the market. Samsung has also used its recent Android smartphone growth to help bring its tablet product line into new markets and channels, leveraging the opportunity to package and bundle. The strong performance of the two market leaders helped drive total shipments to an impressive 49.2 million units for the quarter.

"Sustained demand for the iPad mini and increasingly strong commercial shipments led to a better-than expected first quarter for Apple," said Tom Mainelli, Research Director, Tablets at IDC. "In addition, by moving the iPad launch to the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple seems to have avoided the typical first-quarter slowdown that traditionally occurred when consumers held off buying in January and February in anticipation of a new product launch in March."

ASUS managed to move into the number 3 vendor spot as it continued to see decent tablet shipment demand from the highly marketed Nexus 7 device. But, with Google's I/O conference right around the corner and expectations of an imminent device refresh, the company will need to find a way to sustain its momentum. Amazon fell to the number 4 position, once again the victim of a highly seasonal product cycle.

Microsoft, which is a focal point for many in the tablet space, entered the top five for the first time as shipments of its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets combined for a total of nearly 900,000 units. Many of those units were Surface Pro, which the company started shipping to the U.S. and Canada in February. Microsoft has said that it is actively widening its regional distribution of both Surface RT and Surface Pro products. Beyond the Surface products, Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets continued to struggle to gain traction in the market. Total combined Windows 8 and Windows RT shipments across all vendors reached 1.8 million units.

"Recent rumors have circulated about the possibility of smaller screen Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets hitting the market," said Ryan Reith, Program Manager for IDC's Mobility Tracker program. "However, the notion that this will be the saving grace is flawed. Clearly the market is moving toward smart 7-8 inch devices, but Microsoft's larger challenges center around consumer messaging and lower cost competition. If these challenges are addressed, along with the desired screen size variations, then we could see Microsoft make even further headway in 2013 and beyond."

As more states begin to implement strategies to prepare their students for career and college readiness, students can stay academically focused while school is not in session with summer reading programs. 77% of teachers said that students who participate in a summer learning program are better prepared for school when they return in the fall, and 88% said summer learning is crucial to supporting students’ overall success in school according to a nation-wide survey conducted by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA).

To support summer reading, myON™ reader is holding a Summer SuperHero Reading Program. All schools using myON reader, an online personalized literacy environment matching students’ interests and reading levels to recommended enhanced digital books, are encouraged to participate in the summer reading program, which runs May 15 – August 15, 2013.

The 2013 Summer SuperHero Reading Program hopes to encourage students to read over the summer, be rewarded for their efforts, and help build a new love of reading. The program will track time spent reading in two categories of students: grades PreK-5 and grades 6-12. Student prizes will be based on total time spent reading and schools can participate by reading the most books. Steelcase, Variquest and many of the myON publishing partners have agreed to provide prizes for the program. Winners will be announced on the Capstone Connect blog on September 4, 2013.

Among the prizes include:

Student Prizes
·       SuperHero: Wins an Apple® iPad®

·       SuperHero Runner-Up: Wins an Apple® iPad® mini

·       Jr. SuperHero: Wins a Sony® Bloggie™ Touch

       School Prizes

·       1st Place: Eno Interactive Whiteboard

·       2nd Place: Variquest Poster Design System

·       3rd Place:  one Elementary School Publisher myON Bundle and one Middle School Publisher myON Bundle

A Summer Reading Toolkit featuring downloadable posters, flyers, login cards, and more is available for all myON customers on the myON portal under the “Learn More” section.
To register and receive more information on the Summer SuperHero Reading Program, visit the contest page. Included are real-life SuperHeroes videos from Former Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts Tony Dungy and his wife Lauren, Assistant Police Chief of the Tampa Bay Department John Bennet, and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, encouraging students and families to read over the summer.

“Bottom line, the best remedy for the ‘summer slide’ is to put books in the hands of kids. The opportunity to impact students’ success can be greatly enhanced by providing unlimited opportunities to read and match kids to books that interest them and are at the right level. myON reader provides students with a collection of more than 4,000 enhanced digital books to encourage reading, leverage technology and give anytime access. We want to build momentum around reading and literacy to help build long-term academic achievement for all students.” said Todd Brekhus, president of Capstone Digital. 

About myON™

myON reader provides online access to more than 4,000 books with multimedia supports, such as embedded dictionary, highlighting and audio, customized to a student’s interest and reading. Accessible at school or home, the platform creates a collaborative reading environment where students, educators and parents work together to support student reading performance. Students also have access to a safe, social network where they can read, rate, review and recommend books to classmates. Since the platform launched in January 2011, more than 1.4 million students have logged on to read upwards of 4.25 million books. Learn more about myON at www.TheFutureinReading.com.

[from a press release]

Is there room for new thinking on ebook pricing strategies? The medium is still new, so customer expectations have not been set in stone. Now's the time for publishers and authors to think strategically about the cost of e-books.

I've looked at ways businesses in other fields charge for their services and come up with some "outside the box" ideas about the value of ebooks. The result is a list of 7 must-consider strategies for determining the price of your ebook.

Which strategy will work best for your title? Publishers and independent ebook authors should consider them all before pricing the book they worked so hard to create.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #1: Charge extra for convenience

Though ebooks cost less to print, ship, and stock than paper books, they're much more convenient for readers. So why not charge extra for that convenience? With this strategy, the price of an ebook would be higher than its equivalent in paper—isn't immediate access worth something to consumers?

Consumers save the cost of transportation to the book store and retain the "value" of the time they save. Think about it. Online ticketsellers have been getting away with convenience surcharges for years. They add a buck or two (or more) over the top of an event's ticket price, just for ordering online—and consumers don't walk away.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #2: Link ebook prices to their "value proposition"

People pay more for a Mercedes than a Yugo, right? So why not price ebooks this way—charge more for ebooks by premium authors. Sometimes paper books command higher dollar amounts for titles by highly influential writers, but In the realm of paper books, a thicker title from an unknown author is generally more expensive than a thinner book from a well-respected one. The price of books has traditionally been linked more to the cost of the paper and ink than the value of the "brand" it comes from.

Publishers never really jumped on the "premium pricing for premium brands" model that other industries embraced—think auto industry, fashion industry, computer industry. Granted, developing a higher price-point brand requires sustained marketing, a shift in consumer attitudes, and doesn't happen over night, but it can happen.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #3: Factor in the author's time

A bigger bridge costs more to construct than a smaller bridge. Why? It takes more time. A handmade quilt costs more than a manufactured one. Why? It takes more time. Using that logic, shouldn't an ebooks’ price correlate to the author’s effort?

The price of a book frequently does not have much correlation to the amount of time or effort put into it. A novelist may toil for years on a story that doesn't cost more than a hastily imagined one. A historian may put a whole career’s worth of research into a book that may have the same price tag as one quickly compiled from existing sources. Why not proudly charge more for ebooks that took more time to build? People pay for quality if the resulting experience lives up to its promise.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #4:  Make 'em free...to help gain market share

The "free ebook" strategy is being embraced by thousands of new ebook authors. They're hoping to gain a share of the reading market with these free books, so they can eventually charge more for their works once their name is well known.

Some believe this strategy is counterproductive because the freebie authors are devaluing their own work—and, by bringing down the whole market, they're devaluing the work of other authors, too. Authors deserve to be paid for their work.

Authors who choose to offer their work for free, however, do have one concept right—success in publishing is fundamentally about gaining a share of the reading market. Popularity leads to publishing success. And offering your work free is one way to gain attention. To grow an audience, free can be one way to start.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #5:  Price newer titles higher than old ones

The idea that a new book is more valuable than an older book is ingrained in the book business. I really only have this strategy in this list because I've observed it in practice today—though I believe it's a strategy that does not benefit publishers or authors.

Like bread that’s more valuable when it’s fresh, brand new books have historically cost more than books that have been around a long time. It’s part of the logic behind hardbacks and paperbacks… eager readers spring for the higher price hardback, less enthusiastic readers wait for the cheaper softbound edition.

This “newer equals more valuable” reasoning is also what’s behind the concept of the public domain. Old books—you know, Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson and such—have been determined to have no monetary value. In the public domain, they’re free, right?

Personally, I believe that when it comes to ebooks, pricing a title by its age seems illogical. I’d rather pay for a Dickens classic written in 1861 than a snoozer written last month. But the newer-costs-more pricing strategy is in line with many current pricing plans as well as our copyright policies.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #6: Tie an ebook's price to the cost of other formats

Today, the prices of many ebooks seem to be determined by placing ebooks on a production-cost spectrum with hardbacks, paperbacks, and audio books. Because the cost-of-goods-sold is lower for ebooks, they come out as the "discount" option.

Here's some perspective. A large format, colorful coffee table book about Leonardo Da Vinci would cost more than a copy of the The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (the novel is smaller than the art book, uses lighter paper, and requires less ink). A hardcover version of The Da Vinci Code would cost more than a mass-market paperback of the same title (the paperback is smaller, lighter—even less expensive to produce than a hardback).

When ebooks are added to this spectrum, they would logically be priced lower because the production costs are lower. Certainly many readers expect an ebook to be cheaper than a paperback. "An ebook is just bits and bytes—I should pay less for that!" many consumers think.

But if publishers keep using this strategy without seriously thinking about other pricing models, they could be leaving dollars on the table. Ebooks don't necessarily have to be priced lower than paper books just because they're not paper and theoretically cost less to produce. Look at audio books. Many audiobooks cost more than paperback or hardback versions of the same title—and audiobook fans seem to be willing to shell out the extra money.

Ebook Pricing Strategy #7:  Let the readers decide

Could a publisher let readers name their own price for an ebook? That's preposterous—or is it? With the pricing flexibility built into online bookstores, ebook publishers are free to experiment—charge one price this month, a different price the next, or even one price on one store, a different one on another—for as long as it takes to  find the “sweet spot” price that feels right to the author, publisher, and the reader.

Ebook publishers would be wise to spend some time and effort in testing out various prices for their titles and ultimately "let the reader decide." Consumer product manufacturers have been experimenting with pricing for years. Independent ebook publishers and self-published authors have been doing it as well (see strategy #4, above). Perhaps it's time for all ebook publishers to take a more active role adjusting their prices as market trends change.

This article first aoppeared in Digital Book World.

STM publisher World Scientific Publishing announced that it has signed a new agreement with YBP Library Services, the academic division of Baker & Taylor. Customers will be able to access the publisher’s 2012-2013 Front List Full Collection of ebooks that will be available for purchase from World Scientific Publishing through  GOBI3 (Global Online Bibliographic Information), YBP’s acquisition and collection management interface. Currently, more than 300 ebook titles have been added, with plans to expand and grow the business partnership.

Information on title availability for the full range of World Scientific Publishing handbooks and reference works will be accessible by libraries through GOBI3, enabling YBP's customers to view and select individual ebooks, as well as subject collection ebooks, from World Scientific Publishing with no change to their existing workflow. The result is a fully integrated, user-friendly library acquisition process, from selection and profiling to ordering and invoicing.

World Scientific Publishing Company currently has more than 200 employees at its headquarters in Singapore, and it has offices in New Jersey, London, Geneva, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. Within about 3 decades, it has established itself as one of the leading scientific publishers in the world, and the largest international scientific publisher in the Asia-Pacific region. World Scientific publishes about 500 new titles a year and 120 journals in various fields.

Source: World Scientific Publishing

Barnes and Noble recently launched a new self-publishing platform called NOOK Press. NOOK Press allows indepentent authors and publishers to  write, edit, collaborate, publish and sell eBooks. The price is right: There's no cost. 

Barnes and Noble is hoping that NOOK Press will appeal to writers who want to "reach millions of readers". Any indie writer or publisher knows, that reaching millions of readers is exactly the single most difficult part of their whole endeavor... because writers and publishers have control over what they write and how they produce their titles, but they don't have control over who sees and ultimately buys their titles. B&N is trying to woo authors and publishers with the promise of "sales success." That of course is what it's all about, right?

To use NOOK Press, you must set up an account. If you already have a PubIt! account. you can sync the two accoutnts. All of your PubIt! titles, account, and sales information automatically move over to NOOK Press.

Here are the features of Nook Press:

• One-stop Publishing Solution: Write, edit, format and publish your eBooks in our web-based platform, instantly reaching millions of NOOK customers within 72 hours.
• Easy ePub Creation and Editing: Upload your manuscript file and make changes directly in NOOK Press. Editing and previewing in one session saves you time and effort.
• Integrated Collaboration: Collaborate with editors, copyeditors, and friends, allowing them to review and comment on your manuscript without ever leaving NOOK Press.
• Visual Sales Reporting: Our new visually-enhanced sales report makes tracking your sales progress even easier.
• Instant Chat: Live Chat customer service is now available to quickly answer your questions Monday through Friday between 9am-9pm EST.
• Pathway to Passionate Readers Everywhere: Publish once and reach millions of customers using NOOK and NOOK Reading Apps in the US and UK.
• Favorable PubIt! business terms and commitment to a transparent retail partnership remain unchanged.

This is Part 1 in a series on e-book distribution to schools.

Digital books are triggering tectonic shifts in education. One of the most fundamental, yet seemingly invisible, shifts is happening in the back rooms of district offices—not in the classrooms, not among teachers and students, and definitely not in the board rooms of most big-name publishers and textbook companies.

If ebooks are not actually books, what are they? School purchasing departments know.
This profound, significant change is happening first in school district business offices, IT departments, and cubicles among staff members who work behind the scenes to acquire materials for today’s students.

What exactly is this shift? It’s a shift in awareness. A very subtle, yet primary, change in perception.

It’s the revelation of the idea that  ebooks  are not books at all.

That’s right, ebooks are not books.

If ebooks are not books, what are they?

Ebooks are actually software. School acquisition professionals are realizing this before most other people in education. In fact, it seems like they’re realizing this before it’s dawning on most book publishers. (Read about one publisher that already understands this, and has built a distribution model around this model in Part Two of this article—Streaming Ebooks: A New Distribution Model For Schools.)

Here’s the view of the situation from the district back room.

Books are objects

Books are objects. They are limited by their physicality. Only one person can sit comfortably and read a book. So when a classroom or a school or a whole district wants their students to read a book, school district purchasing departments have no choice but to purchase one of them for each student. Granted, teachers can use the same books year after year until they wear out (and many districts frugally use them well beyond their intended lifecycle) but what districts are paying for when they by a book is both the content and the “thing” that is a book.

Ebooks are software

Ebooks, however, have practically no physical limitations. Once the “master” is finalized, all that’s needed to replicate it onto hundreds, thousands, even millions or billions of devices. This master doesn’t need to be located at the school, or outside the publisher’s own walls, or even in the same continent as the school that’s downloading it.

The replication of this master is not limited by time (an ebook can be downloaded today, tomorrow, or next year). Nor is it limited by space (an ebook that’s sitting on a server in Sidney, Australia can just as easily be downloaded in a classroom in Bombay, India as in Omaha, Nebraska.)

Ebooks can be accessed by thousand devices simultaneously without ever being “permanently” transferred to an individual device, as is the case when titles are distributed via the cloud or a website.

So an ebook differs from a book in that it is content only, not content-plus-object, as in the case of a paper book.

Even ebook content is not the same as book content

But let’s think for a moment a bit more about content.  Even when we look at content, an ebook can be very different from as a paper book.  Even though the only property an ebook shares with a regular book is the content—that element is changing. The ebook versions of many textbooks are being enhanced with audio, interactivity, and multimedia.

Once all of their attributes are listed this way, it’s pretty clear that ebooks are software, not books. So why, then, are publishers still trying to sell ebooks the same way they sell paper books?

Ebooks should be sold the way software is sold

It’s the conundrum that schools are facing today. Ebooks are not books at all—they are software and they should be sold the way software is sold.

Why do some publishers and distributors require schools to pay for a separate version of every ebook they want every child to see? Why can’t the ebooks be distributed in bundles, with user agreements and tiered pricing levels that change based on the number of “seats” served?

Why aren’t more ebooks being served up in cloud-based computers, with password-protected access based on subscription payment models? Why are ebooks still being sold individually, as if their “thingness” was their primary attribute, when they are not, in fact “things” at all?

To be fair, some publishers are looking at ebooks this way. Certainly publishers that have incorporated in recent years are doing so. In part two of this article—you can read about a publisher that’s focusing on the school market and distributing ebooks in innovative ways.

Ebooks don’t have any of the physical attributes of paper books—and they shouldn’t have paper books’ pricing and distribution models, either.

This article first appeared in Digital Book World.

The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Pearson between January 28 and February 24, 2013 among 2,350 U.S. students, including 500 elementary school (4th-5th grade) students, 750 middle school (6th-8th grade) students, and 1,100 high school (9th – 12th grade) students. The survey also included a national sample of 1,206 college students. The survey of elementary, middle and high school students finds that more than one-third of 4th and 5th graders (36 percent), and a third of middle school students (34 percent), currently owns a tablet. Hispanic students are more likely to own a tablet than non-Hispanics (36 percent Hispanic vs. 30 percent white and 28 percent black).  Black (51 percent) and Hispanic (49 percent) students are more likely to own a smartphone than white students (40 percent). Twenty-five percent of all students intend to purchase a tablet within the next six months. Forty-three percent of students own a smartphone, with older students more likely than younger students to own one (56 percent high school, 42 percent middle school, and 19 elementary).

One-third of elementary, middle and high school students said that they have used a tablet for school work this academic year (34 percent have used a full-size tablet and 32 percent have used a small tablet), and 44 percent said they have used a smartphone for school work. Among students who use a tablet for school work, more than half (52 percent) use a device that they own personally, rather than borrow from the school.

“This year’s study findings provide guidance to schools and districts around the country as they plan to integrate mobile technology into teaching and learning,” said Seth Reichlin, Ph.D., Pearson’s Senior Vice President of Market Research. “”Since the majority of students want to use mobile devices in the classroom, and because so many now own mobile devices, BYOD (bring your own device) programs and the challenge of universal access will remain a compelling topic of discussion for education leaders.”

The Pearson Student Mobile Device Survey was conducted to better understand how students use mobile technology for learning. The survey focused on how students use the mobile devices they currently own for learning, and how they would like to use those devices in the future. The survey asked students from grade 4 through college about the mobile devices that they own and intend to buy; how they currently use mobile devices for school work and how they expect to use them in the future; and their attitudes towards tablets for learning.

The study showed that how students want to use tablets in school varies by grade level. Two-thirds of elementary (76 percent) and middle school (75 percent) students say that they would like to use mobile devices more often in class, compared to 61 percent of high school students and only 43 percent of college students. Students also said that they want to do more schoolwork activities with full-size tablets rather than with small tablets. For example, 70 percent of elementary, middle and high school students want to use a full-size tablet to do homework, compared to 53 percent who want to use a small tablet for the same activity. Elementary and middle school students are more likely than high school students to want to use full-size tablets for doing homework (77 percent elementary, 72 percent middle school, 65 percent high school), while older students are more likely to want to use tablets to check class schedules (45 percent high school, 38 percent middle school, and 28 percent elementary) and take notes in class (52 percent high school, 47 percent middle school, 40 percent elementary).

“It is particularly interesting to note that as students rise to higher levels in their education the way that they rely on mobile devices to support learning changes as well,” said Shawn Mahoney, Vice President, Product Design Research and Evaluation, Assessment & Instruction, at Pearson. “While smartphones and tablets are still important tools for high school students, it appears that they are looking for more full featured productivity devices, such as laptops, to support their learning activities.”

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Pearson between January 28 and February 24, 2013 among 2,350 students, with 500 elementary school (4th-5th grade) students, 750 middle school (6th-8th grade) students, and 1,100 high school (9th – 12th grade) students. Qualified students were 8-18 year old U.S. residents who were enrolled in 4th through 12th grades. This survey was part of a larger study on 4th through 12th graders, including oversamples in Florida, Texas, California, and New York. The survey also included a national sample of 1,206 college students.  Data were weighted to be representative of the 4th grade through college population in the U.S. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, household income (for college students), and highest level of parental education (used as a proxy for household income for 4th through 12th graders) were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with non-response, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100 percent response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. Pearson will make the full methodology, including weighing variables available upon request.

About Pearson

Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, has global reach and market-leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing (NYSE: PSO).

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll® and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers proprietary solutions in the areas of market and customer insight, corporate brand and reputation strategy, and marketing, advertising, public relations and communications research. Harris possesses expertise in a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Additionally, Harris has a portfolio of multi-client offerings that complement our custom solutions while maximizing our client’s research investment. Serving clients in more than 196 countries and territories through our North American and European offices, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients—stay ahead of what’s next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com

[This article is from a press release]

collectionHQ, the leading collection performance improvement solution that helps libraries better manage their collections, announced that many of its popular, evidence-based tools available for print and A/V titles are now available for ebooks as well. The addition of these tools, called the ebook module, means that for the first time, librarians can easily access data that compare ebook and print holdings. The ebook capabilities are included in the cost of a collectionHQ subscription.

By expanding into ebook data, collectionHQ allows users to spot trends in their ebook collections. For instance, they can measure how ebooks perform across platforms and identify performance patterns by format. Librarians can use this additional information on patrons' ereading behavior to help make better-informed spending decisions on electronic and print materials.

"This enhancement to collectionHQ ensures that many of the same popular tools available to libraries for their print collections are now in place for their fast-growing ebook collections," said Scott Crawford, Vice President and General Manager of collectionHQ. "With more and better data at their fingertips, librarians can make better decisions about how to apply limited resources to acquire the right mix of print and digital materials that their patrons want."

collectionHQ, used by many of the top library systems in the U.S., U.K. and Australasia, is based on the proven Evidence-Based Stock Management (EBSM) methodology. By analyzing detailed circulation patterns, the methodology provides action plans to help librarians develop and manage collections, saving time and money, improving circulation and aligning the collection with local demand.

collectionHQ's powerful toolset provides valuable insight and clear direction so that librarians can perform tasks that used to take weeks or months in a matter of minutes. From collection maintenance to collection development, collectionHQ eases workloads and frees up staff's time to work on other important areas within the library.

For more information about collectionHQ, visit www.collectionhq.com.

About collectionHQ

collectionHQ is the leading collection performance improvement solution, based on the proven Evidence Based Stock Management (EBSM™) software application. Easy to implement, simple to use and extremely cost-effective, collectionHQ delivers repeatable performance improvements for library collections by providing evidence-based analysis, advice and performance monitoring of all collections across all media. It helps libraries save money by improving use of existing inventory and making purchasing more effective by creating evidence-based specifications, which cater to local demand. collectionHQ improves collection performance by identifying local demand and suggesting action plans on how to address this demand – improving the quality of service, demonstrating best value and improving local marketing. collectionHQ is owned by Baker & Taylor, the world's largest distributor of physical and digital books and entertainment products.

When will the value of ebook content exceed the value of an e-reader?
When you hear the term “loss leader” you think of grocery stores and discount warehouse chains. You don’t think about technology or publishing. Until now. Amazon recently announced price cuts on its Kindle Fire Tablets. The lowest priced model was slashed 10% to $159.

Amazon states production efficiencies are the reason for the price cut. "We've been able to increase our production volumes and decrease our costs,” said Amazon Kindle vice president Dave Limp. But is this all about “passing the savings on to customers” or are they using a discounted price to breathe a bit of life into a product that hasn’t been fully embraced by consumers?

Why would someone buy a Kindle Fire when they could purchase a more full-featured tablet from Apple, Samsung, or Microsoft? No one who's considering a table purchase would also buy a Kindle Fire just to read books. If you buy an iPad, you can download the Kindle software for free and the iPad turns into a Kindle for free. It doesn’t work the other way around, a Kindle could never run iPad apps, Apple's proprietary software (and corporate strategy) won't allow it.

Consumers who think about their hardware purchases this way (do I want an e-reader, a tablet, or both?) are probably more likely to spring for a tablet with an Android, MacOS, or Windows OS if they can possibly afford it.

Those who are looking for a device to do nothing other than read books are probably going to choose a lower-priced e-reader, not the colorful, multi-featured Fire.

So, the way I see it, that puts the Kindle Fire in a very narrow niche—within a very competitive market. Squeezed this way, from above and below, the Kindle Fire seems to have a very small potential audience. Does this recent reduction in price of the Kindle fire have something to do with its position in light of the competition?

Amazon is surely aware of the Kindle Fire's awkward place in the lineup of today's tablets.  But perhaps the company is totally okay with the fact that little more than a year after its debut, the Kindle Fire has become a loss leader. Loss leaders play an important role in helping retailers make money.

Perhaps the  real value is not in the Kindle Fire hardware, but in the e-reader’s role as a vehicle for getting customers to shell out dollars for other things—ebooks, movies, games. Amazon is probably counting on making money on the content, not the hardware.

Surely Amazon has compiled statistics on the average amount of sales generated by the average ownership of a Kindle Fire—how high is this figure? Are there “frequent readers” whose consumption of content is so high it makes sense for Amazon to give them an e-reader for free … the way frequent gamblers get free rooms and drinks at casinos?

At some point, the value of potential content purchases will exceed the amount it costs for Amazon to produce their e-readers. At that point, will the company to give away their e-readers free? If owning an e-reader leads to enough digital content purchases, in this environment of competition from more full-featured tablets from Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung, Amazon may find that giving away their Kindles for free is a smart business move.

This article first appeared in Digital Book World.