Lifehacker: Technology to Improve Your Life

One week out, we’ve got to ask ourselves the inevitable question: is it sustainable?

So far, we’re seeing some qualified successes in a number of categories. Here’s the chart compiling the before-and-afters that I’ve received so far. Titles that have gained in Amazon ranking since the awards are noted in green, while those that have shown a post-announcement drop are marked in red.

Chart the First:

What do we see here? For many of the awards, the difference has been dramatic. Children’s books don’t tend to make the Amazon top 100, and both Dead End in Norvelt and A Ball For Daisy cracked the top 20 within a day of the award announcement. Belpré winner Diego Rivera: His World and Ours reached #2200 by January 23rd.

Even awards given to a group of books showed considerable gains. 8 of the 10 Alex Award winners leapt up by significant degrees. Of the two that didn’t make the leap, The Night Circus held steady, and Salvage the Bones is likely coming down from a much bigger bump – that of the National Book Award.

There may also be evidence of awards affecting the other formats a title comes in. Upon seeing that Daniel Kraus’ Rotters had won the Odyssey award (given to the best audiobook for children or young adults) I mistakenly logged the Amazon rankings for the print book.

The result? Pre-Odyssey, Rotters had an Amazon ranking of 412,089. The day after the award announcement, it had climbed to 37,357. That’s a pretty big jump! (By contrast, the ranking for the audio CD version of the book is somewhere in the 900,000-1 million range.) This is just one example, but it would seem that the award has had some effect on sales.

Where we go from here

I feel like we’re scraping the tip of the iceberg here. I think there are a number of things we can do to flesh out these initial findings and create some truly bombproof data. Do you think you can pitch in? Here are the tacks I think we can take:

Find another measurement rubric to corroborate this information. Amazon metrics are nice, but they don’t give us the complete picture. Beyond the fact that Amazon is only one seller, the ranking number doesn’t give us any information about the number of books sold. (For all we know, the difference between positions #100 and #10,000 on the sales chart is just a handful of books.) I’m hoping to identify other sources of sales information. If I have to hack into the Bookscan database, so be it.

Identify non-award winning titles to serve as a control group. Getting a bump in sales is one thing, but some of these awards can set a book’s sales on a wholly different trajectory. It’d be nice to gather some of the “contenders” from various key categories. Assuming I can find a way to get historical sales records, the differences should be pretty stark. If anyone can suggest a few control titles, it’d be a big help to demonstrate the comparisons.

Create new ways to measure how libraries can influence sales. Is there merit in libraries honoring books that libraries themselves cannot circulate? Neither the current Printz nor the Newbery winners are available via current library eBook vendors. I don’t want to espouse scorched-earth tactics, but we’re putting ourselves at risk if we continue to celebrate titles that cannot be shared. Maybe we can create a better carrot, so that such a stick isn’t necessary.

Several weeks ago, I had a conversation on Twitter about creating tools to highlight titles that are available  via Overdrive, Cloud Library, or Axis 360. If we have a good set of metrics in place, this could go a long way toward quantifying those things we previously considered to be intangible. All we’d need is a framework, and a list of titles to work with.

Cautious optimism
So far, the results of this experiment have been quite positive. On the eve of ALA’s big eBook summit with selected Big 6 poobahs, we’re finally starting to see some signs of being recognized as valuable parts of the publishing economy. The door’s been opened a crack. Let’s see if we can blow the sucker off its hinges.

Can you help? Leave a comment, or email me at theanalogdivide at gmail if you’d like to pitch in.

So much of what we do to fuel the engine of book discourse is intangible by nature. As a profession that holds quantifiable information so dear, it’s a sad irony that we’re unable to document just how much we’re able to contribute to book sales, be they e- or p-.

But an opportunity to do just that is just around the corner.

After all, Midwinter is coming.

At Midwinter, ALA gives out awards for notable books in a host of categories. For awards like the Newbery or Caldecott, this can mean immortality. Children’s titles are notorious for having short shelf lives. Getting that silver or gold medal on your cover ensures that your title will be noticed (and purchased) for years to come. But we haven’t really been able to quantify how much of a bump these awards provide.

I suggest we do that this year.

Here’s my cockamamie idea: I’d like to get a snapshot of where the award-winning book in each category currently stands sales-wise, and then compare that to its sales after the award announcements. We can take a look at how the title’s Amazon ranking is affected, and use this to get a rough idea of just how much a library-given award can contribute in terms of added sales.

Of course, in order to get a snapshot of a book’s pre-award sales, I’m going to need to know who’s going to win. Good little librarian that I am, I don’t want to compromise each committee’s commitment to secrecy. So I’m going to need someone from each award-bestowing body to take the snapshot, and share it with me after the fact. Call it a white-hat black op. Are you in?

How you can help:Do you belong to one of the committees listed below? Send me an email (theanalogdivide at gmail dot com) to let me know you’re willing to rise to this challenge.

Once your group has selected its award winner, go to Amazon and take a screenshot of its Amazon ranking (here’s an example, for 2004′s Newbery winner, The Tale of Desperaux.) If you want extra credit, find its position on the Amazon Top 100 list for its main category (such as Children’s Books, Teens, or Mystery), and take a screenshot of its ranking.

After the announcement has been made, we’ll go back and see whether these titles move up or down on the list.

Categories:
I’ll update this as volunteers come in. If there’s an award that I’m missing, please let me know.

• Alex Awards – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Andrew Carnegie Medal
• Coretta Scott King Book Awards
• Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
• John Newbery Medal – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Margaret A. Edwards Award
• May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture
• Michael L. Printz Award – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award
• Odyssey Award
• Pura Belpré Awards
• Randolph Caldecott Medal – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
• Schneider Family Book Award – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Stonewall Book Award – Barbara Gittings Literature Award – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Stonewall Book Award – Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Stonewall Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• Theodore Seuss Geisel Award
• William C. Morris Award
• YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

CODES Reading Lists – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
There are probably too many titles on these lists to measure everything. But if we can pick a couple of titles off of each list, it might serve as a good sample.  It’d be nice to have at least one title from each category:

• Adrenaline
• Fantasy
• Historical Fiction
• Horror
• Mystery
• Romance
• Science Fiction
• Women’s Fiction

Additional categories (and volunteers) are trickling in.

• Listen List (audiobooks) – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
• YALSA Great Graphic Novels List – CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

I hope you’ll join me in this crazy experiment. Questions? Comments? Suggestions for better data? Let’s talk in the comments below.

But at the risk of sounding like an Overdrive apologist, I want to urge some restraint on the part of my colleagues. After all, they’re hardly the only party making these rules here. Remember the letter Overdrive CEO Steve Potash sent out to libraries when #HCOD first went down? Here’s the relevant quote:

[O]ur publishing partners have expressed concerns regarding the card issuance policies and qualification of patrons who have access to OverDrive supplied digital content. Addressing these concerns will require OverDrive and our library partners to cooperate to honor geographic and territorial rights for digital book lending, as well as to review and audit policies regarding an eBook borrower’s relationship to the library (i.e. customer lives, works, attends school in service area, etc.). I can assure you OverDrive is not interested in managing or having any say in your library policies and issues. Select publisher terms and conditions require us to work toward their comfort that the library eBook lending is in compliance with publisher requirements on these topics.

Overdrive Partner Update, 2/24/2011
(Thanks to Bobbi Newman at Librarian by Day for archiving this letter.) 

This would help to explain why Chesapeake Public Library is subject to these terms. As a new Overdrive customer, they’re subject to a new contract – a set of hoops set by Overdrive, guided by the set of hoops their content providers have forced on them to provide content in the first place. If they didn’t have this geographic restriction, they couldn’t provide books to Chesapeake at all. But if your library has a program to offer materials for non-residents, you should be very concerned. Because your existing contract will expire at some point. Soon enough, we’ll all be subject to these terms.

But here’s the thing we should be outraged about: Our vendors have been doing this for years.

I’ll give you an example. For the past two years, I have been working with the Youth Services department to provide easier library access to schoolchildren in our area. We’ve been working to coordinate classroom management software with student library cards to give kids one-click access to the library catalog and databases. You may have seen this accomplished to great success in Nashville, through their Limitless Libraries program.

But some vendors have stipulated that schools and similar organizations cannot access library-purchased databases while on school grounds. This despite the fact that students would be using their individual library cards to gain access. They fear that the schools would abandon their own subscriptions in lieu of what the public library has to offer. After all, why sell your product to one organization when you can sell to two?

Wanting to be team players, we approached our vendors about this issue. The schools hardly have the money to purchase books, let alone databases, so we figured any sale had to be better than nothing. But Scholastic (for one) continued to take issue. Valuing our local partnership over the products Scholastic was selling, we terminated our contract, and dropped several useful databases including Lands and Peoples, the New Book of Knowledge, and The New Book of Popular Science.

We had similar issues with other vendors. Some asked us to pay larger fees to “expand” access – to an audience that we had already purchased access for. Others recognized what we had to offer and allowed this partnership to continue. In each case, we discovered requirements in the contracts that we hadn’t seen before. These are just a few examples. But geographic restrictions are hardly a new thing in our database agreements.

This is what happens when we well-intentioned librarians are expected to negotiate deals with these companies – and their experienced contract lawyers. We expect them to share our values of open access and sharing, while they’re beholden to their own profit motives. Essentially, we’re bringing hugs to a knife fight.

While that’d be a nice kicky line with which to end this post, it doesn’t really provide any answers. Well, what now? Speaking as librarians, as responsible consumers, and as stewards of public funds, we’ve got to start paying closer attention to the terms our vendor contracts lock us into. This is especially important with respect to Overdrive. Remember: they’re only providing “negotiable” terms based on a framework set up by the publishers. I’m guessing the alternative to the different catalog was no catalog at all. We channel our rage to Overdrive, and we continue to reward the Big 6 with free promotion, literary awards (i.e., free promotion for life), and continued billions of dollars in print book revenues.

I’m confident that a new way can exist. There has to be a model out there that allows books (both the p- and e-varieties) to proliferate, to share and to sell. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t see people like Gluejar, Library Renewal, and the folks at Douglas County Library System attempting to create a new niche. We’re starting to gather data that can help us move in the right direction. Outrage is good, but we need to channel it in the right direction.

But now it’s time to go bigger. If our library is going to function as this kind of creative space, it’s going to take a much larger effort on the part of all staff. We need to lead by example, creating our own media and initiating our own conversations with the public. But before we get there, we’ve got to learn the tools of the trade.

Enter Video Bootcamp.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Following the Learning 2.0 model, Video Bootcamp is a six-week experiential program designed to guide library staff through the process of planning, shooting, and sharing short videos for the Internet. While largely self-guided, it’s made to function as a social exercise, encouraging ‘Campers to share techniques and learn from one another’s mistakes.

Each week focuses on a different aspect of the video production process. The idea is for each subsequent concept to build on the previous one, until they’ve created their finished video. Here are the steps:

• Week 1 is all about The Big Idea. Participants must come up with the concept for the video, and explain how they plan to reach their intended audience.
• Week 2 focuses on the logistics of creating the video. Campers flesh out the text of their video (either through an outline or a full script), and submit a shot list or storyboard that demonstrates how the video will lay out visually.
• Week 3 is all about shooting the raw footage. Using Flip cameras, screenshots, and still images, staff will gather all the pieces for their video.
• Week 4 is designed to give everyone a chance to get familiar with iMovie. They’ll take all their raw materials and assemble a rough edit.
• Week 5 is geared toward fine-tuning. The rough cut gets trimmed, transitions and titles are added, and the finished piece finally emerges.
• Week 6 is where the finished piece goes live. Participants are encouraged to comment on one another’s work, and reflect on their own experience.

In looking at the big picture, it’s easy to take inspiration from the creative endeavors of others. There’s a slogan nestled in the backmatter of the comic book Casanova, by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá, and Fábio Moon. At the end of the copyright page, they leave the reader with a simple message: “Stop Downloading. Start Uploading.” It’s a strong reminder of how much potential the Internet has as a purely creative medium.With a purely consumptive device like the Kindle Fire poised to command a significant portion of mind- and marketshare, this simple statement throws down a pretty provocative gauntlet. Video Bootcamp gives my library an opportunity to rise to this challenge. As more staff start thinking visually, we’ve got a chance to engage entire new audiences. Bootcampers can become strong examples to our community, and cement the library’s role as a creative space.

All content from our Video Bootcamp is freely available to lift, borrow, or adapt for your own projects. Questions? Feedback? Please post in the comments below.

I’ve worn myself out saying it over and over again, but it continues to bear repeating: libraries and publishers have a common interest: getting as many books in the hands of as many people as possible. We take different paths to get there, and those paths may converge and separate several times in the steps taken from author to reader. But there’s a definite symbiosis here, and one that libraries need to hammer home.

I’ve been invited to participate in Digital Book World’s online roundtable discussion tomorrow, and I hope to do all I can to advocate from the library’s side of the issue. To that end, I’m looking for additional examples of ways libraries have collaborated with publishers to market their wares. What examples are you able to share? Do you have any data regarding how libraries can influence sales?

As I attempt to collect data, I have a similar question for publishers (welcome, if you’re reading this!): What data do you have demonstrating library activity as lost sales? Where are your numbers that show patron checkouts coming at the expense of book purchases?

As I work to put more of this information together, I’m hoping to share more with Library Renewal. They’ve graciously extended an invitation to contribute to their blog, and I don’t plan on letting them down.

Here are the slides. Click through for my crib notes.

I’d love to continue the discussion, so if you have any questions (or comic suggestions) – please fire away in the comments.

In the spirit of #fridayreads, I’m thinking about turning the end-of-week discussion over to more bookish topics. If this takes off, perhaps we can make this a regular feature.

So let’s get things rolling with a softball: are you a graphic novel fan? What were your favorite comics of the past year or so? I’m doing a talk at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo next week. (Let’s call the above slide a sneak preview.) During my spiel, I’ll examine the way graphic novels have gained wider acceptance in libraries, and how all the other innovations we push can benefit by following a similar path. Interspersed throughout I’ll be talking about some of my favorite funnybooks.

But I certainly haven’t read everything. What graphic novels do you recommend? Have you been championing any particular titles recently? Whether your tastes run to DC or Drawn & Quarterly, have at it. I’d love to hear your suggestions. And possibly swipe them for my talk.

(and if you’re looking for more #hcod stuff – don’t worry, more things are brewing. I’ll hopefully have at least one more blog post up this weekend.)

The #hcod issue has gone a long way toward demonstrating the passion and dedication librarians feel toward their collections. There have been some fantastic responses (not to mention some fantastic efforts to gather them all), and each day shows that our understanding of the issue is continuing to evolve.

But there’s a prevailing sense of “well, now what?” hanging over this conversation. All this noise is creating an opportunity for someone from HarperCollins to reach out to us. It’s up to them to make that happen, and we’ll see if any of these entreaties go beyond the PR boilerplate we’ve received thus far.

As something of an Open Thread Thursday discussion, I’d like to posit a couple of questions.

1. What does our ideal ebook lending environment look like?

2. What are we willing to pay for it?

Our ability to reconcile these two questions will go a long way toward showing us if a lending model for ebooks is even worth pursuing.

What do you think?

A brash statement like a boycott can get a lot of attention in the short term. But where do you go from there? You’ve created an us-versus-them mentality, and asks other parties to choose a side. Given that both library and publisher interests lie in getting as many books in the hands of as many readers as possible, any move that actively prevents this from happening makes us no better than the publishers.

It’s the equivalent of holding our breath till we turn blue, or threatening to take our ball and go home. It’s an ultimatum that at best ignores the practical issues plaguing publishers and libraries and at worst makes us look hysterical. We’ve already got a growing portion of the public on our side. Let’s not do anything that makes us seem shrill or unreasonable.

Rather, I think we need to acknowledge this for what it is: a business transaction. To this end, we need to enter the fray with an open mind, a willingness to negotiate, and some clear-cut demands. I think Sarah Houghton-Jan’s eBook Bill of Rights is a fantastic starting point for us to begin this dialogue with the content providers. Because it needs to be spread to as many places as possible, I’m reposting it here:

The eBook User’s Bill of Rights

Every eBook user should have the following rights:

• the right to use eBooks under guidelines that favor access over proprietary limitations
• the right to access eBooks on any technological platform, including the hardware and software the user chooses
• the right to annotate, quote passages, print, and share eBook content within the spirit of fair use and copyright
• the right of the first-sale doctrine extended to digital content, allowing the eBook owner the right to retain, archive, share, and re-sell purchased eBooks

I believe in the free market of information and ideas.

I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can flourish when their works are readily available on the widest range of media. I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can thrive when readers are given the maximum amount of freedom to access, annotate, and share with other readers, helping this content find new audiences and markets. I believe that eBook purchasers should enjoy the rights of the first-sale doctrine because eBooks are part of the greater cultural cornerstone of literacy, education, and information access.

Digital Rights Management (DRM), like a tariff, acts as a mechanism to inhibit this free exchange of ideas, literature, and information. Likewise, the current licensing arrangements mean that readers never possess ultimate control over their own personal reading material. These are not acceptable conditions for eBooks.

I am a reader. As a customer, I am entitled to be treated with respect and not as a potential criminal. As a consumer, I am entitled to make my own decisions about the eBooks that I buy or borrow.

I am concerned about the future of access to literature and information in eBooks. I ask readers, authors, publishers, retailers, librarians, software developers, and device manufacturers to support these eBook users’ rights.

These rights are yours. Now it is your turn to take a stand. To help spread the word, copy this entire post, add your own comments, remix it, and distribute it to others. Blog it, Tweet it (#ebookrights), Facebook it, email it, and post it on a telephone pole.

This is a wholly worthwhile set of demands. (Thank you, Sarah, for putting this in such clear, effective terms. And even bigger thanks for making it a CC0 document.) Now we have to ask an incredibly tough question: how much are we willing to pay? Assuming HarperCollins and the rest of the publishing industry offers us a seat at the table, we need to be willing to put a price tag on the product we want to see.

What do you do in the meantime? Make your voice heard. Be reasonable. And share your letters, both to publishers and to authors. We’ve got a lot to learn from one another.

4:36 QUICK UPDATE: I linked to Eric Hellman’s poll on how much libraries and publishers alike are willing to pay for more flexible ebook content above, but I think it deserves wider attention. Libraries and publishers alike need to add their responses.