10-30-2018, 05:05 AM | #1 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Harlequin to stop providing ebook downloads from 12th November 2018
Harlequin, the big romance publisher, is changing the way they supply ebooks bought directly on their web site. It will no longer be possible to download copies of your ebooks, you will only be able to access them through web browsers and the supplied app.
See their announcement on their website Quote:
So if you want your own back-ups of your ebooks, make sure you download them before the 12th. That's only two weeks away! Thanks to septentrion for the news. Last edited by pdurrant; 10-30-2018 at 09:57 AM. Reason: Clarified that Harlequin books bought from third parties aren't affected. |
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10-30-2018, 05:32 AM | #2 |
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Another victim of rampant piracy?
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10-30-2018, 05:33 AM | #3 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
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Are we sure this isn't just for their app?
Because I use Adobe Digital Editions to open the downloaded ACSM file. And this announcement makes no reference to ADE. Also there was an earlier announcement. Quote:
Quote:
ETA: GM confirmed no downloads below. Also via email. Last edited by library addict; 10-30-2018 at 01:18 PM. |
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10-30-2018, 06:13 AM | #4 |
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Good luck Library Addict. I don't blame you for a bit of optimism, but it seems to me to be crystal clear that they are dumping Adobe. Offline reading will be only through either a web browser or the app. If you want to read on an e-ink device except perhaps one running Android bad luck. Also bad luck if you want to keep a backup once they dump ADE. E-Ink Kobo's or Kindles. Forget it.
We can only guess as to their motives for doing this. Certainly I doubt Adobe ADE licenses are particularly cheap, and this could well have played a role. Particularly if they are under financial pressure, which is also quite possible given that the Romance genre has come to be dominated by Indies. As for piracy playing a role. I doubt it, but it is not totally impossible that it is playing a role, or at least that Harlequin thinks it is. It is not inconceivable that they are losing many sales to Indies but are instead blaming piracy. Personally I doubt it is going to help them and may well cause them serious harm. Their reputation is in tatters after their treatment of authors in relation to royalties, and I suspect they will alienate many readers with this move. If I was one of their customers, which I am not, this would do it for me. Quite apart from my own strong preference for reading on e-ink devices the fact that I would not be able to back up my purchases alone would be enough for me to part ways with them. I would not be prepared to trust either in the financial solvency of this company or the dubious ethical standards they have demonstrated in the past to keep my purchases accessible. My admittedly biased recommendation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohXI3po8hK0 Last edited by darryl; 10-30-2018 at 06:19 AM. |
10-30-2018, 06:38 AM | #5 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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ROFL!
I would be delighted to be wrong. Do report back with what they say. But the plain reading of their announcement is that it will no longer be possible to download ebooks. |
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10-30-2018, 07:06 AM | #6 |
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But if they're dropping ADE all together wouldn't that mean they would no longer sell books at Kobo, BAM, etc. Isn't it the publisher who decides about DRM? And aren't they the ones who pay for it? And why only the Harlequin site and not the other Harper Collins imprints. Plus they just shutdown the DRM-free Carina site and said the books would all be available to buy and download from Harlequin.com.
I may be wrong, but unless they plan to stop selling books elsewhere why just drop ADE from their site and have to pay for it at other stores. In an ideal world they would drop DRM, but Harper Collins seems adamant against that despite the success of Carina Press. |
10-30-2018, 08:12 AM | #7 |
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I don't use Overdrive to download my Harlequin ebooks. Never have. I use ADE. If I'm not able to do that, then I won't buy ebooks from them.
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10-30-2018, 08:12 AM | #8 |
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This is curious...
I'm thinking this is Harlequin the bookstore reacting to their reduced ebook market share rather than Harlequin the publisher giving in to PiracyParanoia™. I suspect they are only dropping ADE on their site and doing it as a cost-saving move: the backend server and authentication costs for the webstore have a fixed component, in addition to the per-book costs. With the majority of ebook readers committed to one walled garden or another, the business isn't exactly friendly to independent ebookstores anymore. This is worth watching because it reflects on the debate as to whether publishers should or even *can* start/increase direct-to-consumer ebook sales. Harlequin has been doing it for ages so if ADE support is becoming onerous to the store it would discourage other publishers, especially if they're wedded to DRM, unlike BAEN and other direct-sales publishers. Alternately, it might be that HC is using Harlequin to experiment with Applocked ebook distribution to test consumer acceptance. Less likely since Applocked ebooks haven't been successful in times past. You'd think they would have noticed. Worth keeping an eye out to see what comes next. |
10-30-2018, 08:23 AM | #9 |
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I believe that this applies only if you purchase books directly from Harlequin. Harlequin books purchased from other online stores should be unaffected.
Their announcement says that they are changing providers. Their online store is currently provided by OverDrive, and it looks much the same as the websites of OverDrive libraries. They don't say who the new provider will be. It will be interesting to find out. They also don't mention it, but it is most likely the new store provider will not support ADE since that is expensive. |
10-30-2018, 09:30 AM | #10 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Quote:
"Will it still be possible to download ebooks using ADE?" The answer I just got back by email is: "Hi there, after we transition it will no longer be possible to download ebooks using ADE. If you wish to have a physical copy of your ebooks please download them all to ADE before November 12. If you do not download them, you will still always have access to your books through the Harlequin Bookshelf and new app (requires internet connection), however, you can do offline reading as well. Thanks! -- SM from Harlequin.com" That seems pretty conclusive. If you buy (or have bought) directly from Harlequin, you will NOT be able to download your books for use on ADE devices from the 12th November. I've clarified the first post to make it clear that this only applies to ebooks bought directly from Harlequin. Last edited by pdurrant; 10-30-2018 at 09:34 AM. |
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10-30-2018, 09:36 AM | #11 | |
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Quote:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...brify/9480717/ https://the-digital-reader.com/2015/...uires-librify/ And scribd is also Applocked, if I recall. Or was that Oyster? |
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10-30-2018, 09:58 AM | #12 |
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10-30-2018, 11:51 AM | #13 | |
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Quote:
Is there any incentive to purchase directly from Harlequin's store (e.g., is the price any lower?) |
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10-30-2018, 12:45 PM | #14 |
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The incentives I can think of would be some books are available a month earlier than at various retailers and their rewards program where you can use points to get free books.
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10-30-2018, 12:47 PM | #15 |
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Interesting. Thanks for the heads-up. It doesn't affect me personally but I passed the info along.
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