(Frankfurt, Germany) - October 10, 2011 -
OverDrive,
the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and audiobooks to libraries
and schools, will meet this week at the Frankfurt Book Fair with major and
independent publishers and booksellers to share details of its new WIN Catalog. A key part of OverDrive's WIN platform
enhancements ("Want It Now") for its network of 15,000 libraries worldwide, the
WIN Catalog will maximize discovery and potential sell-through by providing
samples and links to national and local booksellers for library website
visitors that discover a title and "Want It Now."
The WIN Catalog will feature
complete long tail collections of eBook and audiobook titles that comprise a
publisher's catalog, 90% or more of which libraries do not have available for
lending. Libraries that opt-in to offer access
to OverDrive's WIN Catalog will earn affiliate fees for all sales referred
through a link from their public library website.
"Public libraries offer for
lending a small fraction of publishers' eBook or audiobook catalogs," said
Erica Lazzaro, OverDrive Director of Publisher Relations. "The WIN Catalog will take hundreds of
thousands of early, midlist, and backlist eBook titles that are virtually invisible
to library customers and present them for discovery. WIN will also enable for patrons who do not
want to wait for popular titles to become available the option to immediately
shop for it from a list of booksellers that support their local library."
"At this time, libraries do
not have the funds to purchase all of the bestselling titles, let alone mid-
and back-list titles," said Christopher Platt, director
of collections and circulation operations at the New York Public Library.
"With the WIN Catalog from OverDrive, in addition to the tens of thousands of
eBooks we offer for lending, we will have the ability to reference, browse, sample
and provide a connecting point to entire catalogs of eBook titles, allowing us
to serve our patrons and community in the best way possible."
To
enable the 'buy-it-now' links from the library websites, OverDrive has entered
into associate and affiliate programs with national and independent bookstores
including Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, Powells.com and Books-A-Million, and is
in dialogue with major and independent booksellers in the UK, Canada, Australia
and other markets. For
every retail sale referred from a WIN Catalog, the library will earn a credit
for the entire affiliate fee. Publishers
and retailers can apply to join the OverDrive affiliate network through
OverDrive's online admin portal, Content Reserve (www.contentreserve.com).
In addition to the millions
of eBook searches conducted by patrons at public library catalogs, OverDrive
provides http://search.overdrive.com
and http://sonysearch.overdrive.com
which generate additional traffic and title recommendations. In the library eBook catalogs, OverDrive also promotes
eBook samples and social sharing via Twitter and Facebook.
OverDrive provides digital
distribution services for more than 15,000 libraries, retailers, and schools
worldwide with support for Windows®, Mac®, iPod®, iPhone, iPad, Sony® Reader,
NOOK™, Android™, BlackBerry® and Kindle®.
About OverDrive
OverDrive is a leading multichannel digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. We deliver secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers, serving millions of end users. OverDrive has been named to the EContent 100 as a company that matters most in the digital content industry. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. www.overdrive.com
Contact:
David Burleigh
OverDrive, Inc.
216-573-6886 x218
dburleigh@OverDrive.com
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