The company that did it is called BookRenter. According to Daily Tech:
Users can search for books via their title or ISBN. They then specify a rental period and delivery option. The books are delivered with return UPS labels for easy return shipping at the end of the exchange period.BookRenter is a start-up company and is already getting funding:
After $6M USD in preliminary funding, BookRenter just scored $10 million in a Series B financing round.It has partnered with 75 universities already and has a base of 1.3 million student subscribers.
Sure wish this had been around when I was in college. Books are more expensive now, but even then, in the days of the discovery of fire and watermelon, books were budget breakers.
Wonder what the compensation is to authors? There's probably a deal with the publisher since BookRenter would have to buy many copies of each textbook since their site boasts:
3 million textbooksOr maybe this will push textbooks to become ebooks.
96% guaranteed in stock
What do you think?
Wow, this is just what I need for the upcoming school year! Thanks for the heads-up. I will be checking this out!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I would've loved this when I was at school! Instead, I would have to buy books that were EXACTLY the same as the second-hand ones except for one citation maybe but I guess didn't come with a kick-back to the professor. Argghh!
ReplyDeleteI was relieved that my daughter didn't have to buy her high school books (I did) but University is fast approaching. I think it's a great idea, but I lso wonder what the arrangement is with the authors.
ReplyDeleteOne of the features of the Kindle (and perhaps other ebook readers) is the ability to make notes and highlight passages, then quickly refrence them again. How great would that be for school texts? It sure would make stying easier. I'd say etexts are not far off.
Many universities sell used books, so this is taking that concept one step further.
ReplyDeleteI still see most textbooks turning to ebooks though. The next generation will view physical books the way kids today view records.
Someone is making some serious off these textbooks. One book the size of a soft cover novel, $175. Professor wrote but prefers notes he posts online. Book returned in wrapper $5 credit. A in the class
ReplyDeleteJust saying?!
Maribeth
Giggles and Guns
I think they'll all be on-line soon...but this is a nice middle ground.
ReplyDeleteI can see text books going to e-books soon. I agree with Diane, the next generation won't look at books like we do.
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
As a big fan of NetFlix, I think it's a good idea, but agree they should be prepared to switch to eBooks.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea, and e-textbooks would be good too. I can't tell you how many times my daughters spent well over $100 for a book that the professor never even opened during the semester. What a waste. It was only a matter of time before someone cashes in on the rental opportunity here.
ReplyDeleteRe: the newsletter and backups:
ReplyDeleteDropbox
Set up an account, install Dropbox and designate a drop box folder. Set your projects to save in this folder. Every time you're on-line (all the time these days, right?) your local Dropbox folder will sync with 2GB of storage space on the Dropbox servers.
You can use this link to sign up:
Dropbox
which gives me extra storage space, but I can see you email address on my referral page, or just go to this one to go on the main site.
It even keeps some archived backups of old files in case you inadvertently over-write something. Everyone should be using it, or something similar.
Thank you Anton! Once, if ever, I get my computer back, I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I'm checking out Dropbox, too, thanks to Anton.
ReplyDeleteAs an educational writer I'm curious about the deal for the writer too.
ReplyDeleteI work at a University, so I've seen signs of this for a couple years. I LOVE the concept.
ReplyDeleteI Do though have info on the author money thing... Academic authors get paid a grand total of 'prestige' (might contribute to tenure) for most of their stuff. There are exceptions, but the information gets outdated fast, the production cost is high--they are VERY lucky to see ANYTHING. Chapter authors definitely don't get paid--and nobody would contribute a chapter to an editor if the editor WAS getting paid. There may be fields that are exceptions, but in the social sciences that is how it runs. You do it because the atmosphere is publish or perish. End of statement.
Ack! And I forgot to tell you I have an award for you today!
ReplyDeleteAs a former student, I would have loved cheaper books. As an author, I want to make sure the author is compensated for the book's use.
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhat different with text books. I want to buy them printed, to be able to write notes and comments in the margin and underline text.
ReplyDeleteI can easily understand that very specialized books are expensive, with large production costs and small market. But for instance the calculus books that are used by millions of 1st-year science students all over the world, should be cheaper >:)
Cold As Heaven
What a great idea. I spent loads on uni textbooks that are gathering dust.
ReplyDeleteSounds an interesting idea. So many text books just get sold back and I guess the author doesn't get much out of resales. Rentals might work better.
ReplyDeleteNothing tics me off quite like the college text book market. What a racket. Sell a book new for say, $150, buy it back from the kid for $5, sell it used for $120, buy it back for $5... Complete rip off.
ReplyDeleteSo glad rental is becoming a more viable option.
I have two kids in college in case you couldn't tell. ;)
~jon
Many of my high school-age grandson's texts books are online instead of actual books.
ReplyDeleteMozyHome is 2G of backup for free and auto runs while you're on the computer. I dropped you an email about it.
I hear you Jon. My son's still in school.
ReplyDeleteThank you Laura. Maybe an automatic backup is what I need. If it's up to me, I forget.
It's crazy when my kids have spent anywhere between $700 and $1000 per term for books. They were lucky enough to find many used and a few as online options, but it's nuts!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Jemi.
ReplyDeleteWatery Tart—It's the same in math and science. The 'payoff' is the name on the spine. Period. there's not really an incentive for writing a text—rather there is a disincentive for not writing a text. There are a few instances of authors keeping the copyright. Occasionally these authors may then post parts of their chapters on line as essays regarding certain science questions or math problems. Author money from rental books seems unlikely as the model for rental books is subscription/private libraries where multiple readers pay to read a copy of a book.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank God someone's finally doing this! Consider me on board for the fall semester! :)
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