It's no secret that users of such e-book readers as Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook can "lend" copies of the books they've purchased to friends. But imagine if your universe of friends consisted of millions of people, not just the five or six people in your book club. The lending library suddenly becomes much more interesting.
That's what
EBookFling.com wants to create. The site ultimately will let users borrow books listed by other members - for free. Here's how the site works: Users can list any digital book they've purchased. When another member requests to borrow it,
EBookFling sends the book owner a message with step-by-step instructions for lending it. Each time users lend a book, they earn a credit, which can be used to borrow other members' books. Each lending period lasts 14 days.
For those wondering if this is legal, Nick Ruffilo the chief information officer for the site said the site is perfectly legitimate and allowed by the lending policies set by Amazon for the Kindle and Barnes & Noble for the Nook. Messages to Barnes and Noble and Amazon were not immediately returned. "Legally this is using a feature that already exists."
Ruffilo admits that book publishers aren't likely to embrace
EBookFling with open arms, especially if digital lending leads to a why-buy-when-you-can-borrow attitude as consumers continue to fret about the economy. "Logically, one could say that publishers can end up losing money," Ruffilo said. "It would be hard to argue with that because it's not incorrect. But it's also not the whole picture."
Ruffilo argues why publishers should actually welcome his service.
"When you borrow a book written by an author you've never read before, you may become a fan and buy his/her other books and maybe his/her future books too." he said "Books themselves are great marketing. New genres pop up all the time, like steampunk. You may not know what it's about, but once you get a chance to try it, you might be open to buying it. We're providing a discovery and marketing venue." For now, the New Jersey-based start up doesn't need financial assistance from publishers. The site is backed by
BookSwim, a profitable, privately held book rental service that operates much like Netflix. The service lets subscribers borrow physical books via mail for a monthly fee ranging from $23.95 for 3 books checked out at a time to $59.95 for 11 books.
Still, the service needs some cooperation from publishers, which ultimately get to decide whether they enable the lending feature for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If lending eats into sales, publishers may reduce the lending period or opt out of the feature altogether.
What do you think? Will you sign up to exchange your e-books?
For more information about Irion Books, LLC and to order books from the Hell Series, or Summit Murder Mystery Series, please visit Irion Books' website by clicking HERE
*Article from Alex Pham from Los Angeles Times
