Updated: Google Launches Ebook Affiliate Program; Rate Higher Than Amazon's

{"s" : "amzn,goog","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Laura Hazard Owen, On Thursday June 16, 2011, 12:27 pm EDT

Google (NSDQ:GOOG - News) has launched a program that allows website owners to earn commissions for referring sales to the Google eBookstore, Google Books product manager Pratip Banerji announced on the company’s blog today.

Google had previously tested the program with social reading site Goodreads and is now rolling it out to bloggers, authors, and anybody else with a website.

Becoming a Google E-books affiliate is a three-step process. Users have to sign up for a Google AdSense account and be approved, then join the Google Affiliate Network program and be approved, and then sign up as an e-book affiliate.

The E-book Affiliate Branding Guidelines are here (PDF). For instance, affiliates have to use the official Google E-books favicon (that’s it illustrating this post) whenever they mention Google e-books.

Update: Google E-Books referral fees range from 6-10% of a book’s selling price, depending on the volume of books sold through affiliate referral. The fees are based on purchases made by users directed to Google E-Books, independent of whether the referral goes directly to a book or to the front page of the Google eBookstore.

Amazon (NSDQ:AMZN - News) already has an affiliate program called Amazon Associates. Its fees vary based on volume and range from 4 to 8.5 percent for books and Kindle books, products, and accessories.

Google launched its eBookstore in December 2010 as part of its Google Books initiative. It’s currently partnered with 7,000 active U.S. publishers and over 250 retailers (mainly independent bookstores) selling Google eBooks from their stores and websites. As we noted last month, it is not yet a major player in the e-book market.

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OverDrive Accelerates Global eBook Distribution to K-12 & Higher Ed Channels

SOURCE: OverDrive, Inc.

Hundreds of School, College & University Libraries Worldwide Now Offer Digital Books via OverDrive

CLEVELAND, OH--(Marketwire - May 18, 2011) - Educational and academic publishers can now reach schools around the world with hundreds of K-12 and higher education libraries now in OverDrive's global network. New eBook publishers supplying to OverDrive-powered school, college, and university libraries include Houghton Mifflin, Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, Kaeden Publishing, Barnes Report, and ALA Editions. They join Barron's Educational Series, Inc., Disney Digital Books, Elsevier Science, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Scholastic, Taylor & Francis, and many others in providing digital books to libraries via OverDrive.

OverDrive, the leading distributor of eBooks and more to libraries, will demonstrate this expanded global network with growing distribution to educational channels at BookExpo America booth #4852 & Digital Zone #2114, May 24-26 in New York's Javits Center. OverDrive will also present on the benefits of multichannel distribution and library eBook lending at IDPF Digital Book and School Library Journal Day of Dialog on May 23, as well Publishers Launch BEA on May 25, in New York City.

"OverDrive is building on its success connecting thousands of public libraries and hundreds of trade publishers with a rapid expansion into the education market," said Karen Estrovich, content sales manager at OverDrive. "Educational and academic publishers now have increasing digital distribution opportunities to school, college, and university libraries around the globe, with dozens of new library partners joining OverDrive's global network in just the past few months."

OverDrive powers digital collections for hundreds of K-12 school and higher education libraries worldwide. Elementary and secondary school partners, both individual and district-wide, include WSWHE BOCES (New York), Mesquite ISD (Texas), International School of Amsterdam, and Arrowhead Union High School (Wisconsin). College and university partners, both two- and four-year institutions, include McGill University, University of Pittsburgh, and Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology.

OverDrive provides digital distribution services for more than 15,000 libraries, retailers, and schools worldwide with support for WindowsR, MacR, iPodR, iPhone, iPad, SonyR Reader, NOOK?, Android, and BlackBerry.

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

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