Preordering is now live in Marketplace
OverDrive is happy to announce that support for Preorders in OverDrive Marketplace is now available for all libraries and schools, including consortia. Now, your library’s digital collection has another reason to be the first stop for the hottest pre-release titles. With Preorders, you won’t miss any big releases. This highly requested feature allows libraries and schools to preorder titles as many as 6 months ahead of the “street date” (date available to the public). Users can then place holds on Preorder titles on your public-facing site, and they will be among the first to enjoy new releases as soon as they become available on the street date.
OverDrive worked with several librarians during the development process to assure that this new feature provided real benefits for selectors. Monty Masseurs, Collection Development librarian of Wellington City Libraries said, “We have many selectors choosing eBooks and audiobooks from OverDrive and having the ability to differentiate between Preorders and currently available titles in carts makes a lot of sense. It’ll definitely help our team to track their monthly expenditure which is always of value.”
In Marketplace, Preorder titles are designated by a distinct Preorder font color with prominent messaging so they can be easily spotted. You can add Preorder titles to your cart, and when the cart is “purchased”, the titles will be available on your site (for holds only) but your library will not be invoiced until the street date. Carts provide a convenient total for Preorder titles separate from the rest of the cart. Please note, the metadata (including price) for Preorder titles may change prior to the street date.
At launch, we will begin with a segment of our catalog, including the Big 5 publishers among others, and additional publishers will be added in the following months.
To help you identify and gather data on Preorder titles, the following reports have been updated: Collection Statistics, Current Waiting List, Library Statistics, and Purchase Order History. You will also find the following lists of the hottest Preorders featured in the Marketplace “Must Haves” for your convenience.
Hottest Books (most popular next six months) http://bit.ly/1Ey4Yu4
Hottest Books of April http://bit.ly/1FLtrJq
Hottest Books of April (Kids & Teens) http://bit.ly/1BKUYXd
Hottest Books of May http://bit.ly/1C4FjIW
Hottest Books of May (Kids & Teens) http://bit.ly/1BnR7Up
Hottest Books of June http://bit.ly/1FGXLoy
Hottest Books of June (Kids & Teens) http://bit.ly/1bqCIgF
Hottest Books of July http://bit.ly/1C7OPbg
Hottest Books of July (Kids & Teens) http://bit.ly/1DbIZsj
Hottest Books of August http://bit.ly/1BKR28R
Hottest Books of August (Kids & Teens) http://bit.ly/1b1ZqeT
Hottest Books of Fall http://bit.ly/1FL9a6J
Hottest Books of Fall (Kids & Teens) http://bit.ly/1Fg3zHJ
If you have any questions on how to work with Preorders, please contact your OverDrive Collection Specialist.
AT LAST! This is what I was hoping for, especially with titles that are metered for a specific period of time from the date of purchase. We wanted to be able to let our patrons know the books were coming and let them put holds on them, just as with paper copies. But it didn’t make sense to buy them early when it meant that we didn’t get the full 12 months’ access because the street date was still months in the future.