Bookmate

kevinwaynewilliams · Sep 24, 2015

Anyone had any luck getting copyright violations pulled from bookmate.com? Usually when I get these "free book" sites claiming to have my stuff, it turns out to be fake. In this case, they have an accurate Table of Contents for all 130 chapters, so I have to presume they've got the content up there as well. I sent a DMCA takedown notice, but I wanted to see if anyone has gone through this with them.

mrsmig · Apr 19, 2018

I just discovered they have all three of my books available for free download. I sent a DCMA takedown notice as well as notifying Google Play (which carries the Bookmate app) and my publisher and agent. We'll see what happens.

Link, just in case anyone else wants to check on their own books: Bookmate. You'll have to log in with Facebook, Twitter or a Google account.

Casey Karp · Apr 19, 2018

My book and all of my co-writer's books are flagged as either "Standard" or "Premium". I can't get past the first chapter without giving them money. Are you sure yours are fully available with just a login?

Supposedly they do pay royalties based on reads; I for one would be interested in hearing what your publisher has to say.

mrsmig · Apr 19, 2018

Hmmm. So would I.

I was unable to load any of the books in their entirety, so I guess it's not as dire as I thought. I still don't like the idea. My publisher has never mentioned the site to me.

Zombie Fraggle · Apr 20, 2018

If your books are distributed via Streetlib, that would explain their presence on Bookmate. The latter is a distribution partner of the former.

mrsmig · Apr 20, 2018

I heard back from Bookmate today, and they state that they have my titles "through Ingram (Atlantic Books)" and confirmed that they're only available to download through Bookmate's subscription service. All of this is making me wonder how this arrangement benefits anyone other than Bookmate; i.e. how this puts any money in my pocket. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it. I'm still waiting to hear back from my publisher.

Zombie Fraggle · Apr 20, 2018

mrsmig said:
I heard back from Bookmate today, and they state that they have my titles "through Ingram (Atlantic Books)" and confirmed that they're only available to download through Bookmate's subscription service. All of this is making me wonder how this arrangement benefits anyone other than Bookmate; i.e. how this puts any money in my pocket. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it. I'm still waiting to hear back from my publisher.

This is a very basic description of the process.

Your publisher distributes through Ingram's catalog.
Bookmate requests that book from the Ingram catalog for their subscription service.
If a Bookmate subscriber starts reading your book, payment is triggered once the reader exceeds the 10% mark of the book.
From what I've been able to dig up for Bookmate, it appears they pay out on a "per read share" (based on character count with minimum of 10% read) used to calculate 50% of net subscription revenue. (i.e., all full reads of all books split 50% of the net subscription revenue, probably for whatever month that 10% threshold for a given book is hit).
Bookmate pays Ingram their agreed-upon percentage. Ingram pays your publisher their agreed-upon percentage. Your publisher pays you your contracted royalty percentage of their take.

mrsmig · Apr 20, 2018

Zombie Fraggle, thank you. That clarifies the situation considerably.

Bookmate

kevinwaynewilliams

Be blunt: I appreciate it

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Casey Karp

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Zombie Fraggle

Thick Skin Pre-Installed

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Zombie Fraggle

Thick Skin Pre-Installed

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.