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Before people ask, yes I do know about the other sites that are very similar to this. I got the idea around New Years and have been building it in my spare tim

by bhousel 16y ago

Before people ask, yes I do know about the other sites that are very similar to this. I got the idea around New Years and have been building it in my spare time. Even after other Kindle book lending sites launched, I figured I may as well finish mine anyway! Edit: Wow HN, you killed it! I'm upgrading the Linode now. If you can't get through, just try again later, thanks!

sjs382 16y ago
Does the Nook have the same "lend once" restriction that the Kindle does?
- bhousel 16y ago
  Yes, both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the same restrictions on lending: You can lend a book one time for 14 days. You can't access the book while it is out on loan. Also, the book's publisher gets to decide whether or not the book is lendable in the first place. The restrictions are limiting, but I am hoping that by building a community where people can offer up their books for loan, somebody out there will be able to loan you a book that you want to read.
robinwarren 16y ago
anything different about your site? Are you targeting a specific niche to get more of a certain type fo book or anything? BTW, congrats on completing something, always a learning experience to get anything out there I think.
- bhousel 16y ago
  Thanks! Yeah I learned lots working on this project. I've got a bunch of other things planned too. There's nothing intentionally different about my site from the other ebook lending sites. I did try to make it as simple as possible. I have a feeling that there is space for a handful of sites like this, since Amazon did sell millions of Kindles this past holiday season. People may segregate themselves into communities of other like-minded readers. Actually you don't need a Kindle device to borrow or lend the eBooks. You can read the books on your computer or other device (iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc).
  - robinwarren 16y ago
    I don't know much about the competitor sites so am asking out of interest as opposed to any professed insight (although I did buy my wife a kndle for Chrsitmas). It seems a smart approach (if it's not being done already) would be to pick a specific niche and become the 'kindle lending site of X'. That way you can get a reputation for having the most books about X available to lend at any moment. What that would ne I don't know. Or maybe look into book clubs, a lot of book clubs must read the same books a lot of the time, maybe seeding with a few copies of books from some celeb endorsed list could kick start a book club lending site?

by bhousel 16y ago

sjs382 16y ago

Does the Nook have the same "lend once" restriction that the Kindle does?

bhousel 16y ago
Yes, both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the same restrictions on lending: You can lend a book one time for 14 days. You can't access the book while it is out on loan. Also, the book's publisher gets to decide whether or not the book is lendable in the first place. The restrictions are limiting, but I am hoping that by building a community where people can offer up their books for loan, somebody out there will be able to loan you a book that you want to read.

robinwarren 16y ago

anything different about your site? Are you targeting a specific niche to get more of a certain type fo book or anything? BTW, congrats on completing something, always a learning experience to get anything out there I think.

bhousel 16y ago
Thanks! Yeah I learned lots working on this project. I've got a bunch of other things planned too. There's nothing intentionally different about my site from the other ebook lending sites. I did try to make it as simple as possible. I have a feeling that there is space for a handful of sites like this, since Amazon did sell millions of Kindles this past holiday season. People may segregate themselves into communities of other like-minded readers. Actually you don't need a Kindle device to borrow or lend the eBooks. You can read the books on your computer or other device (iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc).
- robinwarren 16y ago
  I don't know much about the competitor sites so am asking out of interest as opposed to any professed insight (although I did buy my wife a kndle for Chrsitmas). It seems a smart approach (if it's not being done already) would be to pick a specific niche and become the 'kindle lending site of X'. That way you can get a reputation for having the most books about X available to lend at any moment. What that would ne I don't know. Or maybe look into book clubs, a lot of book clubs must read the same books a lot of the time, maybe seeding with a few copies of books from some celeb endorsed list could kick start a book club lending site?