From Gigaom:

Ebook subscription sites are still young — both Oyster and the reinvented Scribd, which offer users unlimited access to a library of ebooks for under $10 a month,  just launched last fall. In that time, one of the questions for these services has been whether big publishers would sign up. Until now, the only big-five publisher participating in either service has been HarperCollins.

On Wednesday that changed: Simon & Schuster announced that it’s making its entire ebook backlist — over 10,000 titles — available through both Scribd and Oyster. Carolyn Reidy, Simon & Schuster’s CEO, told me that while the publisher originally had “a lot of concerns” about ebook subscription services — including how authors would be paid — “we actually have come to the conclusion that this is an exciting new way to help consumers find and purchase books.”

. . . .

Through its agreements with Oyster and Scribd, once a reader completes a certain percentage of a book (the companies wouldn’t disclose what that percentage is), Simon & Schuster is paid the same amount as it would receive if the book were sold through a regular retailer. In other words, once sampling hits a certain threshold it counts as a sale. Oyster and Scribd both have different terms for different publishers, and big publishers are likely getting the best terms.

“Because consumers pay their fee up front, they can test authors without any risk to themselves,” Reidy said. She thinks services like this will connect readers with books that they wouldn’t have found otherwise, “either because they’re not on shelves or because they’re lost in the large online retailers. We think it will actually help them experiment more, find more and aid our sales.”

. . . .

 

Most-searched authors on Oyster:

1. Stephen King
2. John Green
3. Sylvia Day
   
4. Ernest Hemingway
5. Dan Brown
6. Janet Evanovich
7. Morgan Rice
   
8. Agatha Christie
9. James Patterson
10. Neil Gaiman

Most-searched authors on Scribd:

1. Stephen King
2. Sandra Brown
3. Julia Quinn
4. Sylvia Day
5. Lisa Kleypas
6. Abbi Glines
7. Meg Cabot
8. Kiera Cass
9. J.A. Jance
10. Paulo Coelho

Link to the rest at Gigaom and thanks to Matthew for the tip.