So you’ve recently signed a new ebook distribution agreement that will help you reach a new audience of readers, congratulations! The problem is that this new vendor partner requires you to include discount codes in your metadata and you’re not sure where to start. Look no further: this tutorial will show you how and where to enter the necessary discount codes.
For exemplary purposes, EBSCO’s requirement of applying discount codes to titles distributed to them will be used for steps illustrated below. eBOUND’s agreement with EBSCO dictates that we must give them a 40% discount on the sale of trade content, and a 20% discount on scholarly content. In order to tell EBSCO whether each book falls under the trade or scholarly category, you need to input the following code into your metadata for them:
| Trade (40%) | EBST40 |
| Scholarly (20%) | EBSS20 |
Using the CoreSource Metadata Template
Open up your pre-saved metadata (or download the newest CoreSource template here and input Title Group ID, Asset ISBN, Asset Type, and library USD pricing metadata), scroll to the section labelled “Discounts for Price 1” (columns BF-BI), and input the following for all library USD prices for trade titles:
Data in columns BG and BI are optional as EBSCO will already know what to do with the discount code in column BH, but for transparency and future reference, they should be populated. BF is required, however, and your file will not ingest properly if you do not include values in BF and BH.
For library USD prices for scholarly titles, entries should appear as follows:
Once you have assigned the appropriate discount code metadata to all your titles, your file is now ready for ingestion! After you have ingested the file, spot-check it by navigating to a title you updated the discount code for and click into an asset’s “Supply Terms / Prices.” Click “View” for the price(s) you added the code(s) for and under the “Discount Codes” tab, it should appear as the following:
Note: Depending on the vendor, you may need to apply discount codes to more than just one price. In the example used above, EBSCO only accepts library USD prices, so the discount codes did not need to be assigned to any other prices. For other vendors/resellers you may have to apply discount codes to all the prices they accept for all different asset types they accept. To double check these metadata rules, click into the distribution channel in question and check both “Asset Type Rules” and “Selection Rules” tabs.
Using ONIX Metadata
In ONIX, discount codes are listed in the price composite with the reference name <DiscountCoded> to start the discount code composite. Please see the examples with reference tags below.
For trade titles:
<DiscountCoded>
<DiscountCodeType>02</DiscountCodeType>
<DiscountCodeTypeName>EBSCO Trade</DiscountCodeTypeName>
<DiscountCode>EBST40</DiscountCode>
</DiscountCoded>
For scholarly titles:
<DiscountCoded>
<DiscountCodeType>02</DiscountCodeType>
<DiscountCodeTypeName>EBSCO Scholarly</DiscountCodeTypeName>
<DiscountCode>EBSS20</DiscountCode>
</DiscountCoded>
If you have further questions about discount code metadata, please contact our Technology Specialist.
Are you also having trouble with the rest of your pricing metadata? Read this guide to see what best practices are, and thus limiting distribution errors.