The revolution in book publishing shares some aspects with revolutions everywhere. Here’s a short slideshow by the founder of Smashwords examining current motivations for authors.
[Phone rings.] Librarian: Hello? Sales Rep: Hello! Robert from Acme Scholarly Journals here. As you know, for the past year we’ve been working on a new pricing model for our journal package, and now that it’s ready my boss and […]
A new report from OCLC underscores how much water is already over, and how fragile the foundation has become.
A talk by Margaret Atwood which reminds us that authors are not to be overlooked as we charge ahead with changes in publishing — and that change itself requires thoughtful choices.
Does cascading peer-review increase inappropriate submissions?
Customers have accepted the analogy that they “buy” e-books, but publishers may be faced with accepting the fact that they’re selling licenses. What this could mean to their bottom lines may not be the most painful part of this shift.
The tablet wars are on, with special significance for STM publishers.
Apple’s apparent abuse of its platform dominance may signal a basic incompatibility between providers and platforms.
Complexity, culture, and baked-in bias are limiting how publishers define value and approach the future.
Should publishers endorse commercial editing services?
Business models for publishers fall into four broad categories, defined by how revenue is generated. Some classes of content lend themselves to one model over another.
Maligned though it often is, the Big Deal for journals is likely to get bigger, marginalizing the offerings of smaller publishers.
A debate at PSP reveals much, especially after it ends.
Full of experimental biases and important omissions, what can be learned from the Study of Open Access Publishing (SOAP) survey of scientists?
A report on book circulation at the Cornell library invites speculation as to how book publishers will have to continue to market their books even after they are sold: aftermarketing.