Guest Post — In Tough Times the Key is to Think Differently
Alan Harvey from Stanford University Press discusses their evolving strategy in turbulent times.
Chefs de Cuisine: Perspectives from Publishing’s Top Table – Charles Watkinson
Robert Harington talks to Charles Watkinson, Associate University Librarian for Publishing at the University of Michigan and Director of the University of Michigan Press, in this new series of perspectives from some of Publishing’s leaders across the non-profit and profit sectors of our industry.
Good Data, Bad Data, You Know I’ve Had My Share: Library Book Acquisition Patterns
We have had assumptions about the academic book market that probably are just not true.
Why Hasn’t the Academy Taken Back Control of Publishing Already?
Perhaps the academy has not taken control of scholarly publishing because it doesn’t want to.
Some Reflections on Professional and Academic Books
Some notes on academic publishing, university presses in particular.
A Multiplicity of University Publishing
There continue to be calls to consolidate all publishing activity in a single organization or unit. The various participants in scholarly communications often are hostile to the very idea of competition. But the evidence is otherwise: a diversity of publishing venues, all operated independently, yield better and more innovative results.
University Press Redux: Preserving Heritage, Charting The Future
University presses are enjoying something of a renaissance in the UK, as was evident at the recent University Press Redux conference in Liverpool. Why is this, and how are presses trying to reconcile mission, innovation and sustainability in the digital world? And what can they teach the rest of us?
University Presses in Decline…Not so Fast
Alison Mudditt asks a group of experts: what are the unique contributions that university presses make to scholarship and scholarly communication?
Guest Post: Alison Mudditt Interviews Geoffry Crossick on An Age of Challenge and Opportunity: The HEFCE Report on Monographs and Open Access
Alison Muddit interviews Goeffrey Crossick about his report on the future of open access monographs.
How Does the University Press Remain Relevant?
The university press world is ruminating on its relevance in a broader community that does not always show strong report for press activity. Different presses have identified a number of approaches to the problem of increasing relevance.
Revisiting: On the Likelihood of Academia “Taking Back” Scholarly Publishing
Revisiting Rick Anderson’s 2013 post on what the options for the academy to take control of scholarly publishing, and whether any of those options seems feasible.
Researching Amazon and Libraries
Announcing a research project to study how many academic books Amazon sells to libraries.
Build a Better Mousetrap
The best way to increase D2C sales is to work in increasing the traffic to your site. Without traffic, there can be few sales. Unfortunately, the university press community has paid little attention to building Web traffic.
Announcing a University Press Research Project
This is an announcement of a university press research project, which includes a link to a survey we hope every book publisher will fill out. The project is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The focus is on how university presses can sell books, both print and digital, directly from their Web sites. The project report will cover current practices and recommend courses of action.
On the Likelihood of Academia "Taking Back" Scholarly Publishing
The question addressed here is not whether we in the academy should “take back publishing” from the commercial scholarly publishers, but rather what the options for doing so might be, and whether any of those options seems feasible at the moment.