RE: open access textbooks?

["Zac Rolnik" <zac.rolnik@nowpublishers.com>]

I was recently introduced to an open textbook movement by
Professor Preston McAfee @ Cal Tech and Nicole Allen @ Student
PIRGs.  You can find out more at:

http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/statement.asp?id2=3D37614

As I told Preston, I don't have a problem with professors giving
it away for free, the question is will they?  As Jim O'Donnell
points out, in research journals there was never a tradition of
getting paid for publishing -- it is primarily driven by "publish
or perish" and peoples' desire to disseminate their findings.
Also, the topics tended to be more specialized, hence having a
smaller "commercial" market.

This is not the case for text books where many people enter to
become the next big text with the financial remuneration that
follows.  There is not a tradition of free text book authors.
Again, for more specialized courses or unique treatments where
the market may be smaller this could work, but I think the
financial incentives for the authors are too great in intro
college texts.

Zac Rolnik
Publisher
now -- the essence of knowledge
PO Box 1024
Hanover, MA 02339 USA
t: +1-781-871-0245
f: +1-781-871-6172
m: +1-781-985-4510
em.:  zac.rolnik@nowpublishers.com
www.nowpublishers.com