There are a couple of in-depth posts that have been published in recent weeks by scholar-led presses discussing their business models in some detail (one of which I co-wrote, for full disclosure!) – they might be of interest to this thread:

• The cost of Open Access books: a publisher writes by Lucy Barnes and Rupert Gatti, 28 May 2020
• We Got…

[Read more]

I became involved with OA books when I was the Coordinator of the Humanities Collection Group (Huma) at the UC Santa Barbara Library. Open access publishing and scholarly communication librarianship were just beginning to trend in academic libraries.  It was 2009, and it was mostly about journal publishing in STEM fields.  I asked Huma members (…[Read more]

Reading books is something I personally enjoy. Books, whether these are scholarly books or non-scholarly books provide readers with an extensive and rich resource that can go into a level of detail and explore connections other formats cannot.

Books provide the author with an opportunity to tell an elaborate story, provide much needed context…[Read more]

Books have always mattered to me — as places to escape to, as ways to experience other points of view, and as treasure troves of knowledge and insight. Open Access is important because it enables so many more readers to engage with scholarly books. If done well — without flipping the costs from reader to author — Open Access has the capacity to…[Read more]