Another Reason to Be an Antiquarian Bookseller
Science, Ethics and Innovation titles pitched at ‘proverbial Guardian reader’ will be free of charge on internet, with revenue sought from hard copies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/12/bloomsbury-science-free-online
“The series will be the first from Bloomsbury’s new venture, Bloomsbury Academic, launched late last year as part of the publisher’s post-Harry Potter reinvention. Using Creative Commons licences, the intention is for titles in the imprint to be available for free online for non-commercial use, with revenue to be generated from the hard copies that will be printed via print-on-demand and short-run printing technologies.
“Sulston and Harris’s series, Science, Ethics and Innovation, will be aimed “at a very wide market”, covering subjects from “the interplay between science and society, to new technological and scientific discoveries and how they impact on our understanding of ourselves and our place in society”, and the responsibility of science to the wider world. Authors they will be looking to commission will range from academics to policymakers, opinion formers, those working in commercial scientific roles, “and maybe even politicians”. “They’ll be non-technical books which will appeal to any intelligent person,” said Harris.
“He stressed that the area he and Harris would be covering - the interface between science, ethics and innovation - was of international interest, and offering the books for free online would allow readers around the world to access them. “Most of the world is very poor and access to literature is a real issue. There are all sorts of ways of sorting this out, and this is clearly one of them,” he said.
“The first and only book Bloomsbury Academic has published so far, Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig’s Remix: Making Art and Commerce thrive in the Hybrid Economy, has been downloaded for free in 105 countries, said Pinter, but has also been selling well. “Not everyone has enough money to buy a physical book so we’re delighted we can get Lawrence’s message to people who can’t afford the book,” she said. “And we’re delighted we can sell books too.”
“Pinter estimates that Bloomsbury would have to sell around 200 copies of a highly technical monograph, priced at around £50, to make a profit, but a more commercial title with a wider appeal and a lower price point would need to sell around 2,000 copies to be worthwhile. “We believe there are enough people who are willing to purchase a hard copy that we will sell enough physical books to meet our needs, to cover our costs and make a modest profit,” she said. “But we won’t be able to judge whether [the model is] financially viable for the next two years.” And with academics more and more frequently looking to publish their work themselves online, Pinter is adamant that “if publishers are not willing to experiment with models, academics will bypass publishers”
