Category Archives: Publishing

Digital Scholarship Tops 18 Million File Requests

From 4/20/05 to 3/31/09, Digital Scholarship received slightly over 18 million file requests from over 3.8 million visitors from 217 countries. Of these file requests, over 11.4 million were page requests (e.g., for XHTML pages or PDF files). Over 5.9 million of the file requests were from spiders. Digital Scholarship servers sent out slightly over [...] Continue reading

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“Reflections on University Press Publishing”

In "Reflections on University Press Publishing," a former University of Toronto Press executive examines the current state of university presses.
Here's an excerpt:

As the revenue from sales of books decreases, there has been a corresponding increase in the need for subventions. The average monetary loss from publication of a scholarly book is in the range of [...] Continue reading

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Services for Small OA Publishers: OpenAccessSolutions.com Launched

Co-Action Publishing, Datapage and T Marketing have launched OpenAccessSolutions.com, a publishing support service for small open access publishers.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:

OpenAccessSolutions.com addresses the needs of a growing segment within Open Access scholarly publishing. The Open Access journals market is growing quickly, and currently represents approximately 9% of the refereed journals listed in [...] Continue reading

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DOAJ and e-Depot to Preserve Open Access Journals

With support from the Swedish Library Association, the Directory of Open Access Journals and the e-Depot of the National Library of the Netherlands will preserve open access journals.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Long-term preservation of scholarly publications is of major importance for the research community. New formats of scholarly publications, new business models and [...] Continue reading

Posted in Digital Curation/Digital Preservation, Open Access, Publishing, Scholarly Journals, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

U.S. 2008 Book Sales: $24.3 Billion, Down 2.8%

The Association of American Publishers has released 2008 book sales figures for the U.S. Sales totaled $24.3 billion, down 2.8% from 2007.
Here's an excerpt from the press release:

Trade sales of adult and juvenile books fell 5.2 percent from 2007 to $8.1 billion, CAGR fell to 2.1 percent. Growth was found in paperbound books for children [...] Continue reading

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E-books continue to grow significantly, sales reached $113 million in 2008, up 68.4%.

That is according to the Association of American Publishers. Here is their press release (emphasis added by the Editor):
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its annual estimate of total book sales in the United States. The report, which uses data from the Bureau of the Census as well as sales data from eighty-one [...] Continue reading

Posted in Paul Biba, Publishing, Uncategorized, e-book, e-books, ebook, ebooks | Leave a comment

Faced with 20% Sales Drop, University of New Mexico Press Cuts Jobs and May Outsource More

In "U of New Mexico Press Downsizes," Rachel Deahl reports that the University of New Mexico Press is cutting jobs, and it may outsource warehouse/customer service operations to cope with a 20% sales decline.
Read more about it at “Most. Revealing. Press Release. Ever“; “UNM Press Announces Reorganization“; and “UNM Press to Fire Three Employees.”
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Estimated 10% Sales Drop at Harvard University Press

According to “Harvard Press Sales Down,” Mary Kate Maco, Publicity Director at Harvard University Press, believes that sales at the press may have “declined similarly to the national average of 10 percent calculated by the American Association of University Presses.”
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Paying for Open Access Publication Charges: Guidance for Higher Education and Research Institutions, Publishers and Authors

The Research Information Network has released Paying for Open Access Publication Charges: Guidance for Higher Education and Research Institutions, Publishers and Authors
Here's an excerpt:

This document provides advice and guidance on the arrangements for paying open access publication fees: that is, fees levied by some journals for the publication of scholarly articles so that they can [...] Continue reading

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RIN Briefing Note: Scholarly Books and Journals at Risk: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing Economy

The Research Information Network has released Scholarly Books and Journals at Risk: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing Economy
Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The current economic difficulties across the globe bring serious risks to scholarly books and journals. In the UK, the recent dramatic fall in the value of sterling has seriously damaged university [...] Continue reading

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