When people (re: students) complain about the outrageous cost of higher education, they're usually referring to astronomical tuition increases, seemingly endless student fees, and of course, multi-million dollar bribes to get Junior into his party school of choice. What is often overlooked at first is the inexcusable cost of textbooks, which have risen by more than 88% just … [Read more...] about Textbook Prices Continue to Rise Despite Digital Access
academic publishing
Pearson Sells Off Digital Textbook, School Courseware Division
Widely-known educational publisher Pearson has been giving hints and reports since 2017 that it had plans to get rid of its digital textbook division, and now that deal has finally been announced. The company will sell off its K12 school courseware product--which distributes digital textbooks, among other things--to Nexus Capital Management, as announced this … [Read more...] about Pearson Sells Off Digital Textbook, School Courseware Division
The Biggest Scam in Publishing?
The digital publishing revolution is so old that a great many reading consumers might not be able to envision a time when they couldn't simply pop online to order a book, download a new title from their favorite author, or use an app or PDF for supplemental book material. eBooks and digital publishing have simply become a part of everyday life for many people. But there's … [Read more...] about The Biggest Scam in Publishing?
Lulu Launches Academic SelfPub Branch Glasstree
It's been a long time since something truly innovative happened to digital publishing and indie presses. Just in time for one semester to end and another to begin, though, self-publishing company Lulu announced the launch of something that might finally be a disruptive force in publishing. One of the much-anticipated and completely disappointing aspects of the digital … [Read more...] about Lulu Launches Academic SelfPub Branch Glasstree
Wiley Acquires SimBioSys, Accelerates Research Tools
The world of publishing, especially scholarly and academic publishing, isn't just about putting information on paper and selling it to schools. As information solutions provider John Wiley & Sons knows, it's really about making data and information available to the people who need it most. In an statement from earlier today, Wiley announced the acquisition of SimBioSys, a … [Read more...] about Wiley Acquires SimBioSys, Accelerates Research Tools
Onarbor Addresses Academic Publishing Challenges with Crowdsourcing, Peer Review
Scholarly publishing is a constant source of contention within the academic community, as the pressure to publish has led to a division of sorts between what is considered worthy publication and what amounts to little more than a scam. The requirement to publish academic papers, journal articles, and even full-length titles in various fields is often a deciding factor in … [Read more...] about Onarbor Addresses Academic Publishing Challenges with Crowdsourcing, Peer Review
StudySync, McGraw Hill Team Up on Digital ELA Materials
Academic publishers are finding that there's strength in numbers when it comes to launching digital content for classroom settings. At a SXSWEdu event today, McGraw-Hill Education and StudySync announced a partnership aimed at bringing language arts materials that are aligned with the Common Core Standards to digital environments for teaching. “With information available at … [Read more...] about StudySync, McGraw Hill Team Up on Digital ELA Materials
New Whitepaper Advises Academic Publishers to Think Outside the Book
A new report, issued today by global publishing adviser Ixxus, aims to help academic publishers organize their move to a more digitally focused landscape. The sixteen-page whitepaper, called "Thinking Outside the Books: Reinventing Educational Publishing for the Digital Age" and accessible HERE, stems from ongoing relationships with some of the largest names in academic … [Read more...] about New Whitepaper Advises Academic Publishers to Think Outside the Book
Amazon’s Data and its Move to Take Over Academic Publishing
When you look at academic and professional publishing, Amazon may actually be an even bigger player than with trade publishing due to the lack of retail sales space compared to that for mainstream books. But Joe Esposito, former CEO of Encyclopedia Britannica and blogger at The Scholarly Kitchen, spoke this morning on an even bigger issue, the "black hole" of Amazon's data. … [Read more...] about Amazon’s Data and its Move to Take Over Academic Publishing
New Business Model for Flooved Includes Open Access, Crowdsourcing
One of the frustrating hurdles of the publishing industry has been the inability to make a subscription-based model for reading work in a large-scale way. While companies like 24Symbols are still moving forward, the "Netflix of books" concept is still pretty elusive. While some of that rests on the shoulders of consumers who were not sure they were going to get the value of … [Read more...] about New Business Model for Flooved Includes Open Access, Crowdsourcing
CourseSmart: “Connecting Content, Curriculum, and Delivery”
While some sectors of the education industry are still waiting for the explosion of digital textbooks that can provide budget-friendly solutions with immediate updates to new information, e-textbook providers are already making improvements to the design concept of an academic ebook. It's no longer enough to create a digital edition of a standard academic textbook; today's … [Read more...] about CourseSmart: “Connecting Content, Curriculum, and Delivery”
Kno, DonorsChoose Bring eTextbooks to Schools
Good e-Reader first profiled digital textbook and software company Kno when it came to light that the business model for the publisher differed substantially from many academic publishers. Rather than produce digital editions of K through 12thgrade textbooks for schools to adopt, Kno makes it possible for parents to purchase digital editions of their children’s textbooks for … [Read more...] about Kno, DonorsChoose Bring eTextbooks to Schools