Printing is not publishing – what to look for in a publisher relationship

Due to an increase in availability of print-on-demand services that provide lower-cost alternatives for converting a manuscript into a printed and bound product, there is growing confusion among new authors about what constitutes the role of a publisher. Although many publishers and printing companies have symbiotic relationships, publishing companies provide much more than simply printing and binding of a manuscript.

To better understand the role of a publisher, and what authors should look for in a publisher relationship, we reached out to two of TAA’s industry professionals and 2017 conference sponsors: William England of Sentia Publishing and Sean Wakely of FlatWorld.

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Creating a companion site for your textbook: What to consider

Companion sites can enrich the learning experience for readers by offering valuable features that can’t be shared on a printed page and/or might be too costly to include in an e-book. There are many factors to consider when planning or developing a companion site for your textbook. Janet Salmons, an independent researcher, writer, consultant, and founder of Vision2Lead, offers detailed advice for authors interested in creating companion sites for their textbooks.

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E-books, digital rights management, and the first-sale doctrine

There has been much buzz over the last couple of decades about the future of the textbook. Will print books continue to dominate? Will book rentals take a more prominent role? Will the market shift to e-books or to subscription-based access to cloud stored content or to more complex adaptive learning systems? Or will proprietary publishing fade to black as Open Education Resources improve in quality and increase in number?

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Education publishers make good on promise to fight counterfeit textbooks

On August 17, 2017, four higher education publishers, Cengage, Elsevier, McGraw-Hill Education and Pearson Education, initiated five lawsuits against 40 alleged sellers of counterfeit textbooks, including two identified sellers: Yaroslav Stolyarchuk and Zichao Wang.

The case against Stolyarchuk was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California alleging the sale of counterfeit textbooks through seven identified online storefronts, including the defendant-operated website, www.booksliquidation.com.

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