Timothy ElfenbeinNov 30, 2022

Truly excellent idea from Sean Guyes of Lever Press (www.leverpress.org):

“We should put the cost of publication (production, printing, and acquisition labor) on the copyright page of each book, as best as can be calculated by the time of print proofs, including labor and other known direct costs.”

Would help readers understand a little something of what goes into a publication.

#publishing #UniversityPress
Tweet: https://twitter.com/saguynes/status/1598046846609678336

Sean Guynes on Twitter

“We should put the cost of publication (production, printing, and acquisition labor) on the copyright page of each book, as best as can be calculated by the time of print proofs, including labor and other known direct costs.”

Twitter
Show threadJere
@timelfen would that create a new metric for “prestige” … a look at me, my book was soooo expensive I must be special vibe?
Dec 1, 2022 at 12:49amMastodon for iOS
Show threadTimothy ElfenbeinDec 1, 2022
@jaireeo It could, but it could also go the other way: Why the heck was this run-of-the-mill book so expensive? Cost transparency might put some publishers under pressure to justify their long-established production processes.
Show threadJereDec 1, 2022
@timelfen I guess watching authors wince but carry on with (someone else paying) inflated APCs has ruined me. Price sensitivity when you’re not the one paying doesn’t work. I suspect only a few conscientious authors would change publishers over it.
Show threadTimothy ElfenbeinDec 1, 2022
@jaireeo Oh I don’t see this as about changing author behavior at all. It’s about making the labor & process of publishing more visible, to authors, readers, or anyone who might pick up the book. It’s about ever so slightly reducing the level of ignorance so that when we do talk about publishing, we all at least share a bit more knowledge.