We published The Literary Tourist by Nicola Watson in October 2006 as a scholarly book. It has received first-rate reviews and has been a moderate commercial success albeit with a short print run and a high price.
Susan Hill has issued a challenge on her blog for us to produce a cheaper edition in order to garner more sales through general-reader purchase. Her opening line is 'Great book, pity how it's published'.
This is an old chestnut. I cannot think of an academic author (or interested reviwer) who doesn't think that their book will find a wide audience if only it were priced and marketed like the latest Jilly Cooper (£3.99 for 1000 plus pages from Waterstone's). Sometimes the author is right but it is very rarely the case that a book written for scholarly reasons becomes a best seller. We shall be issuing a paperback of this excellent book in due course and, given the interest and potential market, I am sure it will do well. It may sell several thousand copies but I'd be amazed (and delighted) if it sold the tens of thousands that would have justified original publication as a general book.
Apart from this specific case, the challenge raises the question of pricing of academic books in general. Susan's commentators are horrified at the idea of paying £45 for a 250 page book. Compared to discounted Harry Potter of course £45 seems expensive. But is it? Try comparing the price with a shirt, a meal in a London restaurant, a ticket to a major sporting event, a train ticket, an hour of a lawyer's time. I think academic books are amazingly good value. They are permanent. They are valuable. They are great value for money. They are the fruit of extensive research and application. They are fundamental to the scholarly process. They reach a global audience and are readily available through libraries for those who cannot afford to purchase. They are fit for purpose and worth every penny. Thank goodness academic publishers have worked out a way of continuing to publish academic works commercially in spite of library budget constraints and falling print runs.
Lastweek I wrote about an article about Nature in Der Spiegel. I couldn't link to the article becaquse it was 'subscriber only' and so a gave a brief quote in German. Adam Hodgkin kindly sent me this Google translation:
'Timo twin errs easily orientationless over the beach, then zigzag the slope up. „Well finally, I knew nevertheless that it is here somewhere “, says the man in the red T-Shirt. Over an extensive place prangt largely like a building sign the Logo of its enterprise, knows on red Reason: „Nature “. Timo twin arrived in its new realm, on an island in on-line game of roles „Second Life “. The name of the island is program: „Second Nature “. The Avatar sees only far away similar to the Timo in the material life - this is a large man end of thirty also easily roundish Harry Potter face. It is called Timo Hannay. And it is like that something like the representative that Science magazine „Nature “in the virtual world.'
The piece is now open to everyone in English on Spiegel Online International. Here is a flavour. As a colleague remarked, it's hard to decide whether this makes much more sense than the Google version.
'Twin has arrived in his new realm, on an island in the online role-playing game Second Life. The name of the island is fitting: Second Nature. The avatar bears only a vague resemblance to the real-life Timo, a tall man in his late 30s with a slightly round, Harry Potter-like face. His real name is Timo Hannay, and he is something like the representative of the scientific journal Nature in the virtual world.'