A few friends asked me some time ago if I wanted to start an
Open Access Book Publishing initiative with them. The idea was to combine our
knowledge of publishing in general and scholarly communication in particular.
During conferences and later in bars we discussed how Open Access has changed
the industry and how automation and computerization will mean more change to
come. We all felt that existing publishers could do a better job. Perhaps not a
revolutionary better job, in the way Steve Jobs changed mobile telephony to the
smartphone, but perhaps a more efficient, pleasant change. Certain publishers,
we felt, are perhaps just resting on their laurels, expecting their bonuses to
come in through the ‘Big Deals’, others we felt, are incredibly inefficient and
spend way too much time discussing, arguing and debating ‘whether footnotes
should be tabulated or indented’. We never understood completely why the
publication times for scientific journals can be fast; under 3 months whereas
books quite often take more than 3 quarters. Read
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