LibGuides: Publishing Options and Opportunities: Choosing Book Publishers

Open Access Book Toolkit

For Authors: The OAPEN Open Access Books Toolkit aims to help book authors to better understand open access book publishing and to increase trust in open access books. You will be able to find relevant articles on open access book publishing following the research lifecycle, by browsing frequently asked questions or by searching with keywords

From Dissertation to Book: Navigating the Publication Process (2020)
This is a recording from a panel of experts—an acquisitions editor, a first-time book author, and an author rights expert—about the process of turning a dissertation into a book. Participants heard practical advice about revising a dissertation, writing a book proposal, approaching editors, signing a first contract, and navigating the peer review and publication process.

It was delivered by the UC Berkeley Library Office of Scholarly Communication over Zoom on 22 October 2020.

Assistance for Open Access publishers

Open Monograph Press (OMP) is designed by The Public Knowledge Project to assist university presses, learned societies, and scholar-publishers interested in publishing scholarly books in print-on-demand and multiple electronic formats, whether on an open access or purchase basis.This aims to be a ‘virtual-publishing-house-in-a-box’ - an 'open source platform for managing the editorial workflow required to see monographs, edited volumes and scholarly editions through internal and external review, editing, cataloguing, production and publication'.

The Library Publishing Toolkit is a new resource for libraries involved in publishing. There is a free e-book available for download from the site. This resource 'looks at the broad and varied landscape of library publishing through discussions, case studies and shared resources'.

Hybrid Publishing works in collaboration with publishers, librarians, software developers and authors. It is a lab that engages with new concepts and technologies in digital publishing with a particular focus on the humanities. Embedding its research results in economic contexts, for example by setting up a Hybrid Publishing Consortium to consult about Open Source software solutions, the Lab both carries out applied experiments in publishing as well as incubating new businesses. Central for the lab’s projects is the idea of Open Access regarding academic knowledge, research, and education as well as a strong curiosity about new business models in a disruptive digital environment.

Springer Nature Funding for Open Access Books
Sources of funding are listed by country, and links to each organisation’s open access funding and policy/information pages have been included where available. Please note that this page currently only shows open access policies for funders or institutions that make open access funding available.
UC San Diego Office or Research Affairs (ORA) Subvention Fund
To partially offset the costs of publications, some university presses ask prospective authors for subsidies. A modest amount of funding is available for subvention requests. Book-length manuscripts that have been accepted by established university presses or learned societies will be considered. Recordings and other forms of publication in the arts will also be eligible for support.

***Faculty members whose scholarly works are subsidized must agree to pay into the subvention fund all royalties resulting from the publication or sale of subsidized material. Payments cease when the amount of the subvention is paid back.***
Luminos - UC Press
The publishing charge is reduced for faculty in the University of California system. There are a number of potential funding sources beyond for authors’s institutional contribution (such as departmental/Dean’s funds, the library’s OA fund, campus grants etc.). Please discuss those options with your UC Press editor.

OA Book Publishing Business Models, Initiatives, and Reports

The Community-Led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project: A transformative open access monograph initiative
Barnes, Sherri L.. The Community-Led Open Publication Infrastructures for Monographs (COPIM) project: A transformative open access monograph initiative. College & Research Libraries News, [S.l.], v. 81, n. 11, p. 534, dec. 2020. ISSN 2150-6698. Available at: . doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.81.11.534.
Funding Opportunities for Open Access Books
OA Book Business Models on the OAD
Open Access Directory (OAD) list of business models and revenue sources for OA books.
Opening the Future
The Opening the Future platform is a CEU Press and COPIM initiative, launched earlier this year to facilitate transitioning the entire monograph program of CEU Press into open access together with its partners Project MUSE, LYRASIS and Jisc. Within the model, which is a first of its kind, CEU Press provides access to portions of their highly-regarded backlist, to which members subscribe. The revenue from these subscriptions is allocated entirely to allow the frontlist to be OA from the date of publication.
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4/2021 announcement of first book published using this model https://ceup.openingthefuture.net/news/4/
OPERAS-P and OASPA workshop report: innovative business models for OA books
21 April 2021. This blog post describes the ‘innovative business models for open access book publishing – 6 approaches in Europe’ workshop that took place on April 7th, 2021 (see link for the video)

Evaluation Tool

Think. Check. Submit.
Through a range of tools and practical resources, this international, cross-sector initiative aims to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications.
DEI in Scholarly Communication - Peer Review & Editorial Boards
1. Evaluate the make-up of the editorial board for diversity and inclusion of historically underrepresented groups in publishing (identity and geography).
2. What actions are the publication and publisher taking to bring EDIA to this publication?

Open Access monograph directories/catalogues

The Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) is a centralised service to support the discovery and dissemination of OA books, with admission criteria that have been developed to verify and accredit the publisher’s peer review and licensing processes.

OpenEdition is a multilingual, open catalogue designed to give humanities publishers a delivery platform, a revenue stream to support their transition to OA publishing and a host of other benefits. OpenEdition is the umbrella portal for OpenEdition Books (books in the humanities and social sciences – many in French it appears).

The OAPEN Library is a centralised European platform for OA humanities and social sciences monographs. It contains freely accessible academic books. OAPEN works with publishers to build a quality controlled collection of Open Access books, and provides services for publishers, libraries and research funders in the areas of dissemination, quality assurance and digital preservation.

The Open Access Directory maintains two lists. One is a list of OA book business models. Another is a list of Publishers of OA books.

The Open Access Tracking Project runs a feed on new developments on OA books.

The Guide to Creative Commons for Humanities and Social Science monograph authors could be a useful resource for authors.

Open Access Book Publishing
An update (10/2018) on Editoria and other OA press and monograph publishing
Making OA Monographs More Discoverable, Usable, and Sustainable
*Cultural obstacles at presses and among authors are significant.
*We need a better understating of the intentions of OA subsidies.
*Digital-first workflows can drive down costs and thereby introduce new potential funding models.
*Analytics are tough.
*There are challenges to building an OA overlay on an existing cost-recovery workflow.
*What happens to print revenue when digital is free?
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.276785

University Press OA Publishing

Amherst Press
We’re working to create new ways for scholars in the humanities to communicate their ideas to each other, their students, and interested readers. Open Peer Review.
Lever Press
We are a scholarly press supported by more than 50 liberal arts institutions. We publish peer-reviewed, born digital, open access monographs at no cost to our authors or their academic institutions. Peer review.
Open Book Publishers
We are the leading independent Open Access publisher in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the UK: a not-for-profit Social Enterprise run by scholars who are committed to making high-quality research freely available to readers around the world. All our books are available to read online and download for free, with no Book Processing Charges (BPCs) for authors. We publish monographs and textbooks in all areas. Peer review.
Open Library for the Humanities
The Open Library of Humanities (OLH) is a charitable organisation dedicated to publishing open access scholarship with no author-facing article processing charges (APCs). We are funded by an international consortium of libraries who have joined us in our mission to make scholarly publishing fairer, more accessible, and rigorously preserved for the digital future. Peer review.
Luminos
Luminos is University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program for monographs. With the same high standards for selection, peer review, production and marketing as our traditional program, Luminos is a transformative model, built as a partnership where costs and benefits are shared. Peer review.
University of Michigan Press, Open Access
At the University of Michigan Press, open access (OA) is one of many ways that we strive to deliver the best scholarship to the broadest possible audience. We work with every author to consider whether and how OA might raise a book’s profile, help it to reach the right audience, fulfill the author’s goals, or comply with the requirements of a funder or institution. Peer review.

Preservation and Accessibility

Portico is an e-Book long term preservation service. The “Portico” asks publishers to pay a financial contribution depending on their revenues.

Publishing Accessible Books
Included publishing accessible books letter for authors to send to their publishers.