Revealing confessions of a geek
Veteran blogger (The Week in Geek)and recent open source author convert John Gallaugher makes some interesting comments on his motivations to publish. in Seidel, K., 2009, ‘Online Textbooks Deliver Timely, Real-World Content’, EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 44, no. 1
There is also an opportunity to have my content become among the most widely adopted material used in my discipline… What a great way for faculty to have an impact.
and
Being able to give back to our community via the book project and supplemental material is great. With FlatWorld’s composition model, it will be wonderful to turn this into a lucrative move as well. That (monetary payback) will be key for authors because many authors will become disinterested if there’s not a strong incentive for continued contributions. The winning textbook publishing model is one that empowers authors to make an impact and to make money. I think Flat World has cracked the nut, but we’ll see.
How does Flat World Knowledge make money? They charge for conveneience (see for example this article in Wired magazine). View their textbooks online, free. Download in a ready for print version, cost.
hELPC! 