www.openbookpublishers.com Lucy Barnes

Today I will discuss… What is Open Access publishing? OBP: who we are and what we do Turning your thesis into a monograph

What is Open Access publishing? Freely available On the public internet For unrestricted use and reuse No paywalls!

Open Access makes research available Have you ever tried to download an journal article only to hit a paywall? Have you ever needed a book that the library doesn’t have? Have you ever had to scrape together the money to pay £80-£120 for a monograph? Open Access is intended to solve these problems

Open Access = more readers Average monograph: 200-400 copies in its lifetime Priced at £80 - £120: university libraries Each of our books is viewed, on average, 400 times in a single month Our books never go out of print

How is it funded? BPCs = Book Processing Charge APCs = Article Processing Charge No charges at OBP If a publisher charges fees: ask why!

Peer review OA or not: find out about peer review This information should be available on the publisher’s website All our books go through a rigorous peer-review system: internal and external

Publication process at OBP Quick turnaround time: 3 months for peer review; 3 months from final submission of MS to publication We work closely with our authors – they value this Scholar-led: rigorous peer-review and editing process

What does an Open Access book look like? We do a complete set of editions Our OA editions (PDF, HTML, XML) = same master file as paperback, hardback and ebook editions Just a PDF? Or even just a Word file? Embargo?

Images and multimedia Digital publication allows you to think differently about how you present your work Video material: e.g. World Oral Literature series Audio material: e.g. Rameau’s Nephew by Diderot Other possibilities: social editing; interactive textbooks

Readership statistics!

Copyright – learn about it! Many authors don’t know enough about copyright Non-OA publishers often ask you to sign it over to them OA publishers should not (OBP don’t!) Republish, reuse – one of the benefits of OA Read the contract!

Turning the thesis into a monograph You will need to revise it! Cut / shrink lit review, methodology section – fold that into your intro and chapters. Go straight to the argument. Remember –in a book monograph you are the authority. Develop your own scholarly voice. Don’t worry about the title too much…

Basics of the book proposal Use the form! What is your book about – clear, non-specialist language Other books in the field – how is yours different? Don’t overclaim

Basics of the book proposal… continued! Images and multimedia: flag Know about who WE are Be efficient and professional in your communication Make people want to read the book!

Top tips Send your dissertation examiners’ report in with the MS (if positive!) Have a compelling one-line summary of your book for your cover email – the famous “elevator pitch”…

Any questions…? lucy@openbookpublishers.com