An author's thoughts on the price of college textbooks
by Robert W. Christopherson

Robert W. Christopherson, Professor Emeritus of Geography at American River College in Sacramento, and author of three best-selling physical geography texts, shares his insight into the cause of rising textbook costs. He is also the treasurer of TAA.

An author's thoughts on the price of college textbooks by Robert W. Christopherson Recent newspaper coverage of the cost of college textbooks, specifically criticism in a report from the CALPIRG group, drew my interest and concern. I was sorry to see that no one interviewed an author. I have 30 years of college classroom teaching experience and I am a college textbook author. From this perspective I offer the following thought from "inside" academic publishing.

I agree that textbooks are expensive. Although, text costs are rising at a rate less than other educational costs are increasing. Most modern textbooks have high production values, with limited markets in many academic fields, and require large capital investments. But there is more to the story. I see the root cause for textbook costs differently than those shouted by critics.

When students arrive in class they are multimedia trained by the quick-paced, frantically edited, computer-generated world of today. For this reason, my textbooks are visually multimedia -- photos, images, maps, illustrations, and design elements -- all expensive for me to create and for my publisher to produce. Many other authors use a similar presentation style. In addition there is significant demand in higher education for remediation of basics.

My textbooks do not stand alone. Included with the text is an instructional CD-ROM to assist students. This was not done, as industry critics charge, to "....solely drive up prices." These animations teach the multimedia student sitting before us.

My publisher funds an interactive, supporting website specific to my books for students to use free. Other not-for-sale optional learning materials also are available. Professors receive an Instructional Resources CD containing PowerPoint presentations, test banks, animations, and figures from the text. Also, the teacher may obtain full-color overhead transparencies of my book's figures. All these instructional materials are provided FREE?

One optional ancillary that is not free is the Student Study Guide, a personal tutorial for the student. Thus, the publisher has a significant financial investment that my books must shoulder. Give the limited size of the overall market, this represents capital outlay on "spec" with some risk to all involved.

When a professor adopts a text, the order goes to the campus bookstore. On many campuses the bookstore is operated as a franchise by the used-book industry under contract to the college. Common practice is for bookstores to mark up the publisher's net price 30 percent. On most campuses, the bookstores, cafeterias and parking lots represent an unencumbered source of revenues not tied to the classroom. Bookstore managers are in a tough spot balancing all these factors while trying to serve student needs.

When the textbook sells, the net price is the only income received by the publisher. All costs, including author's royalties, must be paid from this first sale. All subsequent transactions involving the textbook net the publisher nothing -- no income. This is one of the main drivers of new book costs, strangely, unmentioned by critics.

Another item of concern, unmentioned by cost critics, is the fate of the sample copies, "desk copies," sent to professors. Some professors resell their free sample copies to bookstores/used book buyers. This includes placing annotated Instructors editions in the used-book stream. One Internet bookseller emphasized the availability of such annotated editions to students! TAA President Mike Sullivan said recently in a President' Message in The Academic Author: "This selling of the Instructor's Editions of textbooks not only loses revenue for the publisher and royalties for the author, but compromises the integrity of the book." Publishers must factor such losses into the initial net price. A simple solution is for faculty to either keep sample copies for reference or return the unused sample books at the publisher's expense.

Critics mention "cosmetic changes" in revisions and that publishers print new editions every three to four years "...only to drive up the price and make obsolete the older, cheaper edition." In my field of physical geography, an essential Earth systems science, scientific breakthroughs demand at least a three-year revision cycle. This is not true of just my books, for I know other authors who evolve each of their editions, to better reach and teach students.

My publisher is at the forefront of developing more choice for students and teachers. We produced a Learning Systems version of one of my books, which combined a briefer text, lecture materials, and online support, at a reduced cost to students. Further innovations that benefit students are ongoing, as instructional delivery continues to evolve.

On April 22 of this year, my publisher announced another innovation in teacher-student choice: SafariX Textbooks Online. Two of my titles are available through SafariX, that offers texts online, with many enhanced features, at a 50 percent discount from list price. This continues a long-held approach of innovation and choice in instructional media. My goal, and I believe my publisher's goal, is to provide the best quality and value for the student and a continuing partnership with teachers.

The issues in this debate are more complex than the critics seem to comprehend. I hope informed dialogue is ahead, for we need a strong alliance among students, faculty, authors, and publishers -- too much is at stake for anything less.