I have not followed the entire discussion because I was out of email range so I don't know if anyone has mentioned this. There are two other things that contribute to the high cost of books - 1) college bookstores that mark them up anywhere from 25% - 33 % and 2) used book buyers who buy sample books sent to professors for a pittance and then the bookstores sell those for upwards of a 50% markup of what the bookstore pays for the book. Since most bookstores are now owned by for-profit companies, they prefer used books because their profist margin is larger. Publishers bring out new editions frequently to help combat the used books issue.
Diane Finley Diane L. Finley, Ph.D. Professor Department of Psychology Prince George's Community College 301 Largo Road Largo MD 20774 (301) 322-0869 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://academic.pgcc.edu/~dfinley >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 01/17/05 11:03 AM >>> A few observations from the point of view of an instructor, author, and one-time impecunious student: There have been paperback intro books without color in the past, but they have not done well. (If memory serves, there was McKeachie and Doyle in the '60's). I understand that instructors seldom ask about the price of the books they adopt, and publishers make it hard to find out. Publishers sometimes put books out in paperback for competitive price advantage, but they seem to do so with books they think need an edge (i.e., weaker books). We could adopt previous editions of books (I think I have done it in the past), but availability can be a problem--and of course that doesn't help the author or the publisher. I don't recall anyone mentioning placing a copy of the text on reserve in the library, which I do routinely, and a few always use that instead of buying the book (as I did as a student, even though I still have a text I bought for $2.35). best don Donald McBurney University of Pittsburgh Shearon, Tim wrote: >Annette- I agree with you. I pick three or four texts for a course (and I must say that I seldom choose based on loyalty to friends, publishers, etc.) and quite often decide between them based on price. That doesn't mean I don't trust the publisher's data per se. But I do strongly suspect that their surveys are not a) accurate because my own experience is that the faculty I know DO consider price, b) objective- i.e., I think their interpretations of the data they do have are a bit self-serving and defensive in that they support the decisions they would make anyway. > >On the other hand, I don't think I have complained enough. Perhaps I am skeptical (ok that's a little defensive on my part- I AM skeptical that my voice will really make a difference). Maybe we need a movement- I'm going to go dig out some old 60s music and see if I've got a revolt in me. I've also, btw, switched to using "Classics in the History of Psychology" as my primary text in History and Systems just for the reason that texts offer so little for what they cost. But let's be honest about it. Sometimes the best text is one that's consistent with the time and resource limitations we have. We also develop relationships with publishers and reps who provide real help for us. Those and other factors may de-emphasize price in our final decision. The other thing is, and I think this point was made by others, it doesn't really take a conspiracy for prices to escalate for a product. When the price of texts in general is going up it is easier for a publisher to raise their prices- that then provides impetus and the same justification for others. When fuel or other commodity within the process is going up it escalates that rise even more- and commodities are tied together- i.e., paper goes up when fuel goes up since it costs more to ship it. At some point it becomes counter productive for the publisher to hold the line. I hope what this discussion points out is that we are at least one voice that can put some pressure on the publishers to lower their prices but it is, imho, going to require something like a conspiracy or movement on our end to start pushing prices the other way. Thanks for listening- I'll get off the soap box now. :) Tim Shearon, ACI, Caldwell, ID [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Annette Taylor, Ph. D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Sun 1/16/2005 9:18 AM >To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences >Cc: >Subject: Re: High cost of textbooks > >Dan writes: > > >>So I started asking sales reps from different companies about this issue, >>and what they told me is consistent with that: (2) no professor ever >>indicates that they would switch from one book to another if it were cheaper. >> >> > > >I have already told my ITP/wadsworth rep (in fact I talked to Vickie Knight, >the same person who helped with the article we were referred to--see fine >print at end of article) that even though I have been using Reed's Cognition >for 15 years I'm switching if the price doesn't come down by next time around. >It is a relatively thin book with no colors. It's been around for very many >years--at least 15! and while there have been sweeping changes in the field, >this particular book has not wandered much from sticking to the basics, which >haven't changed all that much. (another reason to change books, anyway). > >My dilemma: the other cognitive books are priced about the same :-( > >Annette > > >Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. >Department of Psychology >University of San Diego >5998 Alcala Park >San Diego, CA 92110 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >--- >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
