National Association of College Stores

Three Reasons College Textbook Prices Are Out of Control
August 26, 2014

University of Wyoming professor Peter Thorsness didn't used to pay much attention to how much the introductory biochemistry textbooks on his syllabus cost. He knew they were expensive, but he expected that students would use them over and over as a reference. Then his daughter went to college. Since then, "I know what things cost," Thorsness said. And that's changed how he thinks about his own textbook assignments.

Recently, Thorsness and other faculty members picked one textbook - Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry - that students could use for three courses in sequence

Barnes & Noble Seeks Big Expansion of Its College Stores
May 8, 2014

The U.S. bookseller, which opened in 1965 as a university bookstore in New York, wants a much bigger presence on college campuses, where students last year spent an average of $1,200 on textbooks and supplies, according to the College Board.

Barnes & Noble, now the second largest operator of college bookstores with 696 shops, plans to have about 1,000 locations within five years, Max Roberts, chief executive of the company's college business, said in an exclusive interview at Rutgers University's bookstore in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Google Enters the E-Textbook Game
August 14, 2013

While Apple (AAPL) and its iBookstore wait for the DOJ to finalize its punishment in the wake of an e-book price fixing conviction, Google (GOOG) is swooping in to take on the company in the growing e-textbook market. This fall, Google Play will be joining Amazon (AMZN), Barnes & Noble (BKS) and Apple - along with a bevy of smaller players - in offering college and high school students a digital alternative to those 10 pound paper textbooks.

BISG Event Addresses Challenges in Higher Ed Publishing
February 10, 2011

Executives from across the education sector of book publishing gathered Wednesday, Feb. 9 at The Yale Club in New York City for Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) first "Making Information Pay for Higher Education" event. A range of speakers addressed challenges familiar to many publishers, including determining what consumers want in a print-digital integrated world and how to deliver it to them, as well as issues specific to the education sector, such as the ongoing debate over textbook pricing.

Is Digital Printing 'Ready 
for Prime Time'?
July 1, 2010

Short-run digital printing is unquestionably a technology whose time has arrived. Its quality and capabilities are improving steadily, and inline/near-line binding solutions promise to make an already capable technology even more so. Many digital printers' equipment and skills have improved to where we have moved away from the Henry Ford Model A approach to substrates ("any paper you want as long as it is (50) uncoated offset") to manufacturing of case-bound, four-color textbooks printed on (60) gloss coated stock.

Flat World Knowledge Announces New Bookstore Partnerships and Programs
April 2, 2010

Open-source college textbook publisher Flat World Knowledge has announced agreements with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers and NACS Media Solutions (NMS) to distribute its textbooks to more than 3,000 college bookstores in their respective networks for the 2010 fall semester.

Industry Statistics: Looking Behind the Numbers
October 1, 2007

Ever since the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) hit upon the theme of “Making Information Pay” for its annual spring event several years ago, it has been filling the room with industry analysts and marketing and business development executives eager for new insights into the mysteries of our industry’s operation, well-being and future. The attendees are generally more interested, I think, in road signs pointing to where we’re going than in measures of where we are—more acutely aware that, in some ways, the information camera may not focus as well on today’s industry snapshots. Useful and reliable industry information always has been hard to

Understanding the University Press Segment: Q&A with Paula Barker Duffy, Director, University of Chicago Press
June 1, 2007

The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States, according to the press’s director, Paula Barker Duffy. Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest, continuously operating university presses in the United States. Book Business Extra spoke with Duffy about the University of Chicago Press’ areas of expertise, being a self-sustaining press, its biggest challenges and more. EXTRA: The University of Chicago Press claims to be largest university press in the U.S. How is this defined, what makes you the largest? DUFFY: The University of Chicago Press publishes both books (approximately 280 titles in 2007) and journals

The Answer to Escalating Textbook Prices?
May 1, 2007

Freeload Press, a Minnesota-based publisher and distributor, made headlines last year upon publishing college textbooks featuring advertising for everything from study guides to credit card companies. The company offers these books to students at significantly reduced prices in print or PDF format, and many for free download on its Web site. The goal is to offset the constantly increasing price of required course-reading materials for college students. Freeload now has almost 250 student versions available for download. An academic panel helps with ad placement in the PDF e-textbooks, and the “StudyBreak Ads” are placed in natural breaks in the printed books. Freeload Press Founder