Excellent news this morning in a press-release from the Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics:
At the end of June 2017, the four editors-in-chief of the Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics informed Springer that they will not renew their contracts, which terminate on 31 December 2017. Nearly all of the editorial board members will also resign, to form the editorial board of a new journal that will be called Algebraic Combinatorics, run according to Fair Open Access Principles.
The part that I like most here is the sense that it’s part of an inevitable and historic shift away from legacy publishers and their subscription paywalls. Here’s what Hugh Thomas, one of JACo’s four Editors-in-Chief, said when asked “why now?”:
There wasn’t a particular crisis. It has been becoming more and more clear that commercial journal publishers are charging high subscription fees and high Article Processing Charges (APCs), profiting from the volunteer labour of the academic community, and adding little value. It is getting easier and easier to automate the things that they once took care of.
This seems exactly right to me. In the past, subscription journals’ flips to open access have mostly been precipitated by some specific event — often, a hefty price rise. But I think we’re now at the point where the inherent advantages of open access are so obvious to editors, and the contribution provided by traditional publishers are so small relative to the costs they impose, that simply walking away is an increasingly attractive option.
It’s not that Springer did something wrong. It’s just that what they’re doing that’s right isn’t enough to justify the damage that their paywalls and other control mechanisms do.
BTW., the flip was advised and facilitated by MathOA, a new organisation that aims to do for mathematics what LingOA has been doing for linguistics. May they both have many more successes!
Tutorial 33: Checklist for a book signing
July 6, 2017
I’ve done a few book signings now and here’s my checklist of stuff to bring. The first three items on the list are asterisked because they may be provided by the venue, but they may not. Sometimes the venue will have tables for rent but not for loan. Don’t assume, do check in advance.
- Table.*
- Chair.*
- Tablecloth.* Yes, really. Even if the table is really nice, it will look even better with a tablecloth. Black, so it won’t show ink spots or stains, and long enough to reach the floor so visitors don’t have to look at whatever weird thing your legs and feet look like when you’re sitting in a chair. (There’s no tablecloth in the photo above because I had loaned it to Brian Engh to cover the much uglier table he had next to mine.)
- Books.
- Book stand, to hold a display copy of the book vertically, and – assuming the book is illustrated – open to a good ‘splash’ page.
- Clear plastic standees for signs, book covers, notes. Having the list price and the discounted price (assuming they’re available at a discount) is good. If there are positive quotes from reviews, put ’em on a sign.
- Blue Sharpies for signing books. Blue because it stands out, Sharpies because they’re permanent and the ink dries wicked fast. If you have doubts about the ink bleeding through, test in advance.
- Post-It notes: for people to write down names so you spell them correctly in the inscriptions, for you to write notes to send with people, to put names on reserved or pre-paid books, and for the thousand or so unforeseen circumstances where having a sticky note might be useful.
- Scissors: for opening boxes, cutting plastic off books, cutting paper signs to size on short notice, etc.
- Masking tape for fixing up ad-hoc signs, repairing boxes, hanging things from the wall or table, etc.
- Business cards to easily hand out email address and URLs.
- Full-size envelope or wallet for holding bills: full-size so you don’t have to fold and unfold bills, zipper top with no flap for easy access and equally easy closure, opaque sides so people can’t see how much is in there, and ideally a vibrant color so it will be hard for you to lose and equally hard for someone to swipe without drawing attention.
- Folder with discount fliers (or info fliers) for people who can’t buy a book right then. Don’t underestimate how useful these can be. There are a host of reasons why a potential buyer might not want, or be able, to purchase a book right that moment. Maybe they want their hands free as they’re walking around, if it’s an event with other exhibitors. Maybe they have no cash and can’t get a signal for PayPal (in which case, you probably won’t be able to get a signal for your Square card reader). Maybe they just want time to think about it. Whatever the reason, a tactile reminder of your book is a helpful thing to be able to send away with a potential buyer.
- Speaking of payment, set up for yourself a PayPal.me link, like this one. It’s fast and free, and the URL will be short enough that you can write it on a Post-It. At one of my signings this spring, there was no cell or wifi access inside the building. But a customer was able to go outside, get a signal, pay me using my PayPal.me link, get a screenshot of the confirmation, come back inside and show me the confirmation, and get their book. Seriously, do this.
- Plastic dinosaurs to set on the table and serve as long-distance visual cues. Don’t work on dinosaurs? Find some physical object related to your book to set on the table.
- Hand specimens for guests to examine while their books are being signed. For me that’s a chunk of petrified wood from the Morrison Formation, and a sectioned ostrich vertebra showing the internal structure.
In the photo up top, all of the little fiddly stuff – items 7-13 – is hidden behind one of the stacks of books, or behind the open book when the stacks get depleted. You can hide all kinds of mess behind a stack of books and still have a nice presentation.
I keep all of this stuff in a cardboard box that is clearly labeled “Book Signing”. So when an event comes along, all I have to grab are the books and that box and I’m good to go.
If you have further suggestions for improvement, let me know!