Editing Textbook (section)

==Market==

===The market for textbooks===
[[File:Ems cover.jpg|thumb|Sri Lanka emergency medical technician textbook]]
As in many industries, the number of providers has declined in recent years (there are just a handful of major textbook companies in the United States).<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 May 2011 |title=The Columbus Dispatch – Local/State &#124; The Columbus Dispatch |url=http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2007/08/05/20070805-D1-01.html |access-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523050151/http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2007/08/05/20070805-D1-01.html |archive-date=23 May 2011 }}</ref> Also, elasticity of demand is fairly low. The term "broken market" appeared in the economist James Koch's analysis of the market commissioned by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koch |first=James P. |date=June 2006 |title=An Economic Analysis of Textbook Prices and the Textbook Market |url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED497025&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED497025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622145100/http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED497025&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED497025 |archive-date=22 June 2012 |access-date=12 June 2012}}</ref>

In the United States, the largest textbook publishers are [[Pearson Education]], [[Cengage]], [[McGraw-Hill Education]], and [[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]. Together they control 90% of market revenue.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 January 2020 |title=Textbook publishers Cengage, McGraw-Hill extend merger agreement to May 1 |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mcgrawhill-m-a-cengage-idUSKBN1ZS37C |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref> Another textbook publisher is [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alfonso, III |first=Fernando |date=24 July 2020 |title=This one letter in a textbook could change how millions of kids learn about race |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/23/us/black-capitalization-school-textbooks-mcgraw-hill-trnd/index.html |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref>

The market for textbooks does not reflect classic supply and demand because of [[Principal–agent problem|agency problems]].<ref>{{citation |title=Textbook Prices |url=http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/textbook-prices |access-date=20 February 2023 |date=27 January 2015 |work=[[Initiative on Global Markets]]}}</ref>

===New editions and the used book market in the United States===
Some students save money by buying used copies of textbooks, which tend to be less expensive, and are available from many college bookstores in the US, who buy them back from students at the end of a term. Books that are not being re-used at the school are often purchased by an off-campus wholesaler for 0–30% of the new cost, for distribution to other bookstores.  Some textbook companies have countered this by encouraging teachers to assign homework that must be done on the publisher's website. Students with a new textbook can use the pass code in the book to register on the site; otherwise they must pay the publisher to access the website and complete assigned homework.

Students who look beyond the campus bookstore can typically find lower prices. With the ISBN or title, author and edition, most textbooks can be located through online used booksellers or retailers.

Most leading textbook companies publish a new edition every 3 or 4 years, more frequently in math and science. Harvard economics chair James K. Stock has stated that new editions are often not about significant improvements to the content. "New editions are to a considerable extent simply another tool used by publishers and textbook authors to maintain their revenue stream, that is, to keep up prices."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=D’gama |first1=Alissa |last2=Jaffe |first2=Benjamin |date=4 March 2008 |title=Professors Find Different Uses for Textbook Profits |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2008/3/4/professors-find-differents-uses-for-textbook |access-date=14 July 2019 |publisher=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref> A study conducted by The Student [[Public Interest Research Group|PIRGs]] found that a new edition costs 12% more than a new copy of the previous edition (not surprising if the old version is obsolete), and 58% more than a used copy of the previous edition. Textbook publishers maintain these new editions are driven by demand from teachers. That study found that 76% of teachers said new editions were justified "half of the time or less" and 40% said they were justified "rarely" or "never".<ref name="ripoff-101">{{Cite web |date=27 February 2005 |title=Ripoff 101: 2nd Edition |url=https://studentpirgs.org/2005/02/27/ripoff-101-2nd-edition/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=Student PIRGs |language=en-US}}</ref> The PIRG study has been criticized by publishers, who argue that the report contains factual inaccuracies regarding the annual average cost of textbooks per student.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inside Higher Ed's News |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/29/textbooks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029025709/http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/29/textbooks |archive-date=2008-10-29 |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}</ref>

The Student PIRGs also point out that recent emphasis on e-textbooks does not always save students money. Even though the book costs less up-front, the student will not recover any of the cost through resale.<ref name="course-correction">{{Cite web |date=1 August 2008 |title=Course Correction |url=https://studentpirgs.org/2008/08/01/course-correction/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=Student PIRGs |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Bundling in the United States===
Another publishing industry practice that has been highly criticized is "bundling", or shrink-wrapping supplemental items into a textbook.<ref name="ripoff-101" />  Supplemental items range from CD-ROMs and workbooks to online passcodes and bonus material. Students often cannot buy these things separately, and often the one-time-use supplements destroy the resale value of the textbook.<ref name="required-reading">{{Cite web |date=27 October 2007 |title=Required Reading |url=https://studentpirgs.org/2007/10/27/required-reading/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=Student PIRGs |language=en-US}}</ref>

According to the Student PIRGs, the typical bundled textbook costs 10%–50% more{{clarify|date=January 2019}} than an unbundled textbook, and 65% of professors said they "rarely" or "never" use the bundled items in their courses.<ref name="ripoff-101" />

A 2005 [[Government Accountability Office]] (GAO) Report in the United States found that the production of these supplemental items was the primary cause of rapidly increasing prices:
<blockquote>
While publishers, retailers, and wholesalers all play a role in textbook pricing, the primary factor contributing to increases in the price of textbooks has been the increased investment publishers have made in new products to enhance instruction and learning...While wholesalers, retailers, and others do not question the quality of these materials, they have expressed concern that the publishers' practice 
of packaging supplements with a textbook to sell as one unit limits the opportunity students have to purchase less expensive used books....If publishers continue to increase these investments, particularly in technology, the cost to produce a textbook is likely to continue to increase in the future.<ref name="GAO">"[http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-806 College Textbooks: Enhanced Offerings Appear to Drive Recent Price Increases] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619071824/http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-806 |date=2008-06-19 }}." U.S. Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC, 2005. Abstract. Retrieved 7 October 2011.</ref>
</blockquote>

Bundling has also been used to segment the used book market. Each combination of a textbook and supplemental items receives a separate ISBN. A single textbook could therefore have dozens of ISBNs that denote different combinations of supplements packaged with that particular book. When a bookstore attempts to track down used copies of textbooks, they will search for the ISBN the course instructor orders, which will locate only a subset of the copies of the textbook.

Legislation at state and federal levels seeks to limit the practice of bundling, by requiring publishers to offer all components separately.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web|last=Zomer |first=Saffron |url=http://www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/reports/exposing-the-textbook-industry |title=Exposing the Textbook Industry |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100314064804/http://www.studentpirgs.org/textbooks/reports/exposing-the-textbook-industry |archive-date=2010-03-14 }}</ref> Publishers have testified in favor of bills including this provision,<ref>{{Cite web |title=House Committee on Education (03/06/2008) |url=http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2008A/commsumm.nsf/58e6d054c29cbe1287256e5f00670a70/78f66284de2d10b28725740400734883?OpenDocument |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413042944/http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2008A/commsumm.nsf/58e6d054c29cbe1287256e5f00670a70/78f66284de2d10b28725740400734883?OpenDocument |archive-date=13 April 2008 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> but only in the case that the provision exempts the loosely defined category of "integrated textbooks".  The Federal bill<ref>"[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.04137: Higher Education Opportunity Act] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921103240/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.04137: |date=2008-09-21 }}." H.R.4137, U.S. House of Representatives, 110th Congress (2007–2008.) Public Law No. 110-315. Retrieved 7 October 2011.</ref> only exempts 3rd party materials in integrated textbooks, however publisher lobbyists have attempted to create a loophole through this definition in state bills.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HB 2048 – TEXTBOOK TRANSPARENCY ACT – Zimmerman, Jake |url=https://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills081/bills/hb2048.htm |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=house.mo.gov}}</ref><ref name="leg.state.co.us">{{Citation |title=Summarized History for Bill Number SB08-073 |url=https://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2008a/csl.nsf/billsummary/6A69934AE701F1788725738C0065864E |access-date=25 February 2023 |website=[[Colorado General Assembly]] Home Page}}</ref>

===Price disclosure===
Given that the problem of high textbook prices is linked to the "broken" economics of the market, requiring publishers to disclose textbook prices to faculty is a solution pursued by a number of legislatures.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Elia Powers |title=Textbook Battle's New Frontier |url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/13/textbooks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821104447/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/13/textbooks |archive-date=21 August 2016 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> By inserting price into sales interactions, this regulation will supposedly make the economic forces operate more normally.

No data suggests that this is in fact true.  However, The Student PIRGs have found that publishers actively withhold pricing information from faculty, making it difficult to obtain.  Their most recent study found that 77% of faculty say publisher sales representatives do not volunteer prices, and only 40% got an answer when they directly asked.  Furthermore, the study found that 23% of faculty rated publisher websites as "informative and easy to use" and less than half said they typically listed the price.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

The US Congress passed a law in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act that would require price disclosure.<ref name="ReferenceB" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Congress.gov – Library of Congress |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.04137 |access-date=8 May 2018 |website=thomas.loc.gov}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jason |date=11 February 2008 |title=The Stingy Scholar |url=http://stingyscholar.blogspot.com/2008/02/house-passes-legislation-to-make.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504130651/http://stingyscholar.blogspot.com/2008/02/house-passes-legislation-to-make.html |archive-date=4 May 2016 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> Legislation requiring price disclosure has passed in Connecticut,<ref>{{Cite web |title=AN ACT CONCERNING TEXTBOOK AFFORDABILITY. |url=http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/ACT/PA/2006PA-00103-R00HB-05527-PA.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311060930/https://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/ACT/PA/2006PA-00103-R00HB-05527-PA.htm |archive-date=11 March 2016 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> Washington,<ref name="leg.state.or.us">{{Cite web |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measpdf/sb0300.dir/sb0365.b.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910041933/http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measpdf/sb0300.dir/sb0365.b.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2008 |access-date=24 March 2008}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB"/> Minnesota,<ref>{{Cite web |title=HF 1063 |url=http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_detail.php?b=House&f=HF1063&ssn=0&y=2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224095318/http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_detail.php?b=House&f=HF1063&ssn=0&y=2007 |archive-date=24 December 2012 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> Oregon,<ref name="leg.state.or.us" /> Arizona,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Documents For Bill |url=http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=1175 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111538/http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=1175 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> Oklahoma,<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 November 2015 |title=Tutoring Rates in Oklahoma: An Analysis of over 34,000 Private Tutors |url=https://ateamtutors.com/tutoring-study-in-britain-and-ireland/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721220424/https://ateamtutors.com/tutoring-study-in-britain-and-ireland/ |archive-date=21 July 2020 |access-date=14 June 2016 |website=ateamtutors.com}}</ref> and Colorado.<ref name="leg.state.co.us" /> Publishers are currently supporting price disclosure mandates, though they insist that the "suggested retail price"<ref>{{Cite web |title=House Bill Proposes Disclosure Rules to Control Textbook Prices |url=http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/01/1465n.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216021300/http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/01/1465n.htm |archive-date=16 February 2008 |access-date=23 April 2016 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education}}</ref> should be disclosed, rather than the actual price the publisher would get for the book.

===Used textbook market===
Once a textbook is purchased from a retailer for the first time, there are several ways a student can sell his/her textbooks back at the end of the semester or later. Students can sell to 1) the college/university bookstore; 2) fellow students; 3) numerous online websites; or 4) a student swap service.

====Campus buyback====
As for buyback on a specific campus, faculty decisions largely determine how much a student receives. If a professor chooses to use the same book the following semester, even if it is a custom text, designed specifically for an individual instructor, bookstores often buy the book back. The GAO report found that, generally, if a book is in good condition and will be used on the campus again the next term, bookstores will pay students 50 percent of the original price paid. If the bookstore has not received a faculty order for the book at the end of the term and the edition is still current, they may offer students the wholesale price of the book, which could range from 5 to 35 percent of the new retail price, according to the GAO report.<ref name=GAO/>

When students resell their textbooks during campus "buyback" periods, these textbooks are often sold into the national used textbook distribution chain.  If a textbook is not going to be used on campus for the next semester of courses then many times the college bookstore will sell that book to a national used book company.  The used book company then resells the book to another college bookstore.  Finally, that book is sold as used to a student at another college at a price that is typically 75% of the new book price. At each step, a markup is applied to the book to enable the respective companies to continue to operate.

====Student to student sales====
Students can also sell or trade textbooks among themselves. After completing a course, sellers will often seek out members of the next enrolling class, people who are likely to be interested in purchasing the required books. This may be done by posting flyers to advertise the sale of the books or simply soliciting individuals who are shopping in the college bookstore for the same titles. Many larger schools have independent websites set up for the purpose of facilitating such trade. These often operate much like digital classified ads, enabling students to list their items for sale and browse for those they wish to acquire. Also, at the [[US Air Force Academy]], it is possible to e-mail entire specific classes, allowing for an extensive network of textbook sales to exist.

====Student online marketplaces====
Online marketplaces are one of the two major types of online websites students can use to sell used textbooks. Online marketplaces may have an [[Online auction business model|online auction]] format or may allow the student to list their books for a fixed price. In either case, the student must create the listing for each book themselves and wait for a buyer to order, making the use of marketplaces a more passive way of selling used textbooks. Unlike campus buyback and online book, students are unlikely to sell all their books to one buyer using online marketplaces, and will likely have to send out multiple books individually.

====Online book buyers====
Online book buyers buy textbooks, and sometimes other types of books, with the aim of reselling them for a profit. Like online marketplaces, online book buyers operate year-round, giving students the opportunity to sell their books even when campus "buyback" periods are not in effect. Online book buyers, who are often online book sellers as well, will sometimes disclaim whether or not a book can be sold back prior to purchase. Students enter the [[International Standard Book Number|ISBN]] numbers of the books they wish to sell and receive a price quote or offer. These online book buyers often offer "free shipping" (which in actuality is built into the offer for the book), and allow students to sell multiple books to the same source. Because online book buyers are buying books for resale, the prices they offer may be lower than students can get on online marketplaces. However, their prices are competitive, and they tend to focus on the convenience of their service. Some even claim that buying used textbooks online and selling them to online book buyers has a lower total cost than even textbook rental services.

====Textbook exchanges====
In response to escalating textbook prices, limited competition, and to provide a more efficient system to connect buyers and sellers together, online textbook exchanges were developed. Most of today's sites handle buyer and seller payments, and usually deduct a small commission only after the sale is completed.

According to textbook author [[Henry L. Roediger III|Henry L. Roediger]] (and Wadsworth Publishing Company senior editor Vicki Knight), the used textbook market is illegitimate, and entirely to blame for the rising costs of textbooks.  As methods of "dealing with this problem", he recommends making previous editions of textbooks obsolete, binding the textbook with other materials, and passing laws to prevent the sale of used books.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Henry L. Roediger, III |date=January 2005 |title=Why Are Textbooks So Expensive? |url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-are-textbooks-so-expensive |url-status=live |magazine=Observer |publisher=Association for Psychological Science |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317041203/https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-are-textbooks-so-expensive |archive-date=17 March 2018 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref> The concept is not unlike the limited licensing approach for computer software, which places rigid restrictions on resale and reproduction.  The intent is to make users understand that the content of any textbook is the intellectual property of the author and/or the publisher, and that as such, subject to copyright. Obviously, this idea is completely opposed to the millennia-old tradition of the sale of [[used book]]s, and would make that entire industry illegal.

==== E-textbooks ====
{{see also|Digital textbook}}
Another alternative to save money and obtaining the materials you are required are e-textbooks. The article "E books rewrite the rules of education" states that, alternately to spending a lot of money on textbooks, you can purchase an e-textbook at a small amount of the cost. With the growth of digital applications for iPhone, and gadgets like the Amazon kindle, e-textbooks are not an innovation, but have been "gaining momentum".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mullan |first=Eileen |date=4 May 2009 |title=Ebooks Rewrite the Rules of Education |url=http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/News/News-Feature/Ebooks-Rewrite-the--Rules-of-Education-53676.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317231848/http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/News/News-Feature/Ebooks-Rewrite-the--Rules-of-Education-53676.htm |archive-date=17 March 2018 |website=EContent Magazine}}</ref> According to the article " Are textbooks obsolete?", publishers and editorials are concerned about the issue of expensive textbooks. "The expense of textbooks is a concern for students, and e-textbooks, address the face of the issue, Williams says " As publishers we understand the high cost of these materials, and the electronic format permit us diminish the general expense of our content to the market".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Are textbooks obsolete? An education in the impact of electronic textbooks |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sort=RELEVANCE&docType=Cover+story&tabID=T003&prodId=CDB&searchId=R8&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=BasicSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=3&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=pcc&docId=GALE%7CA223373889&contentSet=GALE%7CA223373889 |access-date=22 January 2016 |website=go.galegroup.com}}</ref> E-textbook applications facilitate similar experiences to physical textbooks by allowing the user to highlight and take notes in-page. These applications also extend textbook learning by providing quick definitions, reading the text aloud, and search functionality.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reckelhoff |first=Benjamin |date=16 February 2021 |title=Vitalsource Bookshelf App capabilities for etextbooks |url=https://www.vitalsource.com/bookshelf-features |website=VitalSource Bookshelf}}</ref>

=== Rental programs ===
In-store rentals are processed by either using a kiosk and ordering books online with a third party facilitator or renting directly from the store's inventory. Some stores use a hybrid of both methods, opting for in-store selections of the most popular books and the online option for more obscure titles or books they consider too risky to put in the rental system. Rented items can be used for a set duration of time, then are required to be returned to the physical store or shipped back to the third party facilitator by the rental due date. Writing and highlighting is sometimes allowed in rented items, although excessive markup which makes the item unrentable is discouraged.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reckelhoff |first=Benjamin |date=10 February 2021 |title=College Book Rental Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.ecampus.com/textbook-rental |website=eCampus.com}}</ref> Overdue items are often charged a fee up to the retail price of the rented item. Rented items typically do not include supplemental materials such as access codes, CDs, or loose-leafs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reckelhoff |first=Benjamin |date=10 February 2021 |title=Will my rental come with an access card/CD/study guide/supplement |url=https://www.ecampus.com/help/faq/will-my-rental-come-with-an-access-cardcdstudy-guidesupplement/62 |access-date=10 February 2021 |website=eCampus}}</ref>

=== Textbook sharing ===
Using textbook sharing, students share the physical textbook with other students, and the cost of the book is divided among the users of the textbook. Over the life of the textbook, if 4 students use the textbook, the cost of the textbook for each student will be 25% of the total cost of the book.

=== Open textbooks ===
{{main|Open textbook}}
The latest trend in textbooks is "open textbooks". An [[open textbook]] is a free, openly licensed textbook offered online by the copyright holders.  According to PIRG, a number of textbooks already exist, and are being used at schools such as MIT and Harvard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Open Textbooks: Catalog |url=https://studentpirgs.org/open-textbooks-catalog/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=Student PIRGs |language=en-US}}</ref> A 2010 study published found that open textbooks offer a viable and attractive means to meet faculty and student needs while offering savings of approximately 80% compared to traditional textbook options.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Although the largest question seems to be who is going to pay to write them, several state policies suggest that public investment in open textbooks might make sense.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AB 2261 Assembly Bill – INTRODUCED |url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_2251-2300/ab_2261_bill_20080221_introduced.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135209/http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_2251-2300/ab_2261_bill_20080221_introduced.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} To offer another perspective{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}, any jurisdiction might find itself challenged to find sufficient numbers of credible academics who would be willing to undertake the effort of creating an open textbook without realistic compensation, to make such a proposal work. Currently, some open textbooks have been funded with non-profit investment.

The other challenge involves the reality of publishing, which is that textbooks with good sales and profitability subsidize the creation and publication of low demand but believed to be necessary textbooks.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}  Subsidies skew markets and the elimination of subsidies is disruptive; in the case of low demand textbooks the possibilities following subsidy removal include any or all of the following: higher retail prices, a switch to open textbooks, a reduction of the number of titles published.

On the other hand, independent open textbook authoring and publishing models are developing.  Most notably, the startup publisher [[Flat World Knowledge]] already has dozens of college-level open textbooks that are used by more than 900 institutions in 44 countries.<ref>[http://pressitt.com/smnr/Flat-World-Knowledge-President-Eric-Frank-Addresses-Oregon-Legislators-on-Solving-Textbook-Affordability-/3569/ Flat World Knowledge President Eric Frank Addresses Oregon Legislators on Solving Textbook Affordability.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223233038/http://pressitt.com/smnr/Flat-World-Knowledge-President-Eric-Frank-Addresses-Oregon-Legislators-on-Solving-Textbook-Affordability-/3569/ |date=23 February 2011 }} Pressitt. 21 February 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=20 August 2009 |title=Open-source textbook co. Flat World goes back to school with 40,000 new customers |url=https://venturebeat.com/business/open-source-textbook-co-flat-world-blasts-goes-back-to-school-with-40000-new-customers/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/150000-College-Students-Save-12-Million-Using-Flat-World-Knowledge-Open-Textbooks-2010-1307980.htm |title=150,000 College Students Save $12 Million Using Flat World Knowledge Open Textbooks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124212525/http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/150000-College-Students-Save-12-Million-Using-Flat-World-Knowledge-Open-Textbooks-2010-1307980.htm |archive-date=2010-11-24 |website=Marketwire |date=2010-08-23}}</ref> Their business model<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flat World Knowledge: Open College Textbooks |url=https://opensource.com/education/10/2/flat-world-knowledge-open-college-textbooks-disrupting-traditional-textbook-publishin |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=opensource.com |language=en |first=Sanford |last=Forte}}</ref> was to offer the open textbook free online,<ref>[http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/organizational-behavior-v1.1/141350#pdf-1 Organizational Behavior v1.1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405154150/http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/organizational-behavior-v1.1/141350 |date=5 April 2011 }} by Talya Bauer & Berrin Erdogan. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge. 2010. (Free online open textbook format sample – PDF view)</ref><ref>[http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/introduction-psychology/296056#web-296056 Introduction to Psychology] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110407103338/http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/introduction-psychology/296056 |date=7 April 2011 }} by Charles Stangor. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge. 2010. (Free online open textbook format sample – web view)</ref> and then sell ancillary products that students are likely to buy if prices are reasonable – print copies, study guides, [[ePub]], .Mobi ([[Amazon Kindle|Kindle]]), [[PDF]] download, etc. Flat World Knowledge compensates its authors with [[royalties]] on these sales.<ref>See [http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/authors Flat World Knowledge's website] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120730204416/http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/authors |date=30 July 2012 }}</ref> With the generated revenue Flat World Knowledge funded high-quality publishing activities with a goal of making the Flat World financial model sustainable. However, in January 2013 Flat World Knowledge announced their financial model could no longer sustain their free-to-read options for students.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Flat World is Moving from Free to Fair on January 1, 2013 |url=http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/free2fair |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120205043/http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/free2fair |archive-date=20 January 2013 |access-date=17 February 2013}} Flat World Knowledge Website.</ref> Flat World Knowledge intends to have open textbooks available for the 125 highest-enrolled courses on college campuses within the next few years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flat World Knowledge Gets $15 Million in Funding |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/45842-flat-world-knowledge-gets-15-million-in-funding.html |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=Publishers Weekly |language=en}}</ref>

[[CK-12 Foundation|CK-12]] [[Flexbook]]s are the open textbooks designed for United States K-12 courses.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=CK12-Foundation |url=https://www.ck12.org/student/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=ck12.org}}</ref> CK-12 FlexBooks are designed to facilitate conformance to national and United States and individual state textbook standards. CK-12 FlexBooks are licensed under a [[Creative Commons]] [[BY-NC-SA]] license. CK-12 FlexBooks are free to use online and offer formats suitable for use on portable personal reading devices and computers – both online and offline. Formats for both [[iPad]] and [[Amazon Kindle|Kindle]] are offered. School districts may select a title as is or customize the open textbook to meet local instructional standards. The file may be then accessed electronically or printed using any [[print on demand]] service without paying a royalty, saving 80% or more when compared to traditional textbook options. An example print on demand open textbook title, "College Algebra" by Stitz & Zeager through Lulu is 608 pages, royalty free, and costs about $20 ordered one at a time (March 2011).<ref>[http://ohiotextbookhq.ning.com/page/carl-stitzjeff-zeager Carl Stitz/Jeff Zeager on Ohio Textbook HQ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714184158/http://ohiotextbookhq.ning.com/page/carl-stitzjeff-zeager |date=14 July 2011 }} 2010.</ref> ''(Any print on demand service could be used – this is just an example. School districts could easily negotiate even lower prices for bulk purchases to be printed in their own communities.)'' Teacher's editions are available for educators and parents. Titles have been authored by various individuals and organizations and are vetted for quality prior to inclusion in the CK-12 catalog. An effort is underway to map state educational standards correlations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State, National, and Common Core Standards Correlations &#124; CK-12 Foundation |url=https://www.ck12info.org/standards-reports/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=ck12info.org}}</ref> [[Stanford University]] provided a number of titles in use.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ck12.org/book/human-biology-genetics/ |title=Human Biology - Genetics |date=2016 |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=CK-12 Foundation}}</ref>

[[Curriki]] is another modular K-12 content non-profit "empowering educators to deliver and share curricula." Selected Curriki materials are also correlated to U.S. state educational standards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Curriki – Shaping the Future of Learning |url=https://www.curriki.org/ |access-date=20 February 2023 |website=curriki.org}}</ref> Some Curriki content has been collected into open textbooks and some may be used for modular lessons or special topics.

===International market pricing===

Similar to the issue of reimportation of [[pharmaceuticals]] into the U.S. market, the GAO report<ref name=GAO/> also highlights a similar phenomenon in textbook distribution. Retailers and publishers have expressed concern about the re-importation of lower-priced textbooks from international locations. Specifically, they cited the ability students have to purchase books from online distribution channels outside the United States at lower prices, which may result in a loss of sales for U.S. retailers. Additionally, the availability of lower-priced textbooks through these channels has heightened distrust and frustration among students regarding textbook prices, and college stores find it difficult to explain why their textbook prices are higher, according to the National Association of College Stores. Retailers and publishers have also been concerned that some U.S. retailers may have engaged in reimportation on a large scale by ordering textbooks for entire courses at lower prices from international distribution channels.  While the 1998 [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decision [[Quality King v. L'anza]] protects the reimportation of copyrighted materials under the [[first-sale doctrine]], textbook publishers have still attempted to prevent the U.S. sale of international editions by enforcing contracts which forbid foreign wholesalers from selling to American distributors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewin |first=Tamar |date=21 October 2003 |title=Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/us/students-find-100-textbooks-cost-50-purchased-overseas.html |url-status=live |access-date=24 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916004116/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/us/students-find-100-textbooks-cost-50-purchased-overseas.html |archive-date=16 September 2009}}</ref> Concerned about the effects of differential pricing on college stores, the National Association of College Stores has called on publishers to stop the practice of selling textbooks at lower prices outside the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 July 2004 |title=Testimony of Marc L. Fleischaker, Counsel, National Association of College Stores |url=http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/archive/hearings/108th/21st/textbooks072004/fleischaker.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806091310/http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/archive/hearings/108th/21st/textbooks072004/fleischaker.htm |archive-date=6 August 2009 |access-date=24 September 2009 |website=Hearing on "Are College Textbooks Priced Fairly?" |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and the Workforce, Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness}}</ref> For example, some U.S. booksellers arrange for drop-shipments in foreign countries which are then re-shipped to America where the books can be sold online at used prices (for a "new" unopened book). The authors often getting half-royalties instead of full-royalties, minus the charges for returned books from bookstores.

===Production===

====Cost distribution====
According to the National Association of College Stores, the entire cost of the book is justified by expenses, with typically 11.7% of the price of a new book going to the author's royalties (or a committee of editors at the publishing house), 22.7% going to the store, and 64.6% going to the publisher.  The store and publisher amounts are slightly higher for Canada. {{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}
Bookstores and used-book vendors profit from the resale of textbooks on the used market, with publishers only earning profits on sales of new textbooks.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}}

====Research====
According to the GAO study published July 2005:

<blockquote>
Following closely behind annual increases in tuition and fees at postsecondary institutions, college textbook and supply prices have risen at twice the rate of annual inflation over the last two decades.

Rising at an average of 6 percent each year since academic year 1987–1988, compared with overall average price increases of 3 percent per year, college textbook and supply prices trailed tuition and fee increases, which averaged 7 percent per year. Since December 1986, textbook and supply prices have nearly tripled, increasing by 186 percent, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall prices grew by 72 percent. While increases in textbook and supply prices have followed increases in tuition and fees, the cost of textbooks and supplies for degree-seeking students as a percentage of tuition and fees varies by the type of institution attended. For example, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student for academic year 2003–2004 was $898 at 4-year public institutions, or about 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees. At 2-year public institutions, where low-income students are more likely to pursue a degree program and tuition and fees are lower, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student was $886 in academic year 2003–2004, representing almost three-quarters of the cost of tuition and fees.<ref name=GAO/>
</blockquote>

According to the 2nd edition of a study by the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) published in February 2005{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}: "Textbook prices are increasing at more than four times the inflation rate for all finished goods, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. The wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers have jumped 62 percent since 1994, while prices charged for all finished goods increased only 14 percent. Similarly, the prices charged by publishers for general books increased just 19 percent during the same time period."

According to the 2007 edition of the College Board's Trend in College Pricing Report published October 2007{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}: "College costs continue to rise and federal student aid has shown slower growth when adjusted for inflation, while textbooks, as a percentage of total college costs, have remained steady at about 5 percent."