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UMP Digital Transition
- Which authors will be able to take full advantage of our new digital distribution program?
Authors of future monographs will make use of a new contract to reflect our new digital printing and distribution plans.
Existing contracts will all be honored as they stand, though these authors are encouraged to request inclusion in the new program to take advantage of our expanded digital resources. Authors with books currently in development should expect to hear from their editors regarding the status of their projects.
As this initiative focuses on scholarly monographs, the following publishing programs are NOT included and will continue as usual though enhanced digital features and digital dissemination of books in these areas as well will be introduced where it seems advantageous:
- Books in the ELT (English Language Teaching) Division
- Books intended for a general trade audience
- Regional Michigan and Great Lakes titles
- Will the standard method of author royalties and payment continue?
Yes. Current contracts will continue to be honored and authors of academic monographs signing future contracts will, as always, receive defined shares of revenue for print and digital sales of their work known as "royalties."
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Will there still be printed books?
Yes. Print copies of all upcoming titles will ALWAYS be promptly available in response to requests or need. Printed copies will especially continue to be stocked for author events, bookstores, publicity, and review copies. The major change is that these books will be available primarily in a wide variety of digital formats and venues.
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What does "print on demand" and digital production mean at The University of Michigan Press?
"Print on demand" is a publishing term used to describe a process that makes use of advances in digital production, distribution, and print technology to more effectively meet demand-driven distribution needs:
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Traditional print model: |
Print Book --> Sell Book |
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Print on demand: |
Sell Book --> Print Book |
We are confident that the quality of current digitally produced print on demand books is, in almost all cases, the equal of traditional print methods.
For the author, benefits of the new digital emphasis include at least the following:
- Multiple print and electronic distribution avenues vs. print only. For a brief presentation on the various channels available soon to The University of Michigan Press academic monograph authors, please click here:
UMP Digital Transition (PPT) Use arrows to navigate
- Digitized books will be candidates for a wide range of audio and visual digital enhancements - including options like rolling photo banks, hot links, graphics, interactive tables, sound files, 3D animation and video - allowing authors to better communicate the subtleties of their work.
- Since the cost of digital copies beyond the first are essentially zero, it is possible to make books almost immediately available not just nationwide, but worldwide, reaching much larger target audiences.
- Marketing and publicity efforts greatly enhanced with complimenting digital and print versions of texts depending on need.
- Faster turnaround time for timely topics.
- Book never goes "out of print," pursuant to demand and contract.
For the UM Press, benefits from primarily digital production include at least the following:
- Digital set-up is much quicker than traditional offset printing model.
- Inventory storage, handling, and shipping costs are greatly reduced.
- Little to no waste from large unsold printings.
- Fewer returns.
- Digital distribution allows site-licensed libraries and vendors around the world to use their own print on demand technology.
- Digital production permits the printed text to be supplemented by additional audio or visual material when available in electronic format.
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How will books get to libraries?
Digital distribution and printing will allow the University of Michigan Press to reach both public and academic libraries throughout the United States and the world, including thousands of currently unreachable sites, through a variety of channels:
- All monographs will be viewable freely and securely online through the Hathi Trust archive located at the University of Michigan.
- Digital files will be available for purchase to libraries or institutions with e-readers or through ebook vendor programs.
- Digitized books can also be made available through portable e-book readers such as Amazon's Kindle.
- Print books will continue to be available via our own distributor, but also through various print-on-demand venues.
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Will backlist books be digitized and made available on at least some channels of this new model?
Yes. We've already digitized hundreds of our backlist books and these will be available through multiple online sources. We hope to have most of our 2500 in-print backlist books eventually digitized, searchable, and viewable.
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Will this affect standards of scholarship at The University of Michigan Press?
No. Every one of Michigan's academic books will continue to undergo a rigorous peer review process and our standards for scholarship will not change in any way. The biggest change in our process will be taking advantage of our new partnership with The University of Michigan Library and its extensive digital resources to enhance the speed and efficiency at which every book is designed, produced, and distributed, enabling timely transfer of an even broader range of highly relevant academic scholarship from author to reader, wherever that reader may be and in whatever format the reader prefers.
We are proud of our authors' work and the quality of our individual books and our academic lists as a whole. We are constantly looking for ways to build a better book and we believe that this new partnership furthers our ongoing mission to take advantage of the best technology available to publish and disseminate our authors' work as freely and widely as possible.
Provide Feedback
We welcome general questions and comments from authors and potential authors on this transition below:
Click here to provide feedback
Thank you for your interest in The University of Michigan Press.
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