Here is a quick look at our charitable giving for the 2010/2011 semesters. This is entirely attributed to orders & separate contributions from our awesome customers. If you bought, rented, or sold books through us, a thousand thanks for being a part of this…

• Provided 4,984 meals for food-insecure American families through Feeding America.
• Donated $644 to charity: water’s freshwater well projects in developing nations.
• Donated $232 for books & supplies to underprivileged classrooms through DonorsChoose.
• Provided vaccinations against meningitis, measles, & polio for 675 people through Doctors Without Borders.

A weekly compilation of important articles, releases, & announcements in textbooks, plus personal commentary…

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Textbook Affordability Act passes first test in Oregon legislature, March 3, 2011

Reported by the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG), Oregon’s House Subcommittee on Higher Education unanimously passed HB 2963, which would require Oregon’s Joint Boards of Higher Education to prepare a report on reducing textbook costs by fall 2012.

Thoughts:

Same story – different state. We’ve been down this road before, and while I’m not trying to downplay the significance of a state government getting involved in the textbook racket, what’s really going to happen? They’ll get a bill passed, then issue a report stating what everyone already knows – textbooks are priced so incomprehensibly high because nearly all higher education publishing is controlled by four huge corporations.

So what will Oregon’s real response be? Will they follow Texas & California’s lead & switch elementary/secondary education to open, digital textbooks? Or will they simply “encourage” professors to be more knowledgable and considerate of price when selecting the textbook for their course? This does nothing. Publisher reps will continue to push the next new edition on professors, convincing them their class needs it. E.g., “This new edition even comes bundled with test banks, homework management, DVDs, & 3D glasses!”

Again, it’s great that governments are recognizing textbooks as a real problem, but I don’t see any tangible results coming out of this.

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Cengage Announces MindTap, An(other) Interactive Learning Platform; March 2, 2011

Reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Cengage Learning announced an upcoming publishing/learning platform, to be revealed at the TED conference. In summary, features include:

– Allows bundling of content by professors, such as tutoring services or note-sharing

– Combines Cengage-owned content, such as Aplia and Newsweek archives.

– Textbooks will be read in an ordinary Web browser

– Interface features side-by-side “pages” showing the e-text on one and an app launching/viewing UI on the other.

Thoughts:

This is yet another move by one of the big four publishers to try to “define” a digital textbook. What’s happening is they all end up competing with each other, racing to push out a more dynamic, content-rich platform than their rivals’ offerings (in this case, Cengage vs. Pearson/Wiley/McGraw-Hill). I don’t know of much testing or research that has proven (or even suggested) that this is how textbooks will evolve, but every publisher’s “VP for tech/development” sure seems to have the same idea. I agree that the possibilities for adding dynamic content to textbooks are enormous, but students don’t study like they surf the internet. There is a fundamental difference in content consumption, but everyone is (wrongfully, in my opinion) quick to model the “new textbook” after a college student’s Web experience.

What is certain is that today’s student isn’t choosing a static e-textbook yet, and definitely not at the current price points. It seems to me that publishers are just throwing around millions of dollars and hoping that something “hits”. All this talk about the evolution of the textbook is disrupting their existing print business (maybe just in perception?) and wondering how this will play out, so they’re all sinking their deep pockets into new “platforms”.

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Can Tech Transcend the Textbook?; March 1, 2011

Features on CampusTechnology.com, this article provides a pretty comprehensive overview of current e-textbook offerings, as well thoughts on why adoption has lagged behind most expectations.

Some summarized points from the article:

– The NACS reports that digital books account for less than 3% of current textbooks sales, though this figure is surely derived from sales data within their network of brick-and-mortar college bookstores.

– McGraw-Hill’s VP of business development says, “…academic publishing is slower to change, but so is the market we serve… As long as the online experience doesn’t offer significant value over the print experience, the preference will still be print.”

– Matt MacInnis, co-founded an e-book publishing startup called Inkling, which develops a platform where content is displayed as sets of “cards” featuring audio, video, animation, test banks, etc. in addition to the text for an “interactive digital experience”.

– CourseSmart, the collaborative e-textbook venture, is also featured. CourseSmart e-textbooks can be accessed through a web browser or handheld device and support standard e-textbook features (search, highlighting, note-taking, etc).

– Finally, Flat World Knowledge is profiled as an outlying alternative. If you haven’t heard, Flat World generates its own content by contracting with professors interested in authoring their own text. Digital versions of these texts are available free, and black-and-white or color print options are available for purchase.

Thoughts:

This is a great, comprehensive article, but nothing we haven’t heard before. It’s no surprise that students aren’t buying digital textbooks en masse yet. Startups are popping up to try & cash in on the whole digital platform battle. CourseSmart doesn’t do anything spectacular – they essentially offer overpriced PDFs for students that don’t want a (usually) cheaper used print copy. What Flat World is doing is extraordinary, but they’ll still have to convince professors to use their content, just as the big 4 publishers do. If it becomes a high-dollar battle for classroom book adoptions, there’s no doubt who will win.

This article further illustrates how fragmented the industry continues to be, even as this digital “revolution” starts to unfold. With so much money at stake, it’s likely that generating and distributing learning content will continue to be both extremely competitive and sectored over these upcoming years.

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Any thoughts, questions, or comments?

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This post is a reply to: “To Save Students Money, Colleges May Force a Switch to E-textbooks”, featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education on Oct 24, 2010. You can read the article here.

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Everyone’s still talking about (and waiting for) digital textbooks. Turns out, an honest look at the textbook landscape reveals it’s still in complete disarray.

Earlier this week, Barnes & Noble introduced a revamped, full-color Nook intended to bridge the e-reader gap between Kindle and iPad. Publishers pitch universities on their own collaborative, social network-like learning platforms for digital books. Professors, hearing student complaints that textbooks are too expensive, assume that e-textbooks are more cost-efficient (they’re not) and intend to begin offering (or mandating) them. Some students, frustrated with the cost of textbooks, hear the buzz regarding digital alternatives and, like professors, seem interested to try it out.

Most articles I’ve studied regarding the textbook market and the penetration of digital textbooks are grossly one-sided. They’re written by tech bloggers who, having no affiliation or real understanding of higher education, foresee an upcoming onslaught and are quick to announce “print is dead”. Those in the publishing business endorse the movement and have even developed their own digital book platforms. Truth is, they’re just riding the digital wave to protect themselves – embracing e-books is their best effort to combat the used textbook market. Easy enough right? Get students to buy digital, then sell millions more units because the book file will self-destruct after your purchased timeframe. No resale allowed. Further, professors weigh in with articles, inaccurately proclaiming “it’s cheaper – this is what the students want”. These same professors are responsible for textbook inflation in the first place by agreeing to bundle their course’s textbook with supplements such as test banks, homework managers, and lab codes (surprisingly, all of which make their jobs, grading, & “teaching” easier).

As should be expected, the opinions of students and educators vary wildly. Those early adopter-types (including some university administration – see Kindle trial-runs in higher ed classrooms) dove into digital and emerged with mixed reviews. Some like the digital page-turning, annotation, and highlighting. Others absolutely hate it, saying it doesn’t fit their study habits or how they like to absorb information. Publishers & e-reader manufacturers seem shocked, but alas, just because 20 year-olds suck up YouTube, Facebook, & CNN.com doesn’t mean they want their academics on the screen right next to it. Speaking only to e-textbook prices, some think it as a cheaper alternative, while others do the math & see it as more expensive (cost of digital book > cost of buying used, then reselling). There’s a dog in this race for every party and everyone is convinced they’re right.

College students are pushed around by professors, publishers, and bookstores, but mostly because they can be. Students are uneducated about the real business behind textbooks and most fail to make smart decisions. Usually, the ones that complain most about textbook prices are the same students that walk into their campus bookstore after their first class and purchase a new book at full list price. They complain the most because they’re paying the most. Other students still see textbook prices as a nuisance, but manage to save hundreds over their classmates by buying online (plug – at FreeTextbooks.com). This certainly softens the blow, especially if they’ve rented or choose to resell at the end of the semester.

All that to say, there is far too much disparity in this fight. The market is incredibly fragmented. It will continue to be so for the foreseeable future – at least another five years, if you ask me.

As an example of the discontinuity, let’s take six students from across the U.S. One student will buy new textbooks at their campus bookstore. One student buys used textbooks at their campus bookstore. One students buys online. One student rents online. One student buys books from friends. One student tries out digital books.

Why do students make such different buying decisions? The same reasons we buy different cars, clothes, or houses. Not just our tastes, but more importantly (hopefully), our budget & priorities.

Let’s revisit those six students to make another point. One attends a suburban community college. Two attend a large, four-year state universities. One takes night classes for an associates degree. One is enrolled at a private, affluent institution. One attends a rural community college exclusively through online courses.

What does this mean? That each of today’s students are faced with a ton of different variables. How much money do I have to spend? When do I have to have my textbook – today or next week? Do I have internet access? Do I trust online sellers? Do I have access to a computer or e-reader to read my assignments? Am I comfortable with trying an ebook? Could I just share a book with a classmate? Does the library have a copy I could use? All of these factors (and many more) influence buying decisions and each situation is different for every student.

Just as people can decide which news channel to watch, which music to listen to, or which stores to visit, students should decide where (and how) to buy their textbooks from a big pool of options. Pushing e-textbooks down the proverbial throats of colleges & students seeks to consolidate the industry and will give publishers control over everything from distribution to prices. Without a secondary used textbook market, all choice is gone.

Accept that students have different learning preferences and budgets. Then, let’s set out to examine the choices and really teach students to fight for their choice and wallets – not blindly accept the learning platforms that publishers or professors seek to mandate.

Here is a quick look at our charitable giving for spring 2010. This was only possible through our wonderful customers, so if you bought, rented, or sold books through us, thanks for being a part of this…

• Provided 2,653 meals for food-insecure American families through Feeding America.
• Donated $408 to charity: water’s freshwater well projects in developing nations.
• Donated $160 for books & supplies to underprivileged classrooms through DonorsChoose.
• Provided vaccinations against meningitis, measles, & polio for 510 people through Doctors Without Borders.

This is a follow-up letter from the underprivileged classroom to which we donated new books in October 2009. The real ‘thanks’ goes to our customers, who make all our contributions possible.

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Dear FreeTextbooks,

I cannot thank you enough for your generous gift to my classroom. My students and I are sending letters of appreciation to show how thankful we are. I hope you see how bright and fun my students are through the thank you notes.

When we received the materials that you donated to our classroom I immediately opened the box. My students said “Who are those books for?” I told them “you all.” After I opened up the box and started showing our new books to my students, the classroom was filled with oooo’s and aaahhh’s. They said things like, “Cool!”, “Oooh, I want to read that one!” and “Mrs. H will you read that right now?” The students were bright-eyed and were mesmerized with the new books they could use in our room. I also told them that someone was kind enough to give our classroom new books. They thought it was very thoughtful that someone we do not even know would spend their money to give our classroom new books to read. I told them that there are wonderful people in the world that care about their educational success!

My students love to sit and listen to me read them books. We have rug reading time everyday after lunch. They loved all of the books that you donated to our classroom. We hope you enjoy reading our thank you notes as much as we enjoyed writing and decorating them. Thanks again for your generosity and I hope this inspires you to make another dream come true for a truly thankful teacher!

With gratitude,
Mrs. H.

Announcing the winners of our December ‘Buyback Giveaway’, where we randomly included prizes such as movie tickets and gift cards with buyback payments. See official rules here. Didn’t win this year? We’ll ‘up the ante’ for buyback rush in May & give even more away!

iPhone 3G: Kayla Lisenby, University of Alabama

$50 Best Buy gift card: Scott Hardin, University of Georgia

$25 Best Buy gift card: Jeff Hajek, University of Auburn; Amanda Huey, Middle Tennessee State; Jennifer Johnson, University of Georgia; Emory Martin, Samford University.

$25 iTunes gift card: Hannah Weber, Samford University; Beth Erwin, Samford University.

$10 Best Buy gift card: Arthur Strauss, Samford University; Bradley Patton, Samford University; Matthew Worley, Samford University; Keith Jones, Samford University.

$10 Starbucks gift card: Amanda Dail, University of Tennessee; Jennifer McMinn, Samford University.

Fandango movie ticket: Caroline Hussey, Jordyn Elrod, Jen Taylor, Ashley Hester, Randi Hughes, Rachel Vonfeldt, Alecia Davis, Jordan McMullan, Kathryn Nuwayhid, Sarah Andrews, Allie Bradshaw, Maggie Bridges, Taylor Marie Kardoes, Angelica Moore, Christina Dixon, Rachel Snyder, Emily Arthur, Natalie Heard, Michelle Godwin, Kim Weatherstone, Grant Sides, Ryan Manning, Lelia Shipp, Ashleigh Walker, Landon Hair, Anna Shell, Carolyn Bryant, Devyn Keith, Kirk Carver, Christopher Putt, Eric Bergquist, Victor Hart, Keighlee McCaslin, Caroline Bradshaw, Nicole Walker, Brett Bentley, Jude Thompson, Kelsey Welch, Thomas Oliver, Rufus Gaines, Ben Meadows, Mary Byers, George Mardre, Kosta Vangeloff, James Allen, Cara Lu Royse, Jessika Anderson, Jason Olson, Sara Gardner, Margaret Kloess, Steven Tate, James Edwards, DeShawn Oravetz, Robert Rosenbleeth, Rachel Hoffman, Britni Combahee, Parker Holt, Arden Hadwin, Bill Glenn, Kerry Hervey, Caitlin McManemon, Mitesh Patel, Brooke Trundle, Margaret Holland, Wesley Pond, Kristin Hopkins, Alex Rowedder, Stephen Lynn, Amy Fowler, Damon Frost, Kris Peterson, Alexandra Coenraad, Alex Schilling, Rick Boyd, Steven Grade, Karla Hansen, Savanna Davis, Megan Villaume, Sara Beth Melick, Morgan Glenn.

Students often ask how they should decide whether to buy or rent their books. As a result of answering this question fairly often, I thought we should add a post here that compares the differences & how each student should decide which option is best.

First, what is a rental? What do you do after a semester is over? How do you return it?

FreeTextbooks now offers textbook rentals on thousands of titles, which can be a cheaper alternative to the usual ‘buy & resell’ method. This gives students another great option for finding textbooks, and also makes FreeTextbooks the only site that lets you compare buy & rent prices side-by-side, all while finding your books by course. Know your schedule? Find your books, compare buy/rent prices, get ‘em fast, earn cashback – only at FreeTextbooks.

Here’s how rentals work:

1. Rent your books - Once you find the books you need, select the amount of time you’d like to rent it (semester/quarter/60-days), add it to your cart, & checkout.

2. Get your books - During checkout, select your shipping option. We offer low, flat-rate expedited delivery via FedEx Ground or USPS Priority Mail, plus FedEx 2-day & Overnight rates for books that are confirmed in stock.

3. Use your books – Read your textbook & complete assignments for your courses as normal. You are not allowed to write on the pages. Feel free to highlight, but keep it to a reasonable minimum. If you return your book in a condition that prevents us from renting it again, your card will be charged the replacement cost.

4. Return your books – Visit your ‘My Account’ page toward the end of your rental period to find your FREE FedEx return shipping label & packing slip. Put your books in a secure box or envelope, attach the label, and drop off at any FedEx location. Books must be postmarked by your due date or a 25% late fee will be assessed.

Now for the buy/rent comparison…

Buying Books

Pros:

-better option if book is needed for more than one semester/quarter

-you get to sell it back at the end of the semester/quarter

-you own the book, which means you can highlight, write/mark-up pages, etc

-owning the book also means you can keep it if desired

Cons:

-can be a higher initial cost

-sometimes, students are dissatisfied with buyback value

Renting Books

Pros:

-can be much cheaper if book is only needed one semester/quarter

Cons:

-must return via mail by due date or late fee/replacement cost will be charged

-no writing allowed & limitations on how much you can highlight.

-more expensive if book needed more than one semester/quarter

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any questions – we’re here to help! contact@freetextbooks.com

One of the most frustrating, incomprehensible things about textbooks occurs during end-of-semester buybacks. You take a book that you bought brand new from the bookstore for $140.00, walk up to their buyback table, hand it over & wait for the offer…

“We can’t buy this book.”

“What? Why? I paid $140 just four months ago!”

“Sorry, it’s going out of edition”

If you’ve ever been a college student & sold your textbooks at the end of a semester, you’ve at least heard something comparable. It may be that the book is changing editions, that the bookstore has reached their max-allowed quantity, or that the professor isn’t using the text anymore. But regardless, the bookstore won’t buy it back & as a result, there’s an extreme distaste for selling textbooks. Everyone talks about it around campus, on Twitter & Facebook, and in blogs or news articles.

“Selling textbooks is a rip off!”

“You only get pennies on the dollar.”

“My book was worth $140 in August. Now it’s worth nothing?”

Admittedly, sharing this frustration is what led me to start FreeTextbooks. I couldn’t figure out how, in a free market system & with other buying choices, the majority of Samford University students would file into such a tiny bookstore, stand in line for hours & pay full price for their textbooks.

Problem is, this is the situation at campus bookstores across the United States. So why do bookstores continue to get so much student business? Answer: location and peace of mind. You see, most students wait until they actually attend class to buy their textbooks, then they’re stuck when their professor says, “You need your book by the next class.” That doesn’t leave you many buying choices, does it? It’s Monday & you need the textbook by Wednesday? “Oh well, I’ll have to buy it at the bookstore.”

Back on topic – why is a book purchased four months ago worth practically nothing?

Because publishers frequently issue new, updated (often sparingly) editions. Why? To combat the used textbook market. Think about it – if a new Human Anatomy textbook is published in January 2010 and is adopted by 500 professors around the U.S. with an average class size of 50, the publisher will sell 25,000 copies. By August 2010, many of those 25,000 books are on the market as used, cheaper copies, which means the publisher may only sell 10,000 new copies. By January 2011, there are about 35,000 used copies floating around, causing publisher sales of new books to fall further. This repeats for the life of the book & publisher sales continue to decline each semester. So, in order to sell more books, the publisher puts out a new edition & makes sure those 500 classes adopt the new one. It’s a constant game of cat-and-mouse.

That tells you why books go out of edition, but it only leads us to the most important part. If you purchase a book for $140 and it’s worth nothing four months later, it’s mostly your fault.

What in the…? Are you serious?

Unfortunately, yes. Because that $140 book you bought at the bookstore was available elsewhere for MUCH less. How can you be sure? If it’s not worth anything, then it’s going (or already is) out of edition. If it’s going out of edition, it’s been in print for at least three semesters. If it’s been in print that long, there are plenty of used copies available all over the internet. How much are they? A fraction of what the bookstore charges.

Here’s an example:

Mario Triola’s Elementary Statistics updated to an 11th edition just after the start of the August 2009 semester. For many colleges, the 10th was required for fall classes, as the 11th wasn’t in full distribution yet. Your bookstore’s new price was $149, and it’s used price was $99. But the market for the 10th edition was sinking in anticipation of the upcoming 11th edition, which means it’s real value was closer to $35-40. In August, FreeTextbooks sold the 10th edition for $33. At time of writing, the 10th edition had a used marketplace price of $11.79, but if the 10th edition is still required this January, your bookstore will still be selling it for $149 and/or $99. Why? Because bookstores adhere to strict pricing strategies no matter what the market conditions are (see previous blog post, How Your Campus Bookstore Makes Money).

We anticipate getting a lot of questions about how books are valued during buybacks this year, so I hope this helps answer some of the most common questions. Some of our angriest customers are those that purchased books at their bookstore, then get furious when that expensive book is only worth $8 or so at FreeTextbooks. Well, $8 > $0 & our price was a lot less to begin with. Since our prices are set by the entire used market, you always get the “best-case-scenario” for buying & selling books.

In closing, we know it’s frustrating. Very frustrating. But we’re here & trying to help by selling for less and buying for more. Plus, tell a few friends and get $5 per referred buyback. There’s an easy way to boost your total…

Beat your bookstore. Use FreeTextbooks.

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Coming up next, we’ll revisit how books are valued, what drives buyback values, and most importantly, how FreeTextbooks beats your bookstore & other online buyback sites.

Questions or comments? Let us know below!

Though students don’t necessarily use FreeTextbooks because of our social impact, we are committed to donating $1 per book purchased or rented. We also allow customers the opportunity to donate $1 or more during the checkout process. Earlier this year, I blogged about our general thoughts on charity & how we hope to harness the goodwill of our customers to meet humanity’s most basic needs around the U.S. and world (see: How We Help: Our Mission of Social Responsibility). Regardless of profits, our entire company understands & supports the importance of this commitment and it’s been exciting to see our employees associate the increase in sales with increased charitable involvement.

In addition, we want to be an open company. We want customers to know who we are, our values, ideas, or problems, and I want this blog to be an expression of that.

So, here is a look at our charitable giving for fall 2009. This was only possible through our wonderful customers, so if you bought books from us, be proud! This is just the beginning…

• Provided 4,809 meals for food-insecure American families through Feeding America.
• Gave 28 people clean drinking water for 20 years through charity: water’s freshwater well projects.
• Donated $291 for books & supplies to underprivileged classrooms through Room to Read.
• Provided vaccinations against meningitis, measles, & polio for 552 people through Doctors Without Borders.

Finally, through one of our newest partners, DonorsChoose.org, we donated books to second graders in a high-poverty Alabama classroom. Here’s a thank you letter from the teacher, Mrs. Hope (or see it, here)

Dear FreeTextbooks,
I am so excited. I know it is almost Christmas, but it feels like Christmas to me today. Wow! I cannot wait to tell my students that we will be getting a lot of new books for our classroom library. By the time children reach second grade, most of them are reading well and really enjoy it. It is important to me to have a wide variety of books on different levels for my children. You have helped make this available. I am thankful for your support of education and reading through donors choose. If it were not for Donors Choose, I would not have this wonderful opportunity to get more materials, like books, for my classroom. Once again, thank you very much! Your donation is greatly appreciated.
With gratitude,
 Mrs. H.

That wraps it up. We’re currently working on site improvements, building on-campus buyback relationships, and preparing for December & January! Get ready – big improvements are coming.