About Us - Open Book Publishers Blog

About Us

A collection of 15 posts

The cost of open access books: six years on

The cost of open access books: six years on

In 2020, we had published over 170 titles, at a rate of between 24–30 books per year. Now we are approaching our 500th publication and we publish between 55–70 books per year: a more than 100% increase. Here we reflect on how this has been achieved.

OBP books arranged on a red background into the shape of the number 18

18 Thoughts for 18 Years: A Birthday Message from OBP

Open Book Publishers (OBP) turns eighteen today! As we reach our maturity as official publishing ‘adults’, we have dipped into our story so far and pulled out eighteen thoughts on our experiences of scholar-led, open access book publishing.

Defending Academic Freedom in an Age of Censorship: Why Open Access Matters More Than Ever

academic freedom

Defending Academic Freedom in an Age of Censorship: Why Open Access Matters More Than Ever

We believe OA publishing is crucial, because it is an act of resistance against censorship and control. When knowledge is published OA, it can be accessed in many places with no restriction. When knowledge is openly available, it cannot be erased.

Our reflections on ‘community over commercialisation’

Our reflections on ‘community over commercialisation’

Some thoughts about how our focus on community, rather than profit, has benefited our press—and some reflections on the potential for community-driven open access (OA) to grow over the next few years.

Where does the money go? Explaining our Library Membership Programme

Libraries and Open Access Featured

Where does the money go? Explaining our Library Membership Programme

This post explains how our Library Membership Programme works, what it funds, and why we also ask authors who are able to apply for funding to do so.

Open Book Publishers takes leading role in £5.8 million project to significantly expand open access book infrastructures

Open Book Publishers takes leading role in £5.8 million project to significantly expand open access book infrastructures

Open Book Publishers (OBP) is delighted to announce that we are part of a diverse international team leading a new open infrastructure initiative, Open Book Futures (OBF), to significantly advance the systems that support community-owned Open Access (OA) book publishing.

A photo of a placard with a painted image of the earth in the middle and 'ONE WORLD' in white text above and below.

Shrinking our carbon footprint: Open Access publishing and environmental sustainability

This Open Access Week’s theme of ‘Open for climate justice’ has given us at Open Book Publishers an opportunity to reflect on our own environmental impact as a press.

The cost of Open Access books: a publisher writes

The cost of Open Access books: a publisher writes

OBP lays out our costs and revenue for the last financial year (2018 - 2019), to add some numbers to discussions about funding OA books.

The Environmental Impact of Open Book Publishers

carbon footprint 2020

The Environmental Impact of Open Book Publishers

At Open Book Publishers, we are working to minimise our environmental impact. Find out more in this post.

Shrinking Our Carbon Footprint: Update One

carbon footprint 2020

Shrinking Our Carbon Footprint: Update One

In December, we announced our intention to reduce our carbon footprint in 2020. This post includes more detail about our plans and an update about what we’ve achieved thus far.

OBP to Shrink our Carbon Footprint in 2020

carbon footprint 2020 Featured

OBP to Shrink our Carbon Footprint in 2020

In 2020, OBP will be taking steps to shrink our carbon footprint, and we will be blogging about our experiences along the way.

What We Talk About When We Talk About… Book Usage Data

Metrics Featured

What We Talk About When We Talk About… Book Usage Data

An easy-to-understand explanation of how we collect our book usage data, and why we have started to present it differently.