21 October 2019
Cambridge University Press is launching a crowdfunding campaign to make one of its books freely available to all. The Press has teamed up with the book crowdfunding site, Unbound, to see if crowdfunding can support making selected titles open access – that is, free to read online by anyone with an internet connection.
It is the latest move in the publisher’s open research programme and a first for both partners; for the Press, it’s the first time it has tried to crowdfund a book, while for Unbound it is the first time they have worked with an academic publisher. The book, The Case for Scottish Independence by Ben Jackson, will be published by the Press next year. The three-month crowdfunding campaign will cover the costs of making it available online and open access.
If the campaign’s target is reached, everyone who pledged will get a copy of the book and have their names listed in the back. A range of other rewards will be on offer to backers, including a chance to have dinner with the author.
The book argues that the roots of Scottish nationalism lie in the decades after the 1960s and not in the distant past of the Acts of Union or the Scottish Enlightenment. It offers a examination of the politics of Scottish nationalism, written in a readable style for students, researchers, politicians and anyone else interested in modern Scottish identity and politics.
Ben Denne, Director of Publishing for the Press’s academic books, said, “There’s unlikely to be a one-size-fits-all solution to publishing academic books open access. What works for some titles may not work for others; what works for monographs may not be suitable for another type of book. In this case, individuals are effectively buying a copy of the book while raising the funds to publish open access in advance. It also allows us to experiment with crowdfunding as a way to promote the book, drawing on Unbound’s expertise.
“It has to be trial and error. That’s how change and innovation happen. The important point is that we are out there trying, testing different publishing models, working with the academic community and others to find the best solutions.”