Electronic Publishing - Frequently asked questions

• How are titles selected for Cambridge's electronic publishing programme?
• Will the availability of an electronic edition affect sales of the print edition?
• Will books that are published electronically also remain in print?
• Can changes to a book be incorporated in an electronic edition?
• How will eBooks be priced?
• How will the author's and the publisher's rights in eBooks be protected?
• Who is responsible for clearing third-party permissions for electronic editions?

How are titles selected for Cambridge's electronic publishing programme?

It is a Cambridge policy that all new academic titles have an electronic version produced wherever possible and we expect to have a substantial proportion of our academic books available in electronic format within the next two or three years. Books may be excluded if they contain a large amount of third-party material for which permission to publish electronically is required.

Will the availability of an electronic edition affect sales of the print edition?

There is no evidence that sales of electronic editions reduce print sales. The electronic market is not sufficiently developed for there to be direct competition between print and electronic editions; rather we see these as complementary markets. Many libraries, for example, purchase both print and electronic editions of a book.

From the research available, it actually seems that print sales are boosted by the release of an electronic edition due to the book's increased visibility when made available through a variety of electronic partnerships.

Will books that are published electronically also remain in print?

We expect there to be parallel electronic and print editions. Once a digital file has been created of a particular title, there is no reason in principle why it should not be continuously available in print and electronically.

The availability of an electronic edition does not mean that a book will go out of print earlier than would otherwise have been the case. For example, we would not publish an electronic edition as a substitute for publishing a paperback edition. As stated previously, the electronic market is not sufficiently developed for there to be direct competition between print and electronic editions.

Can changes to a book be incorporated in an electronic edition?

The electronic edition should exactly replicate the content of the printed book, although there will be differences in the resolution of text and images, and there will be some 'added value' from features such as the advanced search capability.

The electronic files are usually created from PDF files. Making changes to the PDFs would mean going back to the original typesetting files, making the changes and distilling a new PDF from those files. Unfortunately, we do not, at present, have the resources to incorporate changes or corrections in an electronic edition.

How will eBooks be priced?

Where a complete eBook is sold direct, the price will usually relate directly to the price of the same book in print form.

Other sales of electronic access to your book may be made through subscription, aggregator, short-term rental, and other developing new business models, as well as sales of access to fragments (e.g. chapter sales, pay-per-view).

Payment for subscription services usually follows an agreed percentage formula; payment for other business models may be based on a per-page charge, on an agreed percentage, or price for purchase of the book as a whole, or some combination of the three.

In all cases Cambridge aims to set a fair market price which will at the same time ensure a reasonable return for the author.

How will the author's and the publisher's rights in eBooks be protected?

eBooks are protected by copyright just as printed books are, and authors have the same moral rights which require that the integrity of their work is preserved and that they are always identified with it.

It is in the interests of both publishers and distributors of eBooks to ensure that content is copied only as permitted under copyright law, for example the reproduction of extracts for the purpose of criticism and review, and that other uses are properly licensed.

The security and integrity of our eBooks is protected using Adobe, Microsoft, and other proprietary Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption technology to ensure that the content cannot be altered or passed on.

Who is responsible for clearing third-party permissions for electronic editions?

In the case of new books we will increasingly be asking our authors to clear electronic (as well as print) rights in third-party materials included in their work, where rights clearance is contractually the author's responsibility. The Press will be able to provide advice and guidance on the appropriate wordings for permissions requests.

Contact

For further information about Cambridge's electronic publishing programme, please email: epublishing@cambridge.org