Let me begin by saying that if you have children (or grandchildren) entering college/university you will be shocked at the price of their textbooks. Your immediate thought is that the authors are “making a killing,” but that is really not the case since authors make only about 10% of the retail price. Where the balance goes is to the publisher for their tasks of editing, printing, marketing and (of course) profit. As an example, the 5th edition of Designing with Geosynthetics published in 2005 (796 pages) sold for $170 from the publisher and is discounted by booksellers such as Amazon to $150. Multiply such numbers by 4 or 5 courses that students typically take per semester and the four year total amount for books is stunning.
More to the point, I approached the publisher of Designing with Geosynthetics two years ago about the possibility of a 6th Edition and they said that the 3500 copies sold was insufficient for them to go forward. After my disappointment waned I asked for (and received) a copyright release. My choice for a 6th Edition at this point in time were as follows:
- Look for another major engineering textbook publisher
- Look for a major non-textbook publisher
- Self-publish the book
- Look for an print-on-demand publisher
The latter was eventually selected by the name of Xlibris Corp. (www.Xlibris.com) which publishes hundreds of books on biographies, autobiographies, life-experiences, fiction, etc., but not engineering textbooks/professional books. Thus, the 6th Edition of Designing with Geosynthetics was a new (and apparent traumatic) experience for them as well as for me.
The manuscript (expertly typed by Marilyn Ashley) was sent in February 2011 and problems were evident immediately. Their standard Xlibris book sizes are either smaller than standard textbooks or much larger (i.e., coffee table books). As a result the proposed book would be smaller in dimensions thereby necessitating two volumes. This also necessitated two $3800 up front contracts! There were also separate manuscript editors assigned (I should have objected) and neither had any experience in editing technical information. For example, An x2 came out x2, or x × 2, or even x2. All β’s came out b’s, ω’s came out w’s, etc. Strings of equal signs were scattered across the pages. Figures came out before mentioning in the text or many pages afterward. Tables were truncated or missing entirely. However, word text was edited very professionally. After all that is their forte. By the end of the process each draft volume was sent back and corrected four times and I suspect there are still some overlooked details. I apologize for that. At any rate, as of 18 January 2012 the 6th Edition of Designing with Geosynthetics is available. Volume 1 covers geosynthetics, geotextiles, geogrids and geonets and is pages 1-508, while Volume 2 covers geomembranes, geosynthetic clay liners, geofoam and geocomposites and is pages 509-914. Now for the really good news: the book is very affordable, i.e., for each volume:
- From Xlibris or GSI it is $34.99 (hardback) or $25.99 (softback)
- From Amazon or Barnes and Noble it is $28.81 (hardback) or $16.08 (softback)
- As an e-book or on Kindle each volume is only $3.88!
Now that’s economy and I sincerely hope that the benefit/cost ratio of the book makes it a worthwhile contribution to the geosynthetics literature for many years into the future.
Yours truly,
Bob Koerner
