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Keynote: Charles Watkinson-Associate University Librarian for Publishing at University of Michigan Library, and Director, Univeristy of Michigan Press

Keynote: Charles Watkinson-Associate University Librarian for Publishing at University of Michigan Library, and Director, Univeristy of Michigan Press

Seriographs and Monocals: Rethinking Book Publishing in the Digital AgeIn the world of learned society publishing, academic books have traditionally been regarded as a bit of a backwater. However it is time to reexamine our assumptions about a business where the demands of digital scholarship are inspiring the creation of new formats, platforms, and business models. While inspired by advances in the journals arena, monograph publishers are creating unique solutions that suggest future directions for other publishing fields. New formats for mid-length argument are proving popular with authors and readers alike. Platform experimentation is being driven by author interest in integrating data with narrative and enabled by substantial investment capital. Demand-driven-acquisitions models for books are growing in influence leading to devastating effects on income for some and large margins for other players. At the same time, open access books are growing in number and serious exploration is afoot into the possibility of a producer-pays environment funded by academic institutions. This interactive presentation presents an overview of important changes in monograph publishing and explores their implications for innovation and impact across the landscape of scholarly communication.