Textbook sales are headed downward at many university presses, and the negative trend has accelerated in the last couple of months. That’s the word from press directors anxious about the decline but unsure what’s causing it or what to do to stop it.
“I am hearing more and more complaints from people about their textbook sales, which for university presses means sales of specialized books that come in for upper-division courses,” says Peter J. Givler, executive director of the Association of American University Presses. “I’m hearing it from big presses and small presses.”