Publishing Cooperatives

Raym CrowSenior Consultant, SPARC Consulting

Group

THE SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING & ACADEMIC RESOURCES COALITION21 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036(202) 296-2296www.arl.org/sparc

Society for Scholarly PublishingInnovative Partnerships for Small

Publishers

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What We’ll Cover

• Recap HFES profile

• Compare HFES against other small publishers

• Review the shared needs of small publishers

• Describe how a publishing cooperative might work

• Suggest cooperatives as an innovative publisher partnership

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HFES Profile

• 3 peer reviewed journals (two print & online, one magazine format)

• Monthly Bulletin• Annual Proceedings• Annual topical review book series• Annual member directory• Occasional books

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HFES Profile

• 4,700 members

• $1.6 million budget

• 3 full-time publishing staff

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Context

Source: 2005 Association Publishing Benchmarking Study

Median Publishing Staff 3Paid Circulation <5,000 96%

Publish books 45%Publish e-newsletter 73%

Outsource Some/ All Functions 83%

Median Revenue (quarterlies) 239,000$ Median Costs 324,000$

Generate Any Net Income 7%

Society Publishers <$500,000 in revenue

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Context: Journals per Society

2-3 Journals(8 %)

1 Journal

Average Journals per Society

4+ (<3%)

Almost 90% of publishing societies publish one journal

Over 97% publisher three or fewer journals

Per Ulrich’s analysis, 2005.

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Context: Journals by Medium

Substantial portion of peer reviewed journals remain print only.

Per Ulrich’s analysis, 2005.

Print-only(40 %)

Digital Formats(60 %)

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Context: Mixed Market for Journals

~20,000 peer reviewedscholarly & scientific journals

Self-published Society Journals(23 %)

University-sponsored(15 %)

Commercially-publishedSociety Journals

(17 %)

Commercially-owned Journals(45 %)

Per Ulrich’s analysis, 2005.

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Context: Shared Issues

• Marginal market power—as buyers

• Marginal market power—as sellers • Insufficient staff resources• Lack of investment capital• Innate conservatism

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Shared Services Cooperative• Group of publishers that forms to

provide one or more services to improve their competitiveness & sustainability

• Purchases or provides services at a cost below what members could achieve individually

• Services depend on member needs—can evolve over time

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Potential Cooperative Services• Editorial services• Print purchasing• Online distribution • Marketing & sales programs• Licensing & rights management• Subscription & membership management• Publication business management

Through shared services. . .Through collective purchasing

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Cooperative Basics

• Owned by members– Members exercise democratic control– Member equity based on use of

services

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Cooperative Basics

• Owned by members• Provides services at cost

– Income from fees– Surplus returned as patronage

refunds– Allocated equity redeemed over time

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Cooperative Basics

• Owned by members• Provides services at cost• Retained equity provides

operating capital– Meet market demand for new content– Fund investments in services

Business Management Services

Digital Hosting & Publishing Services

Other Publishing Support Services

Marketing Services

Scale-economy Bargaining

Equity Pool & Policy

Content Offering(s)

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Library Consortia . . .

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Publishing Cooperative Model

Society

Discipline-specific Co-op

NonprofitSociety

Society

Nonprofit

Business Management Services

Digital Hosting & Publishing Services

Other Publishing Support Services

Marketing Services

Scale-economy Bargaining

Risk Pooling & MitigationRisk Pooling & MitigationRisk Pooling & Mitigation

Content Offering(s)

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Society

Discipline One

Library

Library Consortia . . .

SocietySociety

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U Press 1

University Presses

U Press 4U Press 3

U Press 2

Society

Discipline Two

Society

Society

Society

Society Society

Society Federation

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Content Offering(s)Content Offering(s)

Scalable Publishing Cooperative Model

Content Offering Content Offering Content Offering

Equity Pools &Policies

Equity Pools &Policies

Equity Pools &Policies

Discipline-specific

Cooperative

Discipline-specific

Cooperative

Discipline-specific

Cooperative

Content Offering Content Offering Content Offering

Equity Pools &Policies

Equity Pools &Policies

Equity Pools &Policies

Discipline-specific

Cooperative

Discipline-specific

Cooperative

Discipline-specific

Cooperative

. . .

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Libraries & Consortia

Scalable Publishing Cooperative Model

Digital PublishingTechnology Platform

Business Management Services

Hosting & Dissemination

Marketing & Other Publishing Support Services

Scale-economy Bargaining

Business Management Services

Hosting & Dissemination

Marketing & Other Publishing Support Services

Scale-economy Bargaining

Discipline-specific Open Archives

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Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—

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Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—• Increased market power &

visibility

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Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—• Increased market power &

visibility• Scale economies

www.arl.org/sparc

Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—• Increased market power &

visibility• Scale economies• Access to management & planning

services

www.arl.org/sparc

Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—• Increased market power &

visibility• Scale economies• Access to management & planning

services• Capital & risk pooling

www.arl.org/sparc

Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—• Increased market power & visibility• Scale economies• Access to management & planning

services• Capital & risk pooling• Control & mission alignment

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Cooperative Benefits

Collective action to provide—• Increased market power & visibility• Scale economies• Access to management & planning services• Capital & risk pooling• Control & mission alignment

Can complement other nonprofit publishing

services.

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Prerequisites

• Adequately defined scope

• Sufficient scale to warrant group action

• Able to provide a solution solely on economic terms

• Culturally, politically & economically appropriate for the group

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Cooperative Launch Process• Exploratory meeting: identify unserved

needs

• Float concept proposal that conveys vision

• Survey potential member universe

• Analyze feasibility

• Develop business plan

• Implement & launch

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For More Information

Raym CrowSenior Consultant

SPARC Consulting Groupcrow@arl.org

1.703.536.7447