The Open Question

I wasn't terribly happy to see this headline in the Boston Globe yesterday: "As college text prices soar, students get a rental option".

Granted, I completely understand the delicate balancing act between making books both profitable and affordable.  Books may pay my rent, but I am just as guilty as anybody of finding ways to get books as cheaply as possible.  (Thanks, Boston Public Library!) When my publisher in India explained to me that many of their colleges have a set of textbooks freely available for student use throughout the semester, I remember being very surprised. At the time, I had heard very little about American universities doing the same.

With the new laws from these past few years, though, I think we're starting to see a huge shift towards providing more low-cost options.  We've probably hit the breaking point on how much we can feasibly charge for a book.  In the past, I've been told that it's possible to reduce the cost of a brand-new textbook to the cost of the same used textbook, just by following smarter business models like custom publishing or electronic publishing.  But is it true? And what if bookstores like BU's start to take matters into their own hands?  What's an editor to do?