Here’s an announcement from John Makeham of a Brill Publishers series that he is editing on modern Chinese philosophy.
5 replies on “Brill Series on Modern Chinese Philosophy”
It’s terrific that such a series now exists. My sense is that Brill books tend to be very expensive hardbacks; is that what others of you have found? Library-only, as far as market goes?
Pretty much library-only. That’s not the worst thing, so long as one’s own library is willing to acquire them at expensive rates (they are more expensive than usual even for hardbacks). I think that keeps their budget low and they might be more willing to publish on very obscure topics — at least as someone outside the specialization might judge it.
On the other hand, it’s not very good for the non-professionals out there who are interested in obscurata.
Brill has actually begun publishing soft-cover editions (although I can’t find any mention of this on their website). I picked up _Theorizing Rituals_ at a conference for $20 (IIRC the sticker price was $40, whereas the hard cover was $180). I asked them about their plans to do more soft cover editions and they said that they did indeed plan to publish the books that had “more demand” in soft cover.
I am Mark Monfasani, the Acquisitions Editor at Brill in charge of modern Chinese studies, including this Modern Chinese Philosophy series. As for the pricing and paperback issues, you all seem to already be well informed about our policies. Brill is not supported by foundations or a university like many other presses, so we have to rely solely on sales income to survive. Because of this, we charge an “institutional rate” for hardcover sales to libraries, which we try to justify by only publishing the best scholarship. I can see why you would hope for cheaper paperback editions, and there is indeed a possibility that these modern philosophy books might become available in a cheaper paperback once our costs have been covered by hardcover library sales, and if there is sufficient demand. The best thing you can do to make this happen is to encourage your librarians to buy this series. I know that sounds self-serving on our part, but I love these books and want you to be able to read them, however Brill would go out of business if we couldn’t at least recuperate our costs.
Mark; thanks for the response. It’s always nice when an editor chimes in on the blog. The Makeham series, as Steve Angle already noted, is a terrific idea.
It’s terrific that such a series now exists. My sense is that Brill books tend to be very expensive hardbacks; is that what others of you have found? Library-only, as far as market goes?
Pretty much library-only. That’s not the worst thing, so long as one’s own library is willing to acquire them at expensive rates (they are more expensive than usual even for hardbacks). I think that keeps their budget low and they might be more willing to publish on very obscure topics — at least as someone outside the specialization might judge it.
On the other hand, it’s not very good for the non-professionals out there who are interested in obscurata.
Brill has actually begun publishing soft-cover editions (although I can’t find any mention of this on their website). I picked up _Theorizing Rituals_ at a conference for $20 (IIRC the sticker price was $40, whereas the hard cover was $180). I asked them about their plans to do more soft cover editions and they said that they did indeed plan to publish the books that had “more demand” in soft cover.
I am Mark Monfasani, the Acquisitions Editor at Brill in charge of modern Chinese studies, including this Modern Chinese Philosophy series. As for the pricing and paperback issues, you all seem to already be well informed about our policies. Brill is not supported by foundations or a university like many other presses, so we have to rely solely on sales income to survive. Because of this, we charge an “institutional rate” for hardcover sales to libraries, which we try to justify by only publishing the best scholarship. I can see why you would hope for cheaper paperback editions, and there is indeed a possibility that these modern philosophy books might become available in a cheaper paperback once our costs have been covered by hardcover library sales, and if there is sufficient demand. The best thing you can do to make this happen is to encourage your librarians to buy this series. I know that sounds self-serving on our part, but I love these books and want you to be able to read them, however Brill would go out of business if we couldn’t at least recuperate our costs.
Mark; thanks for the response. It’s always nice when an editor chimes in on the blog. The Makeham series, as Steve Angle already noted, is a terrific idea.