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GtrsRGr8 · 05-11-2018, 02:57 AM

If you like university press kinds of books

, you might want to mark May 15 (that's Tuesday, unless I've slipped another cog) on your calendar, and peruse a copy of Cornell University Press' catalog before then.

Cornell University Press says that on that date they will let folks put their own prices on the books that they publish. That turns out to be quite a large number of books, because "the press is one of the country's largest university presses. It produces approximately 150 nonfiction titles each year . . . ." (Wikipedia).

The announcement on Cornell's blog is full of what, IMHO, is slippery language, however. Have a read of some of it, and see what you think:

THIS MAY 15TH . . . PAY WHAT YOU WANT FOR OUR BOOKS!
<snip>
On Tuesday May 15th, we’re going all out. And for one day only, you can put a price on our books.

Why are we doing this?!

One, we love books as much as you do. Two, we want to help spread knowledge. Three, we trust you!

How does it work?

1. Visit our website
2. Choose your book(s)
3. Decide how much you can pay
4. Email us with your offer at cupress-sales@cornell.edu
5. Enjoy your new book(s)!

Simple.

Is my offer good enough?

Next, we’ll take a look at your offer. If we can do it, we’ll send you a special discount code to use online or by phone.

If we can’t make it work, we’ll offer you free digital access to the book, or the chance to make a new offer.

So, save the date:

May 15th, 9am-6pm EST, Pay What You Want, and enjoy your reading!

*U.S.A. ONLY

Here's how I translate the verbage, let's see if we see it the same way . . . . "you can make an offer on any of our paper-based books. If the offer's high enough, we'll let you have it for that price. If it's not high enough, you can get the ebook free, or you can make another (higher this time) offer on the paper-based version, and maybe we'll take it." Is that how you understand it?

Point #4, under "How does it work?", above suggests that you are not limited to one book--that you can get multiple books.

Well, I would want the digital version of any of the books anyway, so I don't want them to accept my offers for, presumably, paper-based versions. So my offers are going to be extremely low.

Please note the next to the last line of the ad: the offers can be made from between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., only, on May 15.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go peruse Cornell press' catalog and see what bargains that I might be able to get on Tuesday.

ADDENDUM: You might want to check out Cornell University Press' Open Access selection, and go ahead and start grabbing some freebies now. IMHO, their OA titles are quite a bit better than average.

05-11-2018, 02:57 AM	#999
GtrsRGr8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,334 Karma: 27815322 Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Southeastern U.S., ya'll Device: Kindle; Kindle (10.1.1) for PC; Kindle Cloud Reader	Pay What You Want (Sort of) for Cornell University Press Books, this Coming Tuesday! If you like university press kinds of books , you might want to mark May 15 (that's Tuesday, unless I've slipped another cog) on your calendar, and peruse a copy of Cornell University Press' catalog before then. Cornell University Press says that on that date they will let folks *put their own prices on the books that they publish. That turns out to be quite a large number of books, because "the press is one of the country's largest university presses. It produces approximately 150 nonfiction titles each year . . . ." (Wikipedia). The announcement on Cornell's blog is full of what, IMHO, is slippery language, however. Have a read of some of it, and see what you think: THIS MAY 15TH . . . PAY WHAT YOU WANT FOR OUR BOOKS!* <snip> On Tuesday May 15th, we’re going all out. And for one day only, you can put a price on our books. Why are we doing this?! One, we love books as much as you do. Two, we want to help spread knowledge. Three, we trust you! How does it work? 1. Visit our website 2. Choose your book(s) 3. Decide how much you can pay 4. Email us with your offer at cupress-sales@cornell.edu 5. Enjoy your new book(s)! Simple. Is my offer good enough? Next, we’ll take a look at your offer. If we can do it, we’ll send you a special discount code to use online or by phone. If we can’t make it work, we’ll offer you free digital access to the book, or the chance to make a new offer. So, save the date: May 15th, 9am-6pm EST, Pay What You Want, and enjoy your reading! U.S.A. ONLY Here's how I translate the verbage, let's see if we see it the same way . . . . "you can make an offer on any of our paper-based books. If the offer's high enough, we'll let you have it for that price. If it's not high enough, you can get the ebook free, or you can make another (higher this time) offer on the paper-based version, and maybe we'll take it." Is that how you understand it? Point #4, under "How does it work?", above suggests that you are not limited to one book--that you can get multiple* books. Well, I would want the digital version of any of the books anyway, so I don't want them to accept my offers for, presumably, paper-based versions. So my offers are going to be extremely low. Please note the next to the last line of the ad: *the offers can be made from between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., only, on May 15. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go peruse Cornell press' catalog and see what bargains that I might be able to get on Tuesday. ADDENDUM: You might want to check out Cornell University Press' Open Access selection, and go ahead and start grabbing some freebies* now. IMHO, their OA titles are quite a bit better than average. Last edited by GtrsRGr8; 05-11-2018 at 03:00 AM.