Math textbook author made $26 million

[cardiacclep]

https://www.fastcompany.com/3052267/the-...fort%C3%A9.

Interesting article about James Stewart, the author of the famed best selling Stewart Calculus textbooks. He made $26 million from his textbooks and built a mansion called the Integral House based on his wealth with curved walls fittingly using integrals to design the architecture. Pretty amazing career he had.

[ss20ts]

And if you thought textbooks were an overpriced scam before......now you have confirmation.

[tsgreer]

Yep, this totally makes me realize that the textbook racket was always a scam. Sooo glad online schools are finally starting to change that.

[dfrecore]

And if you thought textbooks were an overpriced scam before......now you have confirmation.

Actually, he has sold many millions of textbooks since the 1970's, so I'm going to guess that he has written a very good textbook (or multiple ones).  If you look at last year alone, he sold 500k books, and made $52 off of each book, giving him $26M.  I don't think that's a ripoff at all.

[ss20ts]

And if you thought textbooks were an overpriced scam before......now you have confirmation.

Actually, he has sold many millions of textbooks since the 1970's, so I'm going to guess that he has written a very good textbook (or multiple ones).  If you look at last year alone, he sold 500k books, and made $52 off of each book, giving him $26M.  I don't think that's a ripoff at all.

He himself earned $26 million from the textbooks. This doesn't include the fortune that the publishers made which was well over $26 million. 426 million over 50 years us still over half a million bucks a year. The price of textbooks is a massive problem and has been for decades. This is 1 author. He's far from the only one cashing in on students who are, in general, going into debt to buy said overpriced books.

[dfrecore]

And if you thought textbooks were an overpriced scam before......now you have confirmation.

Actually, he has sold many millions of textbooks since the 1970's, so I'm going to guess that he has written a very good textbook (or multiple ones).  If you look at last year alone, he sold 500k books, and made $52 off of each book, giving him $26M.  I don't think that's a ripoff at all.

He himself earned $26 million from the textbooks. This doesn't include the fortune that the publishers made which was well over $26 million. 426 million over 50 years us still over half a million bucks a year. The price of textbooks is a massive problem and has been for decades. This is 1 author. He's far from the only one cashing in on students who are, in general, going into debt to buy said overpriced books.

I'm going to say that it's not the author's but the publishers that are overpricing the books.  The author spends the time to write a textbook, and from what I've seen, this particular author has written a very good one.  He DESERVES to make money off of his books.  Should he just give away his labor?  I think not.

The publishers are the ones that price them (and overprice them), not the authors.

[davewill]

I'm going to say that it's not the author's but the publishers that are overpricing the books.  The author spends the time to write a textbook, and from what I've seen, this particular author has written a very good one.  He DESERVES to make money off of his books.  Should he just give away his labor?  I think not.

The publishers are the ones that price them (and overprice them), not the authors.

The real problem is that there's no free market for college texts. The student can't just say, "This book's too expensive, I'll buy this other cheaper one". Worse, too many professors care more about perqs and favors offered by the publishers than they do about students and textbook costs. So they happily require the latest editions of expensive texts. The only real solution when the market doesn't work is regulation, either by schools instituting protections for the students, or, in the case of public education, lawmakers imposing reforms.

Another one of the great things about alternative credit is that texts or study materials are usually included in the price.

[dfrecore]

I'm going to say that it's not the author's but the publishers that are overpricing the books.  The author spends the time to write a textbook, and from what I've seen, this particular author has written a very good one.  He DESERVES to make money off of his books.  Should he just give away his labor?  I think not.

The publishers are the ones that price them (and overprice them), not the authors.

The real problem is that there's no free market for college texts. The student can't just say, "This book's too expensive, I'll buy this other cheaper one". Worse, too many professors care more about perqs and favors offered by the publishers than they do about students and textbook costs. So they happily require the latest editions of expensive texts. The only real solution when the market doesn't work is regulation, either by schools instituting protections for the students, or, in the case of public education, lawmakers imposing reforms.

Another one of the great things about alternative credit is that texts or study materials are usually included in the price.

Professors requiring new editions is one of the main issues, IMHO.  There is absolutely NO reason for this in 99% of the cases.  I daresay, College Algebra hasn't changed much in 30 years, so a 30yo textbook would be "up-to-date".  The cycle of new editions is just crap.  THAT is the scam here.

[MrPanda]

I was checking some calculus books that I already had, and I found the Stewart one much more visually atractive.

But my other calculus books were not by well known authors, just textbooks by local authors.

[Kire]

Do textbook companies offer perks to professors or schools for using their books?
I know this happens in the medical field.