[maverick_iceman]

>In November, they launched an online content marketplace, where professors can create course materials and sell it around the world.

Professors already post a lot of study materials for free on their websites. However, that hasn't replaced traditional textbooks. Why this should be any different? Also given all that free course materials why would someone pay for additional materials?

[jimhefferon]

I don't know anything about TopHat.

But I'm a professor and I've offered material for free for twenty years. I can think of some very good reasons to prefer this marketplace-thingy from an author's perspective.

1) Exposure. If you want to sell you want to be on the shelves at the local mart.

(And some authors don't want to support the download traffic.)

2) Platform. If what you are offering is guaranteed to work because you produced it according to this vendor's standards then you don't have to field queries about platforms you don't understand. (I offer a straight PDF of a math text. The only twist is that if you click on the question it bounces you to the answer and if you click on the answer it bounces you to the question. I get queries about that.)

In particular, I'm concerned about standards for interactivity. I don't want to code that stuff, I want to write a text. If a vendor provides the widgets and takes a cut of sales, for instance, I'd read their pitch further.

3) Integration. If it all works with some online gradebook that'd be great.

4) Version control. When version 3 comes out, you'd like version 2 to go away.

[maverick_iceman]

Thank you for the response. I understand why authors might find this beneficial but do you think it can outweigh the advantage of being free?

[jimhefferon]

I offer a text, Linear Algebra, both for Free download and for sale (at Amazon $22). It generates a respectable number of sales. People will pay, or at least some people will pay, for quality. They do get mad, though, at paying hundreds.

I am not a business person but I can imagine a scenario where schools purchase a block of the materials for classes. Say, a prof wants to use a Graph Theory document. Their bookstore pays $13 each for the materials, and a bill for that appears on the student's college charge. Seems possible to me. And beyond that individuals could buy one at a time, of course.