Latin and Greek textbooks: do it yourself

To the continuing saga that is the publishing industry today, we add the mini-drama of self-published Latin and Greek textbooks.

It's a mini-drama because such books are in a niche market at best. I don't go many a day without someone saying they're pleased that "Someone is still teaching Latin."

(In fact, there is currently more demand for Latin in schools than there are qualified teachers.)

And the drama, albeit on a small scale, is real.

Take the example of Geoffrey Steadman, Marine reservist and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, who has launched an ambitious publishing program of Latin and Greek textbooks. He writes in his bio that he is currently teaching Latin to 180+ public school students, has three kids and a wife, and still has time to have written several textbooks ranging from Caesar's "Gallic Wars" to the "Histories" of Herodotus, Book I.

The Caesar is going to be especially valuable because it is the only self-published, author-responsive textbook I know of right now that includes a text and commentary for all the selections in the Advanced Placement course on Caesar (and Vergil) that is new for 2012-13.

Where does the drama come in,beyond the trenches of American high school Latin classrooms? Read this, from Steadman's bio page:

Traditional publishers play a vital role in peer-review at this moment, but we should not forget that amid their noble aims their purpose as middle men is to make money to cover their costs and perhaps a profit. Such a purpose is at conflict with the aspirations of the authors and the needs of the readers. Books are rejected not simply because they fail to pass the peer-review test but because publishers cannot envision a way to recoup their own costs in the project in the time that they require. In other words, many books are rejected by traditional publishers not because of their lack of quality or lack of usefulness but because the books cannot make the middle men money. Are such middle men really necessary?

No, they're not. In a niche market like Latin and Greek, few books are going to pass the marketability test. The cost of making a high-quality print book that has gone through the editorial and peer review process is time-consuming and costly. Many very specialized books that are only going to be read by a handful of professors in a handful of research libraries cost a hundred dollars and more per copy.

It makes perfect sense for teachers, who are constantly creating their own materials anyway, to go into business for themselves, market their stuff on a print-on-demand basis, with very little upfront investment but plenty of potential for readers to benefit.

So the e-publishing and self-publishing revolution marches on.

It's true that the potential for errors in a text such as this are numerous, not only because of typos but because classical languages are complicated and not every idea, observation, or translation made by one person is going to be perfectly sound.

Steadman escapes that dilemma by making his books available for free electronic download to anyone, so that they can be read, commented on, and given a critique. Through "crowdsourcing" and collective editing, the book becomes better.

Those who want a paper book can buy one, and teachers can order sets for classroom use.

I don't see a downside to this model. I can easily envision my using this textbook as a way to encourage students to read more actively. "Where on this page might there be an error, something unclear, or something you would want to add?" I might ask. This practice engages students as editors who have a kind of ownership of the learning in the book, rather than solely consumers who are receiving the knowledge of an infallible expert.

A long time ago, when I was still an active member of my professional classicists' association, I suggested to someone well connected in the field that it was about time to make all scholarship freely available on the Internet. He disagreed, saying that scholarly publishing was a valuable, money-making activity that needed to be preserved.

Scholarly publishing certainly can continue as long as there is a market for it. But I commend Geoffrey Steadman for bringing the self-publishing revolution to another corner of the reading world.

Comments

[Laird Harrison]

Self-publishing makes the most sense in a niche market. I once met someone who wrote a book about managing a dental practice. Dentists don't learn how to run a business in dental school, but they have to do it when they graduate. He charged over $100 for each book, and they were in high demand. On the other hand, self publishing a book for a general audience -- a novel for example -- is idiocy.

[DF]

Idiocy? I beg to differ... Greekly, anyway. The original meaning of "idiot" was "someone who stays home and does not participate in the democracy of Athens." In getting your book out there (click on Laird's name to go to his novel), you are definitely participating in the revolution! Congratulations, comrade.