Workshop
Book Publishing: Platforms, Contracts and Negotiations
- Fleur Praal, Erna Sattler
- Date
- Friday 12 June 2026
- Time
- Address
-
University Library
Witte Singel 27
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- Willeram (Learning Zone, ground floor)
Books – monographs and edited volumes – remain an important publication type for many fields of scholarly research. While still continuing traditional publishing models, publishers increasingly offer open access options for books. Besides, innovative platforms promise DIY publishing, and allow open sharing of your work. These new possibilities are certainly exciting, but can also be daunting for authors: how do you compare platforms’ and publishers’ policies and services? And once you’ve chosen an outlet for your book, how do you negotiate rights, licenses, fees, and other clauses in the publishing contract?
This workshop helps (prospective) authors and editors to navigate the book publishing landscape with confidence. Participants will get a lot of information, and will also have ample opportunity to share and discuss their own experiences.
Format
We will first focus on choosing between various book publishers and platforms, by introducing open access models for books (the so-called Green, Gold, and Diamond routes), their costs and funding options, and available tools to compare these. The second hour will be dedicated to contracts negotiations, with practice-based examples: what standard clauses can you encounter, and how much leverage do authors and editors have to negotiate the best possible publishing agreement?
Target audience
Any (prospective) academic book author, volume editor, or series editor. Advanced PhDs who are considering publishing their (nearly-finished) dissertation as a monograph are welcome, too.
Organisation
This workshop is organised by the Centre for Digital Scholarship as part of our Summer Training Week 2026. Check the whole week's Programme overview, and register for one or more workshops through the registration form.