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Flat World Knowledge, an open source textbook publisher offering free online texts and for-pay supplements, is launching an initiative to attract college bookstores to its publishing program. Flat World Knowledge has reached agreements with Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, Follet and the National Association of College Stores (Media Solutions) to distribute its textbooks through their member college bookstores beginning in August 2010. The agreement will make FWK's textbooks potentially available through nearly 4,000 college stores.

The agreement also features a pilot program offering Flat World Knowledge textbooks through a print-on-demand venture that will launch at the University of Washington Bookstore and the San Diego State University Bookstore, among others, in August. The agreement will provide the schools with digital files of FWK textbooks, which are priced as much as 75% lower than conventional textbooks. The POD print versions of its free online textbooks can be ordered, produced and picked up the same day.

Bryan Pearce, CEO, University Bookstore Inc. at Washington University, said, the pilot program will "reduce the cost of materials for our students," and added, "the print-on-demand option will save bookstores time and money and eliminate the expense of shipping unused books back to the publisher."

Flat World Knowledge is an unusual textbook publishing venture that offers free access to its online textbooks while selling a variety of supplementary materials, including, downloadable chapters, audiobook chapters and study guides. FWK's open source model allows professors to customize and revise their texts-they can add, remove or remix content as they please-up to within days of the beginning of a class. The company works to attract student consumers by providing content in a variety of formats and sizes at affordable prices. The firm's downloadable content is available for virtually any device from laptops to mobile devices and FWK also sells low-cost black and white ($30) and full color ($60) print versions of its textbooks.

Although the bulk of FWK sales are made directly to students through its Web site, Eric Frank, founder of Flat World Knowledge , said the company, "looked at the bookstore channel and tried to figure out what role they can play." Frank said that many students still use the college bookstore. "If it's a student receiving financial aid, then they've got to go to the college bookstore. So with our program we can offer stores a fast turnaround on our titles; the store becomes another choice available to students and there's a healthy profit margin for the stores. It keeps students coming in the store and the textbooks are cheaper. It's a win win."

Although the pilot programs will start in summer school, Frank said he expects to have 40 to 50 stories selling FWK textbooks by the fall semester.

Mark Nelson, v-p at NACS Media Solutions, praised the FWK program and said that it "is providing necessary innovation that could make the open textbook movement more viable and lead to other fundamental changes in the textbook market."

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