With the current changes in the publishing business model most traditional publishing houses are going to have to change their strategies in order to survive. They may well have been in business for 300 years but in that time they have not had to face the same sort of changes in publishing technology and, like most publishers, they have had the upper hand over the people that write for them. That is changing very quickly now and the business model that they use is now having to compete in a very different marketplace. Over priced books that are sold in bundles to leverage sales is rapidly becoming less profitable in an on demand publishing world.

---

Date: Sun, 20 May 2012 13:15:20 -0700
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Looking for a publisher for translation of al-Buni's Great Sun of Gnoses
To: [log in to unmask]

I may stand to be corrected but Brill has been in business for 300 years, or so. They must have awesome business planning.

On Sun, May 20, 2012 at 12:36 PM, N.W. Azal <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Unless they become far more competitive, in 25 years or less industry trends will force Brill to bring their prices down radically or they will face losing any competitiveness and possibly fold. Universities know this. For now, let them keep thinking and doing as they do.

N

On Sun, May 20, 2012 at 1:46 AM, Morgan Leigh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I had a big rant on the Pagan Studies list about this issue recently, so
here I will just say...

They all 'say' they are largely unconcerned with making money, and many
deny they make money when they are raking it in. See here for info on
this and to sign the boycott of Elsevier!

http://thecostofknowledge.com

Regards,

Morgan Leigh
PhD Candidate
School of Sociology and Social Work
University of Tasmania

On 20/05/2012 2:15 AM, HUMBERTO MAGGI wrote:
> Brill's price are an insult. How that connects to they being "largely
> unconcerned with making money" is a mystery for me.
>
> HM
>

> --- Em *sáb, 21/4/12, Christopher I. Lehrich /<[log in to unmask]>/* escreveu:

>
>
>     De: Christopher I. Lehrich <[log in to unmask]>
>     Assunto: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Looking for a publisher for
>     translation of al-Buni's Great Sun of Gnoses
>     Para: [log in to unmask]
>     Data: Sábado, 21 de Abril de 2012, 14:53
>
>     If it's a sufficiently scholarly translation, you might try Brill.
>     They publish a lot of important texts within Islamic history, and
>     they're largely unconcerned with making money.
>
>     Chris Lehrich
>
>     On 4/20/2012 11:36 AM, N.W. Azal wrote:
>>     The current Beirut printed edition of al-Buni and its reprints
>>     runs over 616 pages (not including index and table of
>>     contents/fihrist). The 2004 Turkish annotated translation and
>>     edition was divided into two massive volumes of over 2000/3000+
>>     pages per volume. Serializing al-Buni is totally unfeasible, if
>>     one were to do it properly, that is. There are four books here
>>     with over 50+ chapters and numerous sub-divisions (as of the
>>     printed edition, although no consensus exists on the chapter
>>     divisions or its sub-divisions. All of these were added later).
>>     Plus there are countless diagrams, graphs and pictures. A project
>>     such as this would have to to be done much like (and even better

>>     than) how Llewelyn did Agrippa's /De occulta philosophia/ -- and
>>     al-Buni's /Great Sun of Gnoses /is twice, three times Agrippa's

>>     size. The daunting scope of this project is what, I suspect, has
>>     scared off a few publishers I have been speaking to over the years.
>>
>>     N.W. Azal
>>
>>     On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 5:20 PM, Karen Gregory

>>     <[log in to unmask] </mc/compose?to=[log in to unmask]>>

>>     wrote:
>>
>>         Hello all:
>>
>>         I passed the email to a friend at CUP and their response was:
>>
>>         "I've been finding that even books on Islamic science are
>>         rather specialized. The British have done more in your
>>         friend's area. Kegan Paul (whom we used to distribute) and
>>         Brill would be worth trying. Alternatively, the translation
>>         could be serialized in the journal he mentions. Or even
>>         excerpts, which might generate more interest among presses.
>>
>>         Hope this helps.
>>
>>         Best,
>>
>>         Karen
>>
>>
>>
>>         On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 10:51 AM, Daniel Harms
>>         <[log in to unmask]

>>         </mc/compose?to=[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>>
>>             I’ll add that a request for the Shams al-Maarif in English
>>             is one of the top trending and most commented posts on my
>>             blog, so there is substantial interest.
>>
>>
>>
>>             Sincerely,
>>
>>
>>
>>             Dan Harms
>>
>>             Bibliographer and Instructional Services Librarian
>>
>>             SUNY Cortland Memorial Library
>>             P. O. Box 2000
>>
>>             Cortland, NY 13045
>>
>>             (607) 753-4042
>>
>>
>>

>>             *From:*Society for The Academic Study of Magic
>>             [mailto:[log in to unmask]
>>             </mc/compose?to=[log in to unmask]>] *On
>>             Behalf Of *Dr Dave Evans
>>
>>
>>             *Sent:* Friday, April 20, 2012 10:37 AM
>>             *To:* [log in to unmask]
>>             </mc/compose?to=[log in to unmask]>
>>             *Subject:* Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Looking for a

>>             publisher for translation of al-Buni's Great Sun of Gnoses
>>
>>
>>
>>             one of the many reasons i love this list : )
>>
>>             Dave E
>>
>>             On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 5:08 PM, mandrake
>>             <[log in to unmask]

>>             </mc/compose?to=[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>>
>>             On 20/04/2012 13:57, Lil Osborn wrote:
>>
>>             many thanks for plug
>>             - yes would certainly be interested personally and
>>             professionally
>>             mogg
>>             contacted Nima off linst
>>
>>             Hi Nima, Have you tried Mandrake I know Mogg is on the list.
>>
>>
>>
>>             Much love
>>
>>             Lil
>>
>>             Sent from my iPhone so please excuse the spelling.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>             On 20 Apr 2012, at 11:59, "N.W. Azal"
>>             <[log in to unmask]

>>             </mc/compose?to=[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>>
>>                 My attempt to find a reputable publisher for my

>>                 translation of al-Buni's opus magnum, the /Shams
>>                 al-Ma'arif al-Kubra/ (The Great Sun of Gnoses), seems

>>                 to be going nowhere. Generally speaking, even though
>>                 there is now a journal dealing with occultism in the
>>                 Islamic world, most Anglophone publishers seem to be
>>                 uninterested in publishing a translation of the most
>>                 comprehensive Islamic hermetic text, claiming it to
>>                 be, in the words of one outfit, "too arcane an area to
>>                 prove a lucrative investment"; this, while there seems
>>                 to be huge demand from a market of non-Arabic readers
>>                 for a translation of this specific work.
>>
>>                 I am open to suggestions as to who to talk to if
>>                 anyone has any ideas or contacts.
>>
>>                 N.W. Azal
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>         --
>>         Karen Gregory
>>         PhD candidate
>>         Department of Sociology
>>         The Graduate Center
>>         City University of New York
>>
>>
>
>     --
>     Christopher I. Lehrich
>     Assistant Professor of Religion
>     Boston University
>

--

--

K.M. (Kevin) Hataley

Calgary, Canada

skype: kevin.hataley