Flat World Knowledge Expands Beyond Business Curriculum with Affordable College Textbooks for General Education Courses

Publisher targets largest college courses with new psychology, sociology texts

More Information

IRVINGTON, NY – December 10, 2010 – Flat World Knowledge, the leading publisher of commercial, openly-licensed college textbooks, announced the recent publication of its first psychology and sociology textbooks, signaling a move beyond business courses into high-enrollment areas of the college curriculum.

Introductory psychology, introductory sociology, and college success are among the largest courses on college campuses, with a combined enrollment of more than four million students annually, according to Michael Boezi, editorial director of Flat World Knowledge. "With these new books, we have the opportunity to help a lot more students reduce their textbook costs in 2011," he said.

Flat World’s textbooks are published under a Creative Commons open license, which allows anyone to access the books for free online. Students can buy affordable paperback books, PDF downloads, audio and e-reader versions, and study aids. Faculty and institutions have unprecedented freedom to interact with the content in new ways to create a richer learning experience for both students and educators.

Core Facts

With the recent publication of its first psychology, sociology, and college success textbooks, Flat World Knowledge expands its business and economics catalog with affordable textbooks for some of the largest-enrolling college courses in the general education curriculum.
Over the next few months, the company will also publish new textbooks for English composition, elementary algebra, introductory chemistry, and American government, among others.
Flat World's highly-automated publishing platform enables the company to develop original works by world-class authors in 18-24 months, significantly shortening time-to-market.
Introduction to Psychology (http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/printed-book/64803) is written by renowned scholar and author Dr. Charles Stangor, professor of psychology, at the University of Maryland, and the author of seven books. The introduction to psychology course enrolls more than two million students annually.
Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World (http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/printed-book/52076) is written by Dr. Steven E. Barkan, professor and chair of the department of sociology, at the University of Maine, and the author of six textbooks on sociology and criminal justice. The introduction to sociology course enrolls approximately 1.2 million students annually.
College Success (http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/printed-book/215969) is a how-to manual intended for use in first-year orientation, study skills or student success courses. The authors are Bruce Beiderwell, Nicholas B. deKanter, Tom Lochhaas, and Linda F. Tse. This course serves approximately one million students annually.
With a growing roster of more than 100 authors, Flat World Knowledge plans to add 40+ new titles to its catalog by spring 2012. The company expects to publish textbooks for the 125 largest-enrolling college courses within the next four years.
For the 2010-2011 academic year, more than 1,500 educators representing 800 colleges and universities will use Flat World’s textbooks.

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Quotes

“In response to growing demand from educators and institutions, we are expanding our catalog beyond business and economics to include high-quality, affordable textbooks for other popular college courses in the general education curriculum,”

Jeff Shelstad, CEO and co-founder of Flat World Knowledge.