How does Perusall work with publishers?

Perusall serves as an e-book distributor for many large and small publishers. Perusall generates more revenue and less cost for publishers without increasing the price to students (and without charging instructors). Publishers get nearly 100% sell-through, no resales, the ultimate solution to piracy, a larger impact on the learning experience, and more satisfied customers. 

Perusall is an e-book platform designed to ensure that every student is prepared for every class. Reading is turned from a solitary experience to an engaging, collective one. By collaboratively annotating a digital text, students obtain fast answers to questions, help other students resolve theirs, and (with automated “student confusion reports”) help instructors determine how to best structure class time. Perusall automatically suggests grades for these comments to the instructor, detects when students do not engage portions of the material, and gives students well-timed nudges that get them back on track -- all without extra effort on the part of the instructor.

Based on cutting edge, scientifically validated, patent pending innovations developed at Harvard University, Perusall saves instructors considerable time, and ensures that students get much more from your books.

Here’s how it works:

1. The publisher provides Perusall with an electronic version of the original media (such as PDF format) for a book, article, or other publication. Perusall protects and secures this original media.
2. The instructor assigns the publication to his or her class; students sign on to Perusall and purchase or rent access. (As with other e-book retailers, the purchase price is shared between Perusall and the publisher.) Perusall handles all e-commerce-related issues, including payment methods (credit cards, debit cards, and other university-specific payment methods), telephone and online customer support, and product returns and exchanges. The purchase is nontransferable and so resales, unlike with print books, are eliminated.
3. Perusall does not distribute the original media. Instead, students see only page images in Perusall. From the student’s point of view, the publication in Perusall is identical to the original, except for the restricted ability (at the option of the publisher) to print, download, or redistribute content.
4. Instructors use features of Perusall that generate high levels of student engagement and collaboration. Both the individual and social aspects of Perusall mean that students are more likely to read, understand, appreciate, and remember your publication, and instructors find it easier to assign and reassign.
5. Sales reps greatly increase their income by selling the same book through Perusall. First, the publisher provides the publication to Perusall at the usual bookstore discount (which Perusall will usually mark up to the list price). Then, because students work together, students want, rather than settle for, the electronic copy of the book; because Perusall has the ability to automatically grade students’ work and help students learn more, instructors typically require the digital purchase.  For both reasons, almost all students in classes using Perusall purchase the digital copy, leading to nearly 100% sell-through and zero used book resales.
6. Even if your print book was scanned by a thief and put on some foreign website for all to download for free, students assigned your book through Perusall will still buy access to ensure that they get credit from their instructor for their reading and comments.
7. Content is considerably more functional in Perusall, which may ultimately improve publisher pricing options and adoption "stickiness."

Please contact us at support@perusall.com for a standard licensing agreement or any other questions.