Knowledge Unlatched asked authors who took part in the KU Round 2 Collection about their experiences of Open Access and the KU approach.  

Here is an interview with Jason Pierce, author of Making the White Man’s West: Whiteness and the Creation of the American West (University Press of Colorado).

What were your hopes for your book, and do you think Open Access has played a role in achieving them?

I was hoping that my book would be accessible to a large audience of both professional historians but the general public and it appears that Open Access has accomplished that.

[...] a great way for academic books to reach larger audiences and for academic presses and libraries to help face a changing, interconnected world

Do you think that making your book available on an OA licence has increased its reach and impact? – Have you seen any concrete indications of this?

I hope it has, but I have not seen any indication of that—except of course as it turns up in a Google search as one of the top results. I’m happy to know that teachers could use it in the classroom without forcing students to purchase the book directly.

How have you been promoting your OA book?

I’ve done a radio interview and an interview with a newspaper, but nothing else really.

Has your opinion about OA in general changed since your book was published through the Knowledge Unlatched collection? If so, how?

Although in its infancy, I think this might be a great way for academic books to reach larger audiences and for academic presses and libraries to help face a changing, interconnected world.

Jason E. Pierce is associate professor of history at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.