About Us

Let’s be honest... Most textbooks suck.

They’re expensive. They’re dense. They’re written in a language no actual student speaks. Worst of all, they often seem designed to make students feel confused or behind before they even finish the first chapter. Just when you have enough used copies out there to make them somewhat affordable to students, the publisher comes out with an “updated” edition and gouges the students for another $150. Nobody seems to care that they don’t work for students because they are too busy swimming in their pools of money like Scrooge McDuck. 

We think students (and professors) deserve better. That’s why we started Academic Evolution Press.

Our company was started by professors. Professors who were fed up with the choice between overpriced, out of touch textbooks written for PhD students (not for our students), and free resources that lacked depth, structure, or…quality. We built something new: a student-centered publishing company that believes in clarity, connection, and constant evolution.

Here’s how we’re different:

We actually evolve. It’s not just in our name, it’s in our model. Every Academic Evolution textbook is designed with built-in mechanisms for student feedback. We collect that feedback directly from classrooms using our books, and we use it to guide updates in real time. Students flag what’s confusing. They tell us what clicked. They ask great questions. We listen, we revise, and we improve. Our books don’t get new editions because of arbitrary publishing cycles. They get better because students help us make them better.

We write for real people. Our tone is conversational, occasionally sarcastic, and always focused on making complex ideas accessible. We are a collection of professors that have taught for decades across all levels of education (from high school students in juvenile hall to graduate seminars). Our goal isn’t to impress other academics, it’s to engage students, foster critical thinking, and make learning feel possible again. No pomp. No ivory tower. No twelve-syllable words unless we explain them.

We care about access. Academic Evolution textbooks are intentionally priced well below the national average, because we actually want students to be able to afford them. Shocking, we know. With the average price of textbooks passing $130/book, we committed to keeping our prices well below that of the big corporate publishers that funnel student money to stockholders. We’ve also created a scholarship fund for students that are low income to ensure that money doesn’t stand in the way of upward mobility and education.

We’re grounded in the classroom. We’re not theorizing from an ivory tower. We’re teaching. We see what makes students light up and what makes them shut down. We know when an explanation needs reworking and when a joke actually helps the point land. That lived experience shapes every page.

We believe educational materials should be living documents. We are tired of the moneyed interests making billions off the backs of students, all the while refusing to adjust to student voices, learning styles, or needs. It is time for the textbook industry to evolve, and we invite you to join the evolution.