hybrid oa monographs was RE: OA funds

"University of Michigan Press recently did a study of our http://www.digitalculture.org/books/ imprint -- started a decade ago as an OA-to-read-online, purchase print or downloadable ebook "freemium" model like MIT Press's approach. We found that while some books lost money and others made money the overall picture was one where the "direct" costs of production could be covered by the sales of print and downloadable ebooks. 

These "direct" costs are around half of the actual costs of publishing books (they don't take account acquisitions editorial activity, for example) so the picture was not ultimately of a sustainable approach for high investment university press books, but workable for titles with a more lightweight workflow. Of course electronic reading behavior keeps changing so assuming that readers of an OA book on screen might still buy print is a risky proposition.

This is perhaps a rather convoluted reply, but I think it illustrates that the question about sustainability of "freemium" models conducted without subventions doesn't have an easy answer. There are case studies where it may seem to work, but there are others which tell a more nuanced story...."