Are there any good options for authors to publish books in mathematics ?
It is understandable that many authors choose to publish books with a big publisher like Springer. Big publishers have high visibility worldwide and ability to deliver in large quantities. Especially for undergraduate or graduate textbooks they seem to be the most convenient choice for many authors.
Yet, it appears that big publishers take away almost all rights of the author, including copyright, rights to grant licenses for derivative products such as translations, book chapters, multimedia products, etc.
Why do authors need to give away copyrights in the first place? Is there any model for publishing math books similar to the open access journal model?
Personally, I did not sign the agreement with Springer to publish an undergraduate textbook, because they refused to accept the changes recommended by my lawyers. Are there any good options for me?