 |
 |
|
Letter from the PublisherDear Colleagues: At the BookExpo America bookseller's convention in New York City earlier this month, ABA Publishing staff observed the two dominant trends in the publishing industry. The first clear trend was digitization of content. Partly in response to the efforts of Google, Microsoft, and others to create large digital libraries, and partly in recognition of the revenue possibilities, nearly every major publisher has taken steps to digitize backlist titles. Many have begun to use print-on-demand technology to keep backlist titles in print. Some are even considering ways to sell electronic content, such as e-book versions of printed books, directly to consumers. ABA Publishing is pursuing this trend on behalf of the ABA. This summer, the ABA Web store will begin to offer complete electronic downloads of a limited number of our top-selling printed books, on a pilot basis; we will gather feedback from our customers, and we expect to expand gradually the number of titles to include much of our backlist in the coming months. The second major trend was "green": the single hottest topic in publishing seems to be global warming, the coming climate change, and environmental books of all shapes and sizes. Many publishers will be coming out with books this fall and winter on the topic, with advice running the gamut from what nations can do globally to what kids can do at home. Again, the ABA is among the leaders in the field. At BookExpo we were proud to hold a book signing by Michael B. Gerrard, the editor of Global Climate Change and U.S. Law, the new book from the Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. Global Climate Change and U.S. Law provides comprehensive coverage of the country's mitigating environmental and global climate law; the book tracks the quickly changing legal and regulatory framework at the federal, state, and even local levels. Thank you for your continued support of the ABA and your patronage of the ABA Web store. Sincerely, |
|
