From the use of cylinder seals in Mesopotamia, woodblock printing, to movable type and the printing press, the printed book has seen many changes and innovations. However, even with the constant technological changes that have occurred over the past 500 years, innovation and change are now happening at a breakneck pace. Readers used to have only one choice when it came to books: hardback or paperback. But now, Nook and Kindles, iPads and smartphones have revolutionized the way we read books. Not only does this affect publishing and bookselling, but it changes how we consume information as a whole.
Luckily, the success of the “virtual reader” has in no way put an end to the “book” as we know and understand it. If anything, the multiple formats and easy accessibility only increases the number of avid readers out there. Readers have more choices than ever before, and TAMU Press is quickly adapting to this “revolution.”
Texas A&M University Press is taking an active part in the reading revolution through a partnership with Google Books. Through the use of Google Books, many books published by the Press can be easily located with a simple search in Google. Google indexes the book’s full text and illustrations, making the reading experience somewhat similar to that of a printed book.
Retailers and authors can also now sell TAMU Press eBooks off their own website through Google eBooks Affiliates Integration.
TAMU Press now has 715 electronic books available through the Google Ebookstore, including some of the Press’s current top-sellers: Rudder: From Leader to Legend, the first comprehensive biography of James Earl Rudder by Thomas Hatfield, and The Texas Tomato Lover’s Handbook, William D. Adams, step-by-step guide to success in the tomato patch.
Through the Google Ebookstore, TAMU Press has already sold several hundred books. Electronic books are vital to our overall strategy of making our authors’ work easily discoverable by readers worldwide.
Most Popular TAMU Press books on Google
- Seeking Inalienable Rights: Texans and Their Quests for Justice
- The Black Sun: The Alchemy and Art of Darkness
- Danger Close: Tactical Air Controllers in Afghanistan and Iraq
- Caballero: a Historical Novel
