Of course this is a historic shift which many people have debated, and no doubt the debate will continue, but from your publisher’s standpoint, the advantage seems strongly on the side of e-book publishing. Just as the printing press and later, the mechanical typesetting machine allowed information and ideas to flow freely and reach infinitely wider audiences, so e-publishing permits the dissemination of literature and ideas which might otherwise be doomed to oblivion due to lack of the material resources necessary to produce physical books. Needless to say, AirStream Books is interested in quality works: e-books may be quick to produce, but we want our releases to stand the test of time.

The flexibility of e-publishing allows publishers to act immediately when the opportunity arises, without having to worry about printing, distribution, and inventory costs. Thus, we were delighted when music historian Allen Lowe suggested we might be interested in publishing e-book editions of four of his groundbreaking works on American music. Mr. Lowe is well-known for his painstaking research and even more for his outspoken opinions on the history and sociology of jazz, blues, and rock music. His forthcoming AirStream titles are bound to create intense interest and generate heated dialogue among music lovers, musicians, and people who are interested in American culture in general. In the meanwhile you can get a taste of Allen Lowe’s socio-musical opinions in his frequently updated blog.

As ruddy noses and queasy stomachs recede into the shadowy purview of the Old Year, we are busy mulling over our catalogue of new AirStream e-books for 2013. We can, perhaps, be excused if we exude excessive enthusiasm (which tends, unfortunately, to take the form of alliteration). Without descending entirely into the netherworld of hoo-ha, let us merely hint that we are very excited about a work of fiction currently being written, which (if we are very good and very lucky, and offer the parties in question the appropriate inducements) will be an AirStream e-book later this year. We will add only that in her all-too-many years as an ink-stained wretch, your faithful publisher has yet to encounter a more audacious, fascinating, brilliant piece of literature.

AirStream Books would also like to draw your attention to Blame the Teacher, the new forum on education presided over by Eric Weaver. Mr. Weaver spent over two decades as a science teacher, at every level of education from elementary school to the university, and his expertise is more than apparent in his analysis of, and solutions to, the multitude of issues facing public education today. He is also working on a book of the same name, which AirStream will publish in 2013. While you’re waiting, be sure to visit his online forum and share your thoughts.

Incidentally, there was a bit of chaos on the IT front here at AirStream — namely, sudden and unanticipated changes to the mechanics of the website, specifically in the sorting and content of pages. The anomalies, which struck shortly after New Year’s, unfortunately went undetected by your ordinarily obsessive publisher, who had her hands full with holiday dissipation (or more accurately, recovery therefrom). We are happy to report that once discovered, these pesky issues were promptly remedied by our resourceful — and dogged — tech lackey, whom we sincerely thank (your check is in the mail — keep your eye peeled for a window envelope from the Peoples Bank of Thasos). We sincerely regret any shadow of slovenliness which the malfunctioning website may have cast on our otherwise immaculate premises. It wasn’t our fault, we swear.