WHITMAN PUBLISHING TITLES NOW AVAILABLE ON PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYERS

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V14 2011 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 14, Number 34, August 14, 2011, Article 13

Dennis Tucker forwarded this press release announcing that several popular Whitman Publishing titles are now available on eReader and SmartPhone devices. -Editor

Whitman Publishing announces the release in digital format of more than a dozen of its most popular numismatic books, including the 2012 Red Book and Blue Book. The titles are now available on multiple devices such as the iPad, Amazon Kindle, and Nook. They can be ordered through Apple, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Kobo, Sony, and other ePub outlets. Prices range from $4.99 to $29.99.

Whitman has released books on DVD in the past. The ePub releases are its first for portable media players.

"While coin and paper-money collecting is an antiquarian hobby, collectors and dealers do embrace modern technology," said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. "To serve those who want to access their favorite books electronically, Whitman will continue to roll out additional titles in ePub format in the coming weeks."

The first round of releases includes the 2012 editions of the Guide Book of United States Coins (the "Red Book") and the Handbook of United States Coins (the "Blue Book"); the Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties (Fivaz and Stanton); Grading Coins by Photographs (Bowers); 100 Greatest U.S. Modern Coins (Garrett and Schechter); 100 Greatest American Currency Notes (Bowers and Sundman); the United States Gold Counterfeit Detection Guide (Fivaz); America's Money, America's Story (Doty); Adventure Across the States: Collecting State Quarters and Other Coins; History of the United States Mint and Its Coinage (Lange); Coin Collecting: A Beginner's Guide to the World of Coins (Bressett); and the Bowers Series guide books on Lincoln cents, Buffalo and Jefferson nickels, Washington and State quarters, and Morgan silver dollars. All are currently available online.

Whitman Publishing has been a leader in the numismatic publishing field since 1934. The company's Guide Book of United States Coins, now in its 65th edition, has seen more than 22 million copies in print, making it one of the best-selling nonfiction books in United States publishing history.

This is a big leap forward. CDs and DVDs were (and still are) a good interim step, as are downloadable .pdf files that can be put onto computers or some e-readers. Portable media players like these (and their associated "appstore" infrastructure represent the pinnacle of today's e-publishing technology. At last we're entering the long-promised Promise Land where numismatists can truly carry a portable numismatic library in their back pocket, and add to it on the fly, easily and painlessly. We're still only seeing the tip of the iceberg, but it seems inevitable that most numismatic literature will one day be available in a format and marketplace like this. -Editor