In January 2011, SIAM launched its institutional e-book program, which made the ASA-SIAM Series on Statistics and Applied Probability and many other SIAM-published books available electronically to users at libraries that purchased perpetual access or an annual subscription to the program. With almost 100 licenses purchased to date, the program has been successful in making our e-books easily available to thousands of users.

We know not every reader has access to our institutional e-book program and that some customers, regardless of such access, want copies of various e-books for their personal use. In response, we’ve launched our e-book program for individuals.

What Does This Mean for Our Customers?

You can now purchase the ASA-SIAM series books and hundreds of other SIAM titles on Google Play and read them on your personal e-reader. Compatible e-readers include Apple and Android devices; the Nook; the Sony e-reader; and most tablets, laptops, smartphones, and desktop computers.

Each book is available as a single PDF file that can be downloaded or used from cloud storage. You’ll need to have a free Google account, but then you simply go to http://play.google.com or use the Google Play app, search for your desired title, and purchase the e-book you want. For ease of use, Google Play allows the books you purchase to be accessed on or downloaded to up to three devices at the same time.

What Does This Mean for Our Current and Future Authors?

Many authors are enthusiastic about their books being available in an electronic format, since it is what readers have come to expect from the publishing industry. The portability of e-books is convenient for busy students, instructors, and practitioners, helping authors and publishers reach a market that sometimes supplements print sales and sometimes overlaps with them, but always makes an author’s book(s) more visible.

Because we highly value the work our authors put into their books, the royalties we pay on each e-book purchase on Google Play are identical to the royalties we pay on each print book purchase.

Authors who have concerns about making their work available in e-book format can decide not to offer their books electronically, and we will respect their wishes.

We’re excited to offer our readers this new mode of accessing the titles in the ASA-SIAM series and many additional titles from the SIAM catalog. Libraries and institutions have already discovered the ease and convenience of SIAM e-books. Now, it’s your turn.