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"It helps us communicate that we are on the cutting edge," says Hyatt. "We can tell our authors we are committed to distributing them in every format available." Nelson introduced 17 titles in e-book format on November 15, and planned another wave of digital offerings in late January.

Zondervan's executive vice president and book group publisher Scott Bolinder is equally clear: "We want to be a leader. Our assets are our content. And how we deliver that content is secondary." Zondervan made Philip Yancey's Reaching for the Invisible God its first print release to go to electronic format in Microsoft Reader in November, and Leonard Sweet's The Dawn Mistaken for Dusk debuted at the same time, exclusively in electronic format and eight months before the print version. Trying both prepublishing and postpublishing electronic releases is Zondervan's way of testing the market, Bolinder says. "Everything we do with e-books is speculative. We are just putting our toe in the water and starting to learn."

Nelson will attempt to drive the electronic religious book market by releasing half its catalog in e-book format one month before the printed version, beginning this summer. Hyatt, who took over the Nelson helm in July and is trying to turn around its bottom line for shareholders, says e-books are not a financial risk.

"The cost of entry is so low, we can go down some blind alleys if we have to and then back up and take another tack," Hyatt says. "The most important thing we can do is put an oar in the water, get paddling, and figure out where to go."

Maybe it's not that simple—at least for other smaller and midsize publishing houses, such as Westminster John Knox (WJK) Press in Louisville. Richard Brown (who resigned as editorial director this month to direct Georgetown University Press) says WJK sees an "urgent need" to get in the game but isn't quite sure what strategy to pursue. "Many of us are scratching our heads over this," he admits. "At some point everything goes to the Internet. But what sort of delivery system do we want? We're still trying to figure out the next step."

Gary Terashita, senior acquisitions and development editor at Nashville-based Broadman & Holman, says the publisher has released 10 titles for Gemstar's eBook and is committed to bringing its entire list out in various "secure formats." Broadman is still looking for the right partnerships and vehicles for delivery. "Our two primary concerns are security for our author's intellectual property and financial efficiency in making the digital conversions," he says. With digital music's pirated content floating around for free on the Internet, publishers are worried about protecting their assets and avoiding a Napster-like nightmare.

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February 19 2001, Vol. 45, No. 3