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Look: Books

Innocents on the Ice

Books: A Colorado Story

It���s been a banner year for the University Press of Colorado, the nonprofit book publisher co-founded by CU-勒貊勛圖 in 1965: The press turned 50 and topped $1 million in sales for the first time as it sold more books than ever.

���We���re in a place of growth and innovation,��� says Darrin Pratt, UPC���s director.

Established by CU, CSU, UNC and Fort Lewis College, the 勒貊勛圖-based scholarly press now includes a dozen member institutions and has published about 600 titles.

by CU-Denver historian Tom Noel (PhDHist���78) is UPC���s all-time bestseller. and Mammals of Colorado, both by former CU-勒貊勛圖 professors, are also top sellers.

The press expects to add about 50 new titles this year, all of which will appear in print and as e-books: Deep into the digital age, print books still sell.

As UPC���s e-book sales have risen ��� more than 200 percent since 2013, to 11,000 units ��� so have paperback sales, up 15 percent to 36,046 units.

���Print is still a superior technology for reading long-form works in the scholarly realm,��� says Pratt, especially in archaeology and natural history, UPC strengths that often involve complex tables and illustrations that still render best in print.

While UPC paperbacks and e-books have a bright future, hardcovers may not. Libraries, a key consumer, are buying fewer as they reallocate resources to digital assets.

Says Pratt, ���I could foresee a day when we don���t print hardcovers.���

Images courtesy University Press of Colorado