The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American

book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. Former U.S. congresswoman

Patricia Schroeder Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (born July 30, 1940) is an American politician who represented Colorado in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Schroeder was the first female U.S. Represe ...

served as the association's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

from 1997 until 2009, taking over the role from two time U.S.

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

and Assistant Secretary of State

Nicholas A. Veliotes Nicholas Alexander Veliotes (born October 28, 1928) is a former United States Foreign Service Officer and diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Jordan (1978–81) and Egypt (1984–86). He is a member of the American Academy of Dip ...

. On May 1, 2009, former

U.S. congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Tom Allen took over as president and CEO. In January 2017, former U.S. Register of Copyrights

Maria Pallante Maria A. Pallante (born February 5, 1964) is the president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Publishers, a publishing industry trade association. Pallante is an American attorney who previously served as the 12th United St ...

became President and CEO of the organization.

Activities

AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The association's core programs deal with advocacy and supporting laws and regulations that “incentivize the publication of creative expression, professional content, and learning solutions,” according to the Chair at the 2018 Annual Meeting. Other current and previous focus are:

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

; new technology and digital issues of concern to publishers; the freedom to read,

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

and

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

; the freedom to publish; funding for

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

; postal rates and regulations; tax and trade policy; and international

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

enforcement. The association tracks publisher revenue on a monthly and annual basis with its StatShot Monthly and StatShot Annual programs. AAP also produces the comprehensive statistical surveys for the education sectors (prek-12 and higher education). AAP also honors the very best in professional and scholarly publishing with PROSE Awards, which draws attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content. The awards have been judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976. In late 2019, AAP sued

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or rush ...

for their Captions feature, in which machine-generated text would be displayed alongside the audio narration. The lawsuit was settled in early 2020, with Audible agreeing not to implement the Captions feature without obtaining express permission.

Controversy

AAP was criticized after it contracted

Eric Dezenhall Eric B. Dezenhall (born September 9, 1962; pronounced DEHZ-in-hall) is an American crisis management consultant, author, and founder of Washington D.C.-based public relations firm Dezenhall Resources. His aggressive tactics on behalf of his cli ...

crisis management Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders. The study of crisis management originated with large-scale industrial and envir ...

firm to promote its position regarding the

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

movement. Schroeder told ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

' the association hired Dezenhall when members realized they needed help. "We thought we were angels for a long time and we didn't need PR firms."Rick Weiss
''Publishing Group Hires 'Pit Bull of PR' ''
''

''. January 25, 2007

References

External links

*
Finding aid to Association of American Publishers records at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{authority control Publishing companies of the United States Publishing-related professional associations

Activities

Controversy

See also

References

External links