My first digital tear-sheet arrived today, attached to the email below. (I’ve removed identifying information to protect the sender. No subject line appeared.) Tear-sheets are pages of advertising torn out of publications and sent to the advertiser as verification that the ad ran. I have received many digital proofs, but have never had a publication so casually and carelessly acknowledge that its paper version, the only one in which advertising is available, is redundant. Is there a word for “making oneself redundant?”

The number of ads the University of Illinois Press has purchased in scholarly journals—not including ads in our in-house journals—has decreased from 190 during fiscal year 2004 to 59 in the fiscal year just ended. This was a conscious policy change made by myself and the marketing director because print journals have largely become a questionable marketing investment. We have kept some journal advertising since there are still a few people who read the main society journals in their paper editions, and there are still a few journals that have not yet made the transition to digital. Unfortunately, relatively few journals offer digital advertising—and what exists, much like the journals themselves, is in a completely different form. After receiving this email this morning I am inclined to cut back our print journals advertising even further.

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From: info
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 11:08 AM
To: dpeeler@uiuc.edu
Subject:
 
Hello,

Attached is a pdf of your printed ad for our June issue.  We no longer receive offsets from our printer, only digital files. 

Ad has been paid for, many thanks!