                                  *************
                                  PRESS RELEASE
        Ron Albright                           Contact: Ron Albright
        Digtal Publishing Association          1-205-853-8269 (Voice)
        1160 Huffman Road                      1-205=853-8478 (FAX)
        Birmingham, AL 35215                   1-205-854-1660 (BBS)

           NEW ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCED TO PROMOTE ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING

        BIRMINGHAM, AL: The "Digtal Publisher's Association" ("DPA")
    is an association for parties of all levels who share interest
    in the dissimination of information in electronic ("computer
    readable") format. Those eligible for membership include
    authors, publishers, and consumers of on-disk publishing.
    "Electronic publishing," in its broadest sense, shall
    mean the authorship and production for general consumer access of any
    materials which are primarily read by computer and viewed on
    "paperless," "digital," and "on-disk" publishing - includes
    fiction and nonfiction works that are stored and distributed
    on disk or available by modem access on "bulletin board systems"
    ("BBSs").
        Electronic publishing, in this sense, specifically does
    not include programs (which are sets of instructions used by a
    computer to perform other tasks) unless these programs are
    designed to facilitate the reading of written materials.
    Examples might include hypertext authoring programs or text viewers.

                             Statement of Purpose

        The purpose of the DPA includes:

        1. To promote, though improved public awareness, the benefits
    of electronic publishing. These benefits include availability -
    often on a 24 hour a day, on demand basis - of electronic
    publications, faster production time, cheaper cost, easier
    revision and updating, reduced consumption of natural
    resources, and - using appropriate reader software - enhanced
    presentation and readability.

        2. To provide a forum for discussing the unique challenges of
    successfully publishing and marketing disk-based publications.
    Examples might include matching an author or publisher with
    the appropriate medium for a proposed project. Would hypertext be
    best? Plain ASCII? Multimedia?

        3. A matching service will be organized to place authors -
    who may not be interested in complexities of marketing and
    publishing - with publishers who may be willing to assist in these
    commercial aspects. "Writers write and publishers publish" is
    an axiom that applies to electronic publishing as well as
    traditional formats.

        4. To share resources for mass marketing electronic publications.
    Examples might include sharing of costs of mailing publications
    to user groups, etc. DPA will also assist new authors and
    publishers in getting press releases circulated and media
    coverage. Sharing mailing lists with other publishers is
    another possibility open to members.

                             Membership Requirements

        The only requirement for membership shall be an interest
    in the advancement of electronic publishing. No fees will be
    solicited during the start-up phase.
        Interested parties can contact the DPA electronically
    at:
        The DPI BBS - 205-854-1660. Or through electronic mail on
    CompuServe (75166,2473), MCI Mail (RALBRIGHT), GEnie
    (R.Albright) or through the mail at the above address.
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