I agree with Jon K. and Henry W.

Most list members have joined because they're passionately interested in Virginia history, whether as academics or amateurs.

Most of us want to hear about new books, exhibits, forums, etc. on Virginia history--it's precisely what we signed up for.

The "commercial" argument against book announcements is a red herring in this context.  While it is true that academics typically receive royalties from sale of their book, they're usually quite small, often trifling. 

No one is going to get rich publishing a book about, say, the free press in eighteenth-century Virginia, no matter how good the book might be.  This isn't Harry Potter folks.

Having said this, if a commercial publisher somehow hijacked our list ans started spamming us about its latest insipid coffee-table picture book that would be an entirely different matter and we would ban the publisher from the list.  (To my knowledge, nothing like this has ever happened.)

Please keep relevant book announcements coming.

Thomas Katheder

P.S. Full disclosure:  I sent an announcement (just one!) to this list regarding my 2009 biography of John Baylor.

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