Textbook Media Press launches affordable math study-aid series

Textbook Media Press has expanded from college business textbooks into STEM with 18 new math publications, including a 13-part Field Guide Series in Mathematics. The new digital and print study aids start at $14.95 and are aimed at students and instructors looking for lower-cost course materials.

Why it matters: - Textbook Media Press is extending its low-cost publishing model from business courses into mathematics and other STEM subjects. - The company is targeting a market where affordable course materials can reduce student costs and give instructors more format options. - The new math line includes 18 publications, giving the company a broader foothold in STEM course support.

What happened: - Textbook Media Press announced The Field Guide Series in Mathematics, a new series of 13 publications. - Digital and print versions are available, with prices starting at $14.95. - The series is part of 18 math publications now published by Textbook Media Press. - The company said its content has been used in more than 1,000 colleges and universities by hundreds of thousands of students over the past 20 years. - Textbook Media Press previously sold its catalog of business titles to Sage Publishing.

The details: - R.J. Swift, Mathematics Department Chair at Cal Pomona, authored the Field Guide Series. - Swift said the guides are designed as concise, visual resources that help readers learn mathematical structures, recognize them in context, practice with them and understand connections among related ideas. - Swift said the books were published with Textbook Media Press because the company could offer the materials in multiple formats at affordable prices. - Each topic can be studied through one of four formats. - Field Guide focuses on learning essential ideas, maps, methods, examples, warnings and connections. - Field Cards focus on recognition, rapid identification, formulas, decision cues and portable reference. - Field Workbook focuses on practice through calculation, investigation, explanation and exploration. - Field Companion combines learn, recognize and practice in one format. - The 13 topics are trigonometry; integration techniques and infinite series; vectors; div, grad, curl and the integral theorems; ordinary differential equations; combinatorics; probability distributions; mathematical statistics; real analysis; complex analysis; calculus; Markov chains; and matrices. - Information for student options and prices is available at student options and prices. - Instructor information and review copies are available at instructor information and review copies.

Between the lines: - The launch suggests Textbook Media Press is repositioning itself from a business-textbook publisher into a broader affordable STEM resources company. - The four-format structure gives instructors and students flexibility, which may help the series fit different teaching styles and budgets. - The company is leaning on concise, modular materials rather than a single traditional textbook model.

What's next: - Textbook Media Press is inviting instructors to request review copies and students to review pricing and format options. - Tom Doran, CEO of Textbook Media Press, is the contact for follow-up information at tdoran@textbookmedia.com. - Tom Doran can also be reached at +1 651-210-1566.

The bottom line: - Textbook Media Press is betting that low-cost, flexible math study aids can win attention in STEM courses the same way its business titles did in college classrooms.