For editors and publishers, conferences offer the opportunity to present our lists as a whole to the members of the disciplines in which we are embedded, each title a star in its larger constellation. Conferences during the year of a book’s publication are particularly special, allowing authors to see their scholarship celebrated among its most ideal readers. For authors’ colleagues, students, and friends, a book’s publication is cause for closer looks and in-person congratulations.
I miss many things about our annual gatherings, but most of all I miss seeing authors with their books, the happy reward of our long collaborations. In lieu of meeting in person this year—at the annual conference of the College Art Association, in particular—please meet the authors of recent and forthcoming titles in art history, dialing in from across the globe, our joy in their work undiminished by distance.