It’s something technofiles have been chiding the publishing business about getting onto, even as some booksellers and others oppose it. And yes, it will save a lot of trees, but it’s not as if electronic formats don’t have carbon footprint issues, either. Either way, it does represent at the very least a potent bit of symbolism. But whatever it is, here comes a historic moment: One of the big publishers — HarperCollins, to be exact — has announced it is going to stop printing catalogs — which is how booksellers, librarians and others learn about upcoming titles for a given season — and go completely digital starting with its next catalog season, the fall of this year. It’s the “next step in the evolution of how we bring our books to market,” says Josh Marwell, HC’s president of sales.

In a report for Publishers Weekly, Rachel Deahl says HC’s new online catalogs “will, in addition to featuring the standard information in print catalogs, include reviews, interviews and promotional videos,” they “will be updated frequently, reflecting any evolving changes with the publication details or marketing efforts surrounding titles,” and they will “feature access to authors’ backlists and, on select titles, link to browseable galleys.”

They will also be available as pdfs — in case booksellers want to print them out themselves.