Just 5 to 6 years ago you couldn’t go more than 2 months without some Johnny Come Lately Podiatrist writing a Foot and Ankle Surgery textbook (I mean Thomas Zgonis wrote one for God sakes).   There was an idea they were a good idea to raise your profile and a nice money maker.  McGlamry’s came out with a new issue every 6 to 8 years but there were others.  Heck, people wrote Podiatric books dedicated to Sports Medicine and Radiology.  If there was a Podiatry subject somebody wrote a book about it, even when no one asked.  But now, it’s been 3 years since a Podiatrist wrote a surgical textbook that was published on Amazon.  The only books being published right now are paper back books for residents and students that hit major points for interviews and rounds.

What happened? Well Youtube made it easy for a Podiatrist to look up how do a procedure and see it done on video (that’s more useful and better than a book).  The internet has devoted the publishing industry. It doesn’t make sense to outlay money for a book that if it does well is useful to maybe 25K people. If you sell to 10% of them that is only 2.5k copies. There is just no money in it.  Textbooks with great graphics and pictures are great. What’s also great is looking at them on the internet for free.  Podiatry Surgical textbooks are gone and there was no funeral. Now what?