Cambridge Elements is celebrating the publishing of 500 Elements titles. Former Elements Product Manager, Andri Johnston talks to the Library marketing team about the importance of this milestone and its contribution to teaching and learning.

You’ve been involved in the marketing and management of Cambridge Elements from the beginning… 2 years on and 500 Elements published, how does it make you feel?

I started working on Elements just after the launch at the beginning of 2019. It was a very exciting time to be part of Elements because it was so new, but, like with any digital product launch, there was also still a lot of work to do. One of our big focuses was to increase the number of published Elements and be consistent. It took long hours of planning, communication and, changing timelines. Now that I’m not part of Elements anymore, it’s amazing to see how we’ve gone from a handful of titles at launch to 500.  Everyone working on the product has shown hard work and continuous improvement, commitment, and an eye-on-the-prize attitude. It’s a group effort and I’m proud to have played a part in that effort.

What impact has the publishing/creation of Elements had on teaching and learning?

I think it’s opened up a new publishing avenue for a variety of different subjects and, has also made quite a lot of niche subjects more accessible to undergraduate students and the general public. The high print sales are a testament to that. We’ve also seen other book products like High-Risk Pregnancy that don’t fall into the traditional print book mould, move to become Elements series because of the flexibility the short form and series offers. I think Elements is now becoming a standalone product in customers’ and authors’ minds and it will open faster and fresh publishing in the book’s space, which is very exciting.

What are the 3 most enjoyable Elements or series you would recommend?

It’s hard to choose because they are all so different, but the two Elements that stay with me are Behavioral Science and Public Policy by Cass Sunstein because of the incredible usage we had of this Element in the first 2 weeks and even after that. It was a real indication that we were on the right track with Elements and had created a product that readers wanted.

The other Element is Publishing against Apartheid South Africa by Elizabeth le Roux because the author is the Head of the Publishing department where I studied. She’d told me she was writing an Element just after I was offered the Product Manager role in 2019. It was very special to see her Element published, again, it showed how Elements opens up publishing to authors outside the traditional Western research community.

Find out all you need to know about Cambridge Elements and join us in celebrating this milestone by sharing and Tweeting your favourite Elements.