This January, we're launching a new series of Pocket Guides – concise ebooks on specific subjects, written by well-known web design writers, speakers and practitioners. Our new Pocket Guide series will dovetail with our well established Practical Guide series and standalone titles.

We approached some of the smartest people in our industry and we were blown away when so many of them wanted to work with us. People like Rachel Andrew, Tim Brown, The Standardistas, Brian Suda and Joe Leech are signed up to write about subjects as diverse as combining typefaces, CSS3 layout modules and psychology. You can be confident that what you read will be useful, practical and applicable to web design right now.

As these will be ebooks only, each publication will be available to download in PDF, ePub and mobi formats to suit all screen sizes, making them easy to pick up and read wherever you are. We'll also be using some of the latest ePub technology to provide enhanced and interactive content. Short, smart and quick to download, our guides will be the perfect way to fit a little burst of knowledge into your process; whether that’s picking up a new skill, learning a new technique or familiarising yourself with the latest developments in the industry. All of this will be available for the price of a good latte or a nice cuppa.

Writing a book can be hard and take a long time – it's not dissimilar to writing a PhD thesis! Research and thinking aren't things you can hurry and a properly considered text or talk can take many months or even years to come together. All our authors have busy lives – they have jobs and families, and many run their own businesses. What this means is that we often have to wait a long time for the books we commission to be written. The speed of the industry means that we might miss the boat when a subject falls out of favour, or a book could date before it's even been finished. So, we hope our new Pocket Guide series will help bridge the gap between immediacy and timelessness.

We're really excited about this. And our authors are too. To be informed exactly when our new books will be available, you can sign up to our newsletter on our homepage or just keep an eye on our updates here or Twitter.