Last weekend, I joined the merry band of muggles who descended on theaters across America to catch the opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Although not strictly by the book, the movie captured the teenage angst and special brand of magic that makes this particular novel so powerful. (Confession: this sixth novel in J. K. Rowlings’s series is the only book that has ever made me cry—hard!) Yet, while the movie was certainly dazzling, it didn’t quite convey the emotional impact of the 600-plus-page tome. As delighted as my husband and brother were that I didn’t cry in public, I was secretly wanting the big cathartic cinematic meltdown from a book that has stayed with me long past turning the last page.

While SAS Press books hopefully won’t bring any of our users to tears, we hope that they are also making a lasting impression on you. From statistical titles to programming guides to business essentials—we want to reach and satisfy the demands of our entire audience of SAS and JMP users. And I believe that our authors and our staff are casting a little bit of our own magic when everything comes together and we present the finished product to you.

Okay, maybe this is a stretch, but I think one could say that SAS Press is a little like Hogwarts. We work with subject matter experts (think code instead of potion masters) to provide a gifted group of people (you) with life-enhancing tools.