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Southern Presses 2007
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Grants Opportunities
Two programs provide funding for staff at AAUP member presses to attend the annual meeting. The Whiting Minority Grant is funded the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation and AAUP. Grants are awarded to eligible minority staff at member presses. The following individuals were selected to receive grants for the 2006 meeting: The Questia Grant gives staff from small member presses (less than $3 million in annual sales) funds to attend the annual meeting. The following individuals were selected to receive grants for the 2006 meeting: Reports from the Questia Grantees:Judy Powell, University of Calgary Press: I would like to express my thanks to AAUP and the folks at Questia for enabling my attendance at the meeting in New Orleans. I felt very fortunate in being able to attend. The workshops and sessions on electronic publishing were especially interesting to me. It was reassuring too at sessions like “Stories From the Pits” to hear others run into glitches not so different from mine and that common sense goes a long way toward solving them. It was also wonderful to put some faces to names—particular thanks to Janet (Rabinowitch) for seeking me out. Karen DeVinney, University of North Texas Press: What is most valuable about conferences, is the face-to-face time with people you would not otherwise meet. The majority of this year’s sessions were roundtables, rather than traditional conference presentations, encouraging active participation and providing an opportunity for such interactions outside the social events or over the seemingly ubiquitous coffee. Small press representatives like me were thus able to contribute more easily. I began by attending the Editors-in-Chief Workshop, walking in just in time to hear Alan Harvey from Stanford amaze his fellows by describing how his press cut its staff from 40 to 32 while increasing its list from 90 to 150 books a year. The discussion of “Inspiring Creativity was very useful. Sheila Levine described how she organizes subject meetings, where she invites local scholars to brief her staff on what’s hot and whom they should pursue. What a great idea! Both Wednesday’s “Approval and Decision” and Thursday’s “External Relations” were useful in suggesting ideas for relations with our editorial board. SUNY distributes an orientation packet to new board members that could be a model for all presses’ relations with their boards. The theme of the annual meeting was change, especially that brought about by technology. This theme was first struck in the plenary by Stephen Rhind-Tutt, but also at the 3:30 session “Digital Publishing Updates,” and at the Saturday sessions on ultra-short run reprinting and digital art, as well as sessions I was unable to attend. At the Managing Editors’ Roundtable on Friday, the major discussion concerned relations with acquisitions and marketing, and how to counteract their expectations about the wonders a manuscript editor can perform on an inadequate manuscript. The use of XML coding still seems in its infancy; apparently the main question is when to create the XML archive so that it contains final files. The coding is easy to do in the manuscript stage, but difficult to do once a book is in typesetting or .pdf. “Revenue Generators, Part 1: Acquiring Regional and Reference Books” was of special interest, as UNT Press has a strong regional list. Several pieces of useful advice came from the four presenters: learn the state history requirements in the pubic schools and try to produce books to meet this demand, make connections with local agencies, market regional frontlist books with backlists, and be aware of sales patterns (for instance, travel books sell best during the summer). The roundtable entitled “Smoke, Mirrors, and Duct Tape: Nurturing a Small Press at Major University” was a fun opportunity to compare my experiences directly with others’. Saturday’s session on ultra-short run printing offered terrific examples of the productive uses of digital publishing. James Pelz, interim director at SUNY, revealed that his press prints 95% of its frontlist digitally, and prints only enough for six months or one year at most. The final session I was able to attend before heading to the airport was “Digital Imaging Instructions” at 3:30 on Saturday. It was gratifying to hear that I’m not the only managing editor who has to struggle with 96 dpi .jpgs. I was sorry to have to miss the second managing editors’ roundtable, but grateful for the opportunity to attend the rest of the meeting. I hope that I was able to contribute to the sessions as well as learn from them. Patricia Mecadon, University of Scranton Press: On June 15, 2006 I flew to New Orleans to attend the “2006 AAUP Annual Meeting” being held at the Sheraton New Orleans. After registering, I began my three-day trek into today’s publishing world. But I would be remiss if I did not applaud the association on its decision to hold this meeting in New Orleans. My ride to the hotel gave me a firsthand look at the devastation this city suffered following “Katrina”. Our attendance there hopefully provided some help, even in a small way, to the businesses and tourist trade in that bruised city. On a happier note, the people I met at the meeting were infectious with their excitement and information about university presses and what can be done to improve operations for individual presses no matter what their size. I attended several sessions, all of which were informative, well-planned, and left me with new tools with which I can incorporate into our business plan to aid our press in the coping of new and innovative techniques for the 21st century publishing industry. In many instances, it occurred to me that we were really falling behind, and need to advance to the next level of publishing—e-books and digital publishing. I find myself more than a little intimidated regarding electronic publishing. I am the type that likes to hold a “Book” in my hands, and to try to understand this new age in publishing: “e-books” overwhelm me. However, after attending these informative sessions, I came away with a broader understanding of the advancements and the necessary steps to aim our press in this direction. I can see the use of this course, especially with regards to scholarly publishing and what it takes to reach the students of today and tomorrow. The bottom line, cost, is paramount in all university publishers, regardless of their size. With the tuition for higher education rising, I feel this is a way to deter the cost of books, not to mention the avenues of research that the push of a button can provide for those seeking information. The future of education demands new, innovative ways of obtaining information, using that information, and finally, storing it for future use. I am happy to say that the sessions I attended aided me far more then I could have ever anticipated. I also attended a session on marketing and its importance (needless to say) of how we present our books to the buying public. What is important enough to be mentioned, what catches the attention of those in the market place, and what materials should be given to potential buyers, not to mention the tools needed to sell these books was summed up for me. Too much is as much a hindrance as too little. Promoting and selling our books is as important to a press as obtaining quality manuscripts to be published. If we don’t reach the marketplace, we don’t sell the books. It is as simple as that. Equally informative was the session on morale. It is important, even for a small press, to reward staff members—not only for their performance on the job, but also for the initiative they take in looking forward, seeking innovative ways to perform their tasks, and rewarding them for ideas and techniques used. Everyone, no matter what their position, deserves respect and praise. I wish to thank the “Questia Grant” committee for this terrific opportunity. Being able to attend such an informative publishing forum not only helps the smaller presses learn of new and futuristic techniques, but gives us a way to make friends who can also provide invaluable information for us to use in our daily operations. | |
