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Celebrating University Presses

Celebrating University Presses

November 2021

AuPresses' 10th Annual University Presses Week

Cover Art for Academic Pipeline Programs (2021, Lever Press)

This past October, NISO hosted our 20th Annual Humanities Roundtable, which featured as a keynote presenter, Lisa Bayer of the University of Georgia Press and current President of AUPresses. Her talk (see sidebar) focused on the role and achievements of this specific subset of the publishing world. The tenth annual University Presses Week was November 8-12, 2021. Because so much of what university presses do is central to output in the humanities and social sciences, we wanted to spotlight the work from a spectrum of publishing organizations.

First there was the blog tour, with presses responding to such questions as:

  • Our first UP week blog tour focused on the question, “Why do university presses matter?” How has the answer changed and/or stayed the same in the 10 years since?
  • Tell us about an innovation or a collaboration in the last decade that you are particularly proud of or that will provide a model for future endeavors.
  • What will make your press a force to Keep UP with in the next 10 years?

Opening Up the Week

Harry Potter, Dumbledore, Snape -- Even Nearly Headless Nick!

Stats underscored accomplishments of the decade.

#KeepUP with the facts for the 10th anniversary of #UPWeek!
Since 2011, @aupresses members have published
5 Nobel Laureates in Literature
5 Nobel Laureates in Physics
18 Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences
16 Bancroft Prize-winning works https://t.co/2SAl1OlDfD pic.twitter.com/jh209bWPo1

— UChicagoPress (@UChicagoPress) November 11, 2021

University presses are a force to be reckoned with. 42 U.S. states + Washington, DC & Puerto Rico are home to at least one @aupresses member. #UPWeek pic.twitter.com/Io3aihLWgM

— Books International (@BooksIntl_) November 10, 2021

Regional pride surfaced!

A champion of all things bookish, @LoneStarLit keeps tabs on #Texas publishers & is a great resource. This article highlights books from @UTexasPress @Baylor_Press @UNTPress @TTUPress & us for #UPWeek! https://t.co/iMlI8JbEZB #KeepUP

— Texas A&M Press (@TAMUPress) November 11, 2021

A Good Year for Publication Output!

Award winning titles!

Increasingly diverse output

Examples of publications over the past decade included an interesting set of creative collaborations.

The University of Toronto Press was pleased that one of their titles was named in the list of top 10 graphic novels and nonfiction!

#KeepUP is the 2021 #UPWeek theme marking its 10th anniversary & celebrating how university presses continue to be a force to keep up with! #KeepUP with @aupresses top 10 graphic novels and nonfiction. Light in Dark Times is on the list: https://t.co/0BiSknari6 #ReadUP pic.twitter.com/sUuFqNIkSv

— University of Toronto Press (@utpress) November 11, 2021

Curation is key!

OER is part of the landscape as well!

All of these textbooks are 100% free to download. #KeepUP with UNGP and @ALearningGA—we’re saving students millions in textbook costs with #OER!
Learn more: https://t.co/oSIMKhb1zS

Celebrate #UPWeek and trailblazing university presses with @aupresses! #ReadUP pic.twitter.com/PvtzCzBgry

— UNG Press (@TheUNGPress) November 10, 2021

Eye-catching Covers!

Demographics are shifting!

"Women now comprise about 45% of press directors—but more important, our acquisitions staffs are slowly becoming less white" @PublishersWkly asks #UniversityPress directors, including our own @jecrewe, to assess the future as they see it. #UPWeek https://t.co/efIZRqgyer

— Col Univ Press PR (@CUPPublicity) November 10, 2021

Presses shone a spotlight on staff

It is the 10th anniversary of #UPWeek! In this blog post, entitled Behind Every Good Editor Is a Great Marketer, Acquisitions Editor Natalie Fingerhut writes about her partnership with Marketing Manager Anna Del Col. Read it here: https://t.co/R5ByG0YjEB @aupresses #KeepUP pic.twitter.com/N3x0DqYjfv

— University of Toronto Press (@utpress) November 10, 2021

Most importantly...

Authors spoke to the value they see!

From a blog post by Georgetown University Press:

...the importance of university presses from those who have been through the UP publishing process.

“University presses ensure that new knowledge sees the light of day. A rigorous process of selection, review, editing, and publication is essential to create scholarship of lasting value. This is the public service that university presses provide.”
Adam Rothman, coeditor of Facing Georgetown’s History

“University presses are the unsung heroes of book publishing. They’re the publishers who are willing to take risks and publish books that may be controversial, or that may have topics that mainstream presses ignore. They’re the ones who spark the conversations that we need to be having about society.”
Chris Roush, author of The Future of Business Journalism

Jill O'Neill

Editor-in-Chief

Jill O'Neill was the former Director of Content for NISO.