Small publishing houses and university presses in North America

Credibility and Visibility in the World of University Publishing

Publishing

Building credibility and visibility in the world of university book publishing

Scholarly publishing survives through severe economic hardships which can, however, be rationalized by a thorough understanding of two main complexities involved. First, the operations of scholarly publishing in two clear but almost opposing areas: the first being commercial interests whose main concern is to satisfy the needs and wants of customers like institutions and general readers in order to bring annual revenues, ensuring good returns on investment, and managing risks (David, 2012). Second, getting to understand how the forces of demand and supply interact in this area (Greco et al., 2012). Even though university presses are not too formidable to collapse, their failure would spell doom because of the vital role they play in transmitting cultures and ideas (Greco and Wharton, 2010).

The intention of this study is to build a body of texts that can give credence and credibility to the role small publishing houses play in university publishing. The study aims at isolating segments of texts with meaningful units and to formulate a name for a new category to which the chosen texts can be assigned. The study will analyze university presses in America, UK, and Canada. Some of the questions the study aims to answer are:

1. Why should university presses be the first line of choice for small publishing houses?

2. How can small publishing enterprises find reliable university presses?

With these two questions in mind, it would be easier for the researcher to encompass other aspects of publishing. Oher questions will arise that will enhance the research topic and allow other researchers to build upon the research. It is not possible to cover all areas and it is for this reason that the study will limit itself to the three countries. Other countries have similar small publishers, but it would not be possible to cover all of them in this particular study. However, references could be made to these publishers to demonstrate their importance and to inform the reader of other University presses.

These are the two main questions the study aims to answer, which will offer great insights and allow for other questions like the advantages and disadvantages of using university presses, the type of books mainly published by small publishing houses and university presses. In conducting the research, the value of university presses and their benefits to society will be uncovered. This is vital to inform the audience the importance if using university presses as compared to the major publishing houses.

Organization of the dissertation

The dissertation will be organized in a five chapter qualitative model and the outline is as follows

Chapter One: Introduction

Background

Problem statement

Study purpose

Research Questions

Relevance of the study

Scope

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Chapter Three: Research Methods

Qualitative Paradigm

Qualitative Methods

Role of the Researcher

Sources of Data

Collection of Data

Data Analysis

Data Verification

Ethical Considerations

Chapter Four: Research Findings

Chapter Five: Discussion, Conclusion, and Suggestions

Summary

Discussion

Conclusion

Suggestions for Future Research

Background

The biggest American publishing houses are huge corporations whose combined control of the entire publishing in the U.S.A., and a major percentage of international publishing is almost 90% are referred to as the "Big Six." These major publishing houses have the resources and capacity to build extensive distribution networks, and to initiate huge promotional campaigns capable of landing a newly released book in all retail outlets on the same day it is published through their numerous affiliates and branches (Maeda, 2014). SAGE publishers in the U.S., and the MacMillan Science and Education from UK are some of the most famous publishers in this class (Rayner, 2013). Other publishers include Taylor and Francis, Cengage Learning, and McGraw-Hill. Taylor and Francis mainly distributes several book titles and numerous journals. UK publishers mostly commission McGraw-Hill and Cengage Learning. There are also smaller UK companies like Zed Books, Emerald, Pluto, Jessica Kingsley, LB, Edward Elgar, Tauris, Ashgate, and Bloomsbury who try to compete with the major players. Kogan Page specializes in particular professional niches, while Rowan & Littlefield International are start-ups.

University presses are mainly known for publishing academic journals and books with publishers like Oxford University Press, which is the largest book publisher in the world effectively competing with private-sector publishers representing an output of more than 6000 titles annually (Adil H. Mouhammed, 2010). One unique feature of Oxford is the fact that it financially supports the university unlike many other university presses particularly in the U.S. who depend on their universities for financial support (Clark and Phillips, 2014).

In the U.S. alone, there are 100 university presses like Stanford University Press and 85,000 self-publishing and small companies such as Dog Ear Publishing and Archipelago Books besides the "Big Six" (Brown and Holzman, 2014). However, these small entities rarely last long. Yearly, there are between 8,000 and 11,000, mainly self-publishing companies that are established. Interestingly, the mega-publishers are not as open to new authors as the mid-sized publishers are because the major publishers principally target commercial interests where they can sell beyond 100,000 copies while mid-sized companies are often more than satisfied with average sales and modest profits. It is easier to approach the smaller presses because they rarely require authors to have agents, and in most cases, they serve a particular genre or a specialty niche market. They usually do not give advances, and their first run is normally between 1000-5000 units and they account for nearly 78% of new releases. Compared to commercial publishers who majorly produce books for commercial book stores whose sales represents almost $26 billion, the smaller companies make only $13 - $17 billion annually. University presses produce scholarly works with creative importance or intellectual merit for regional communities and specific audiences. Being external extensions of their parent universities the presses are an important addition to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge by scholarly associations and research libraries. By publishing more than 100 titles yearly, the mid-sized companies net between $10 million and $50 million annually even though they are not major corporations like the bigger houses. They vary greatly in structure and sizes from private businesses owned by families or individuals to newspaper publishing chains (Maeda, 2014). Although scholarly treatises provide and will still provide the main source of income for the university presses, the presses produce more than scholarly works because a number of factors during the past quarter century have compelled them to consider other publications beyond their basic publishing criterion of improving scholarship (Herman, 2014).

Independent small presses

Independent publishers, small publishers, small presses and mid-sized commercial publishers sell directly or indirectly to the same retailers sometimes through mail orders (Withey et al., 2011). Despite the fact that they have leaner budgets than that of the major houses, annually averaging $10 million, they have many benefits, for instance, they can keep a title in print and circulation for lengthy periods than the major publishers, and they market to specialty audiences such as poetry readers. They are mostly suitable for writers whose works belong to a specialty category or niche market and they sometimes give royalties without advances or both royalties and advances. Their approachability makes them more likely to accept unsolicited manuscripts from authors who do not have agents unlike the major houses. The easiest way for first-time authors and illustrators to start their careers and penetrate the book market is through small publishers (Maeda, 2014). Some of the most reputable publishing houses in the history of Canada started as small presses, which they still are, for example, House of Anansi, and in this category, there are several university presses. The big three in this class who are non-profit are McGill-Queens, University of British Columbia Press, and University of Toronto Press (Driscoll, 2010). Small presses account for greater dissemination of fresh body of knowledge in the arts, humanities and sciences, and they win a disproportionate number of awards and recognitions although they represent a tiny economic bracket of the publishing industry (Amory et al., 2000)

The main reason why universities began publishing is that commercial publishers' intent on profit discriminated against scientific publications since the audience for this niche is small and so unprofitable (Livonen and Paivi, 2012). They also embarked on publishing because of the need to ensure that all new knowledge and research accumulated by the university was well learned, absorbed, distributed and preserved for posterity. Their efforts also provided a platform on which authors could collaborate in discussions within the university communities in order to give credence and visibility to the researchers and the universities at large (Shapiro, 2013). Some special characteristics of scientific publications include having a limited audience, smaller editions even in major languages, fewer local and major international publishing houses, and publication of several titles. However, the two most important players in the publishing enterprises, the authors and their readership, are usually very visible within the scientific community (Livonen and Paivi, 2012).

Most authors associated with University Presses are linked in one or several ways to public agencies, research centers or a university and are often experts in a specific academic area (Missingham and Kanellopoulos, 2014). Very few of them regard authorship as their primary profession, and many of the books they write are a product of great experience and several years of research in their particular fields. What the university presses often value in their commercial interests more than the title or number of academic degrees a person has is the quality of thoroughness an author applies to his/her work. This is in total disregard to the authors' level of formal schooling, age or where they come from. A thorough examination of style and content is used to determine whether a manuscript qualifies for the criterion set by the university press. It is quite hard to approach major commercial publishers without an agent, but even much more daunting is getting an agent. Many manuscripts that are not represented by an agent at best often get the attention of an assistant editor, often are returned unread or end up in the slush pile and bins. However, the university presses will, through their acquisition editors who are the key decision makers, take the trouble to respond after evaluating a manuscript (Herman, 2014)

McCartan (2010) in his study points out that the work done in the University presses is rarely spoken about eloquently, if at all. The work they do is of use to the immense value to the entire academia such as researchers, librarians, and teachers; all those who need easy, systematic, streamlined access to books, journals and other published materials. The work that goes behind making the literature available to all people concerned seems to be quite mundane to the outside world and due recognition is few and far between. Similarly, Maynard and O'Brien (2010) argue that the librarians themselves fight shy of elaborating the tediousness, diligence, and knowledge required to carry out their seemingly mundane job they are required to carry out. It was only in 2000 that the Board of Directors at the AUPP decided to carry out a statement of intent and importance of the work that the staff at the press brings about by their work to the intelligentsia and by consequence to the entire society. The benefits on University Presses for small publishers are therefore conceptualized in the following sections (Perkins, 2012).

University Presses and their benefits to society

University Presses strive to avail the entire scope of work done by the University for Perusal by the society. They ease the jobs of the decision makers at the highest levels, the social workers and those who work in the social domain by availing them the painstaking and diligent research and analysis carried out by the faculty (Park, 2008). University presses are instrumental in bridging the gap in the global perspective by providing an adequate platform sans barriers of cultural and societal differences. They take the pains to share platforms across cultures and different media to promote educated exchange of thoughts and perceptions (Kotler and Keller, 2008). These presses are instrumental in maintaining individual expression and identity across cultures. This is done by according specially demarcated segments to each demography. They go further to act as sentinels to protect and highlight the minorities' standpoint through devoted sections on the respective ethnicity, beliefs and societal orientation. University Presses enrich the English readers' knowledge base by translating work in foreign languages. They have taken it upon themselves to ensure that the most important work is in circulation by ordering reprints, thus making them available through generations of readers. University Presses take the extra step to promote cultural continuity by publishing material on literature, photography, arts and crafts, poetry fiction as well as non-fiction books; in short the entire ensemble (Dalton, 2008).

Multiple publishing models from traditional publishing model

Publishing in various electronic platforms has risen greatly with journals seeing a dramatic increase, and it is predicted the trend will follow for books not far in the future. Also gaining in popularity is self-archiving in open institutional repositories and open access publishing. Electronic libraries have reduced sales and made it unnecessary to purchase journals and books in print form. This poses a grave challenge to university presses globally because the unit sales of their academic treatises have dramatically fallen in recent years. As Thompson cites in (Livonen and Paivi, 2012), the university presses have seen a sharp decline of 75% in unit sales from the 1970s. Such trends have also been witnessed in Finland where Tampere University Press monitored the sales statistic of its doctoral theses over a two-year period, 2009-2011. During this period the sale of doctoral theses was as low as 47.8%, and of all the 205 titles printed between 1 August 2009 and 31 July 2011, a maximum of five books was sold per title. In the same period, only 8.3% sold more than 51 copies per title while the other 21% sold 21-50 copies. Interestingly, about 90% of these theses are also available in the open institutional repository of the University of Tampere. It is now common to download theses, for instance 77% of dissertations have been accessed more than 1000 times (Livonen and Paivi, 2012).

However, university presses found new survival strategies against these new trends, because unfortunately, very few of them expect subsidies from their mother universities. Some of the more practical steps they have taken include publishing other kinds of books, expanding their market reach, reducing costs, altering titles, increasing prices or altering publishing strategies (Polanka, 2012). Some of the strategies have succeeded more than the rest even though the inability of the old business models to support the continued publication of academic treatises has been confirmed in recent times (Livonen and Paivi, 2012). It is not a surprise that a closer examination of any local book store will reveal signs of university presses on publications like considerable numbers of upper-division textbooks, reference works, finely produced art books, serious nonfiction, literature in translation, calendars, popular fiction and even cookbooks. University presses have made it a normal experience to publish genres usually associated with commercial publishers (Herman, 2014). Two reputable university presses, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, have branches in the U.S. Amongst the biggest American university presses, California, Texas, Princeton, MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, each produces more than 100 book titles yearly most of which find sales in retail outlets all over the world. However, in this category are also almost 20 medium-sized presses who publish between 50-100 books annually. They include Stanford, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Washington, Indiana and Cornell, which are known to publish important works commanding wide circulation (Herman, 2014).

The Benefits of Small Presses

Driscoll (2010) in his study conceptualized a few reasons why small presses are preferred over big ones. According to him, one main advantage why authors like working with small presses is because they only print a few copies yearly, but mostly because they understand and are often committed to the content of the books they choose to publish. This makes it easier for them to focus more time and attention to particular books and their authors as opposed to the major publishers who characteristically elect to promote just some few high-profile titles in their lists yearly (Beverungen et al., 2012). As has already been mentioned, small presses are most likely to pay attention to unsolicited works where larger publishes will totally ignore them. Another advantage of publishing with a small press is the fact that some are renowned for the high quality of their publications in specific niches (Driscoll, 2010).