AUPresses 2022 Program
We acknowledge that the grounds on which we gather are the ancestral lands of the Anacostan (Nacotchtank) and the Piscataway peoples. We honor and thank the Anacostan (Nacotchtank), the Piscataway, and all Native Peoples, the original caretakers on whose ancestral homelands we gather.
Saturday, June 18
11:30am – 3:30pm
Directors Networking Luncheon and Meeting
Member Press Directors Only
Join your fellow press directors for lunch, and a talk and activities led by Donna Hicks. More >
12:00pm – 4:30pm
Mentorship Lounge
Meeting space for participants in the AUPresses Mentorship Program.
Galludet Room
12:00pm – 4:30pm
Registration
Registration desk is open.
M1 Foyer
5:00pm – 8:30pm
Tours and Opening Reception, Library of Congress
Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue SE
Our opening reception will be held in one of Washington’s most beautiful spaces: the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. Inspired by the design of the Paris Opera House, this Beaux-Arts beauty was completed in 1897. An inspiring mix of art and architecture, the Jefferson Building features 15 varieties of marble; fixtures of gold, bronze, and mahogany; and works of art from nearly fifty American painters and sculptors. From 5:00-6:30pm, docents will be stationed throughout the building to highlight aspects of the building’s architecture, history, and literary iconography, as well as to provide information on such treasures as the Gutenberg Bible (circa 1455). Guests can enjoy the magnificent view of the Main Reading Room from the overlook, examine the rare books in the recreation of Jefferson’s Library, and enjoy a variety of photographs in the Library’s newest exhibition: Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library. The reception will run from 6:30-8:30pm. Sponsored by the Library of Congress.
Sunday, June 19
6:45am
5K Run/Walk
Get your blood pumping with an early-morning informal walk or run! More >
7:00am – 5:00pm
REGISTRATION
Registration desk is open.
M1 Foyer
7:00am – 8:45am
Breakfast
Start your day with a continental breakfast spread in the conference dining room.
Independence Ballroom
Special breakfast groups will gather in assigned breakout rooms. Sunday gatherings include:
- BIPOC Networking
Supreme Court Room - Editorial Directors/Editors-in-Chief Table
Independence Ballroom - New Press Directors Breakfast
Treasury Room - Journals Breakfast
Mint Room - Editorial, Design, and Production Table
Independence Ballroom
8:00am – 5:00pm
Mentorship Lounge
Meeting space for participants in the AUPresses Mentorship Program.
Galludet Room
9:00am – 10:30am
Walking Tours
Take advantage of a selection of Walking Tours celebrating DC’s historic neighborhoods, diverse communities, and unique role in the history of civil rights. Tours are optional, most for a small additional fee, with limited capacity, and for AUPresses members only. More >
10:30am – 5:00pm
Book, Jacket, and Journal Show Display
Selected entries for the AUPresses 2022 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show will be on display throughout the meeting. A catalog of selected books and journals will be available free of charge to meeting registrants.
Marquis Foyer, M2 Level
10:30am – 11:00am
Coffee Break and Vendor Showcase
Browse the Exhibit Hall with refreshments before our first concurrent sessions. Enjoy the vendor showcase: The Democratization of Technology in Education. More >
11:00am – 12:15pm
Concurrent Sessions
Take time to connect with your early- and mid-career peers in this open networking session. Members of the Professional Development Committee with be on-hand to help facilitate discussions.
Capitol Room
An opportunity for participants in the AUPeers buddy program to get together in-person, facilitated by Becca Bostock, Ohio State University Press; and Dominique J. Moore, University of Illinois Press.
Georgetown Room
This panel explores the many facets of content migration from the points of view of aggregators, publishers, and librarians. The discussion will address topics related to access and authentication; discovery, including redirecting DOIs and URLs, updating library management systems, and working with Google Scholar; differences in XML used by different platforms; and future-proofing the content. It will also compare panelists’ real-world experiences with NISO’s new Content Platform Migrations document.
Moderator: Jennifer D’Urso, Project MUSE
Panelists: Elizabeth Brown, Project MUSE; Paul Chase, University of Pennsylvania Press; Leslie Eager, Project Euclid; Athena Hoeppner, University of Central Florida; Christine Orr, BioOne; Michael Regoli, Indiana University Press
Congress Room
While many of us know that changes in diversity, equity, and inclusion must happen within our own presses, this session takes as its starting point the belief that it is essential to also examine these factors when it comes to those beyond our presses: our publishing partners. Is there true diversity, representation, and inclusion when it comes to the authors we publish, the reviewers we select, the freelancers we use, the series editors we solicit, and the faculty boards we form? This collaboration lab will feature members of the EJI Committee who helped run a demographic data pilot survey designed to answer exactly these questions—and will also bring in voices from presses that participated in the pilot. They will present the resulting toolkit that came out of the pilot, including sample survey and consent statements, tool and workflow suggestions, reporting and analysis, and more. Attendees will have the opportunity to take a sample survey and work in small groups to strategize around potential survey workflows and outcomes: how might a press set and pursue long-terms goals for more equitable representation, access, and leadership in areas the survey may identify? EJI Committee members will be available to help troubleshoot and receive feedback on the toolkit materials. Attendees do not need to have participated in the pilot survey to participate. We invite all departments to attend to foster a truly collaborative experience since the survey is intended for a wide range of “publishing partners” with whom all departments interact.
Facilitators: Ellen C. Bush, University of North Carolina Press; Tara Cyphers, EJI Committee Co-Chair, The Ohio State University Press; Jennifer DiDomenico, University of Toronto Press; Gita Manaktala, The MIT Press; Gianna Mosser, EJI Committee Co-Chair, Vanderbilt University Press; Wren Morgan Myers, University of Virginia Press
UDC Catholic Room
This session will be recorded.
As more university presses publish open-access versions of their titles, the existence of significant gaps in the metadata supply chain for open-access books is an unexpected complication for many. This session will include a brief introduction on the problem, a discussion between press employees who directly contend with it in their daily work, and a discussion with downstream distribution partners who seek to better support OA-books. Participants will display workflow diagrams they have composed to describe their metadata practices, and to compare practices between presses. The goal of the session is to better appreciate the labor required to overcome disconnects in the metadata infrastructure, to share tools and techniques devised as workarounds, and to discuss what might be done to better address the problem.
Chair: Timothy W. Elfenbein
Panelists: Patty Chase, Digital Content Manager, Duke University Press; Alison Cobra, Marketing Specialist, University of Calgary Press; Robby Desmond, BiblioVault; Jeremy Morse, Michigan Publishing; Jen Slaju, Client Sales & Marketing Manager, Longleaf Services
GWU Room
12:30pm – 2:00pm
Luncheon
Speaker: Linda Steinman, AUPresses General Counsel, on The Re-emergence of Book Banning
Marquis 5-6
2:00pm – 2 :30pm
Exhibit Hall Open and Vendor Showcase
Browse the Exhibit Hall and enjoy the vendor showcase: How to Make Your Open Access Books More Discoverable. More >
2:30pm – 3:45pm
Concurrent Sessions
Most if not all university presses, particularly those with regional publishing programs, have deep backlist books that contain language and stereotypes and attitudes around race and ethnicity that range from awkward to inappropriate to morally repugnant. How do we deal with these books when they come up for reprint? Do we declare them out of print? Insert a disclaimer on the copyright page? Add an interpretative foreword by a scholar to provide context and a justification to continue publication? Nothing? Panelists will discuss how they’ve dealt with these issues, from sensitivity readings to decision-making models to informing colleagues and authors and/or royalty recipients, as well as compensating for lost revenues. The discussion will prioritize actionable takeaways, not theory, providing attendees with maps to navigate this fraught landscape as we journey toward racial justice.
Chair: Gita Manaktala, MIT Press
Panelists: Ann Baker, University of Nebraska Press; Casey Kittrell, University of Texas Press; Gianna Mosser, Vanderbilt University Press
Capitol Room
2021 has been another wild ride for marketing, publicity, and sales teams. In addition to all the struggles of 2020, we’ve added increasing manufacturing and supply chain uncertainty, Zoom exhaustion, and burnout at every level. This non-traditional session features 11 mini presentations on the most innovative or quietly effective marketing, sales, or publicity strategy each presenter has implemented recently. After presentations conclude, the room will break into small group discussions with each presenter. The panel celebrates the achievements of university press marketing teams and will spark creativity and collaboration between presses.
Chairs: Susie Chavez, Marketing Specialist, Stanford University Press; Michelle Sybert, Assistant Director, University of Notre Dame Press
Panelists: Rachel Aldrich, Associate Marketing Manager, The MIT Press; Katie Baker, Marketing Director, University of Oklahoma Press; Erik Beranek, Marketing Assistant, University of Pennsylvania Press; Allison C. Belan, Director for Strategic Innovation and Services, Duke University Press; Andy Etzkorn, Campaign Strategist, University of California Press; Sara Fan, Marketing Coordinator, University of California Press; Sebastian Frye, Advertising Graphic Design Coordinator, University of Toronto Press; Maritza Herrera-Diaz, Metadata and Social Media Manager, Columbia University Press; Teresa Iafolla, Author Marketing Communications Manager, University of California Press; Adrienne Meyers, Promotions Manager, University of Chicago Press; Sarah Munroe, Acquisitions Editor and Marketing Manager, West Virginia University Press; Kate O’Brien-Nicholson, Associate Director, Marketing and Sales Director, Fordham Press; Rachel Rosolina, Marketing and Publicity Manager, Indiana University Press; Joe Tobin, Web and Print Producer, University of California Press; Peter Valelly, Electronic Marketing Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania Press; Chloe Wong, Product Marketing Manager, University of California Press; Jolene Torr, Assistant Director of Marketing, University of California Press
UDC Catholic Room
This session will be recorded.
In 2022, readers no longer need bookstores to buy books. What, then, is the role of the bookstore and how can we build a deliberate, collaborative model that supports discovery, culture, and community? Two visionary booksellers from local bookstores will be in conversation with two university press marketing directors to explore the ways in which bookstores are reimagining their work for the 21st century, and how UPs might continue to leverage this critically important cultural institution to reach readers.
Chair: Jeff Deutsch, Director, Seminary Co-op Bookstores
Panelists: Scott Abel, Solid State Books; Hannah Oliver Depp, Loyalty Books; Carrie Olivia Adams, University of Chicago Press
GWU Room
A lack of first-generation, low-income, racial and ethnic, gender and sexuality, and ability diversity are widespread within our publishing industry. A tradition of unpaid internships, restrictive education and experience requirements, network preferences, interview biases, low pay, insufficient opportunities for mentorship, and unrealistic relocation expectations have created barriers to entry that reinforce this closed ecosystem. Even once inside the ecosystem, insufficient support often leads to staff turnover. So how can academic presses—no matter their size, location, budget, university policies, etc.—retool their own practices to advance diversity in their organizations? Panelists will have a conversation about their own processes and programs and routinely asking the hard question of how they can be more equitable, just, and inclusive. From the development of internship programs to changes in recruitment, hiring, and retaining permanent employees, they’ll discuss barriers, opportunities, and strategies as well as how such initiatives can provide leadership and development opportunities for staff or extended to publishing partners (freelancers, vendors, etc.) to support and nurture the diversity that already exists in the industry. The goal of this session is to generate and share concrete ideas—from the panelists, but also from attendees—that we can all take with us and implement at our home presses.
Panelists: Diem Bloom, Director of Publishing Operations, Johns Hopkins University Press Books; Kristen Elias Rowley, Editor in Chief, The Ohio State University Press; Davida G. Breier, Director of HFS and Co-Director of Marketing and Sales, Johns Hopkins University Press Books; Erica Woods Tucker, Production Coordinator, Duke University Press
Georgetown Room
Libraries and University Presses have produced many OER projects and open textbooks. Learn how they are supporting the creation of openly licensed materials for use in the classroom. What opportunities exist and how can we take advantage of them? This panel incorporates voices from different sizes and located presses and libraries. This will be a collaboration lab where we can group attendees together, reconvene, and have takeaways.
Panelists: Romi Gutierrez, University Press of Florida; Perry Collins, University Press of Florida; Anita Walz, Virginia Tech Library; Bonnie(BJ) Robinson, University of North Georgia Press; John Morgenstern, Clemson University Press
Congress Room
3:45pm – 4:15pm
Refreshments and Networking with Vendor Showcase
4:15pm – 5:30pm
Concurrent Sessions
Though not a new topic, sustainability in book publishing has taken on renewed urgency as concerns about climate change have grown. More than 100 organizations, including AUPresses and several university presses, have signed the IPA’s Publishers Compact, committing to work on one or more of the U.N.’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This year, efforts to promote sustainability have taken center stage at events like the London Book Fair, touching on issues as diverse as the carbon footprint of overseas printing and the feasibility of moving to locally produced, on-demand fulfillment of print products.
With mission statements that often align with the core principles of sustainability, university presses’ biggest challenge may be to keep up with what is happening and where we are headed. Members of this panel will provide an overview of their current sustainability efforts, then identify opportunities that would benefit university presses. The panel will also share thoughts about how to work with partners, suppliers, and press staffs to embrace opportunities and prepare for the potential impact of climate change.
Moderator: Brian O’Leary, Book Industry Study Group
Panelists: David Hetherington, Books International; James Gray, Kortext; Ashley Gordon, HP, Inc.; Valerie Guagnini, Cambridge University Press
GWU Room
As university presses, we rely on experienced in-house and freelance professionals to complete our many essential and everyday tasks and processes. Freelance hiring is done primarily from Editorial, Design, and Production (EDP), and our freelancers often perform a first or final read-through of each of our published titles. They address lingering structural or substantive issues, correct grammar/syntax and typos, and clean up reference formatting.
Developing lists or pools of active freelance developmental editors, copy editors, and proofreaders is crucial to the smooth operation of a university press and the production of books that meet press standards. But how do we—acquisitions, production, and manuscript editorial departments—go about not only managing and maintaining a quality list of editors, but growing our lists of freelancers and bringing in new voices? How do we cultivate areas of expertise that complement, enhance, or even inspire list strengths, strategies, and goals?
This panel explores three major areas of editorial strengths: maintaining a diverse group of editors and proofreaders to meet specific list needs; bringing in newer freelancers to become regulars; and budgeting and scheduling concerns as we seek to hold on to our favorite freelancers. Join us as we unpack the ins and outs of the all-important freelance editor/proofreader pool, as well as allow time for professional feedback and tales from the field.
Chairs: Susan Karani, Senior Production Editor, Stanford University Press; Tim Roberts, Senior Production Editor, Stanford University Press, and Principal, Field Editorial
Moderator: Tim Roberts
Panelists: Jenya Weinreb, Director of Editorial, Design, and Production, Yale University Press; Ellen Satrom, Director of Editorial, Design, and Production, University of Virginia Press; Charles Brower, Senior Project Editor, Journals, Duke University Press; Lisl Hampton, Senior Project Editor, Books, Duke University Press
Congress Room
Recently, the scholarly publishing community has been engaging productively with how identity informs peer review and the imperative to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our review and acquisition policies. For example, over the past two years, the Acquisitions Editorial Committee has been revising and updating the AUPresses Peer Review Guidelines. The updated handbook includes guidance on maintaining equity in the peer review process, information about various forms of peer review, and more material on evaluating digital projects and translations. The committee took particular care to integrate material on equity and inclusion throughout the handbook and to reflect on the acquisitions editor’s role and responsibility in promoting equitable practices. But, what does equitable peer review really look like in practice? How have member presses changed their peer review practices, or are they considering how best to make changes? Where are we finding reviewers, and how are we compensating them? To avoid bias, can (or should) we attempt fully anonymized or open review in the humanities? What changes have yielded results, and what still needs work? This collaboration lab is meant to invite transparency and discussion and around equitable approaches to the hallmark of scholarly publishing, peer review.
These questions will be discussed in breakout sessions with the following potential topics:
- Strategies for expanding your reviewer pool, reading reviews for potential bias (and deciding what to do with a biased review), and writing reader questions to ensure readers consider equity, justice, and inclusion.
- Deciding how and when to forego peer review, ensuring anonymity versus undertaking open review, and ensuring transparency about the peer review process (for example, publishing statements outlining the process in the book and/or on the press’ website)
- How to fairly compensate for reviews and balance deadlines with the needs of authors, how a press’ faculty/editorial board might factor into discussions on equity, justice, and inclusion, and how to ensure equity as an acquisitions editor when you’re not an expert in the field in which you acquire.
Panelists: Courtney Berger, Executive Editor, Duke University Press; Ruth Lane, Editor, Getty Publications; Karen Levine, Editor-in-Chief, Getty Publications; Kitty Liu, Editorial Director, Comstock Publishing, Cornell University Press; Peggy Solic, Senior Editor, Rutgers University Press
Georgetown Room
Mastering the art of book publishing has always involved on-the-job learning, and the pandemic has challenged even seasoned professionals by hastening the speed of change and requiring them to pick up tasks in new areas. Returning to the office makes this an especially apt year to start fresh, rethink the ways we work, or seek out new sources of knowledge or skills. A safe space for those who might feel a twinge of imposter syndrome, this lab will give people a judgment-free zone to ask questions about topics they’ve never quite understood before, or to get answers to questions they didn’t even realize they had. This will be a conversation-driven session. Each round table in the room will be dedicated to a particular niche of UP publishing (acquisitions/editorial, production/design, marketing/sales, publicity/social media, business/royalties). Each table will have a designated “subject matter expert” who can field questions from those at the table about their given area. We want this lab to be practical and hands-on, giving participants concrete training and advice that helps them feel better equipped upon returning to their home presses.
Chair: Rebecca Allen, Texas Christian University Press
Panelists: Marketing/Sales—JD Wilson, Northwestern University Press; Production—Juliet Williams, Ohio State University Press; Publicity/Social Media—Cameron Ludwick, University of Texas Press; Acquisitions/Editorial—Sarah Munroe, West Virginia University Press; Business/Royalties—Jami Clay, University of North Carolina Press
Capitol Room
The Library of Congress CIP Program supports US libraries and has provided prepublication bibliographic metadata since 1971. CIP Program staff will explain the CIP application process, beginning with the application submission through the sending of the CIP data block.
Panelists: Catherine Eiche, CIP and Dewey Program Specialist, US Programs, Law and Literature Division, Library of Congress; Constance Pierce, CIP Program Specialist, US Programs, Law and Literature Division, Library of Congress; Camilla Williams, CIP and Dewey Program Manager, US Programs, Law and Literature Division, Library of Congress
UDC Catholic Room
This session will be recorded.
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Committee Fair and Networking
Are you interested in learning more about serving on an AUPresses Committee or Task Force? Join us for this cocktail hour, where representatives from various AUPresses Committees and Task Forces will be available to tell you more about the goals of their committee, what it’s like to serve, how to get involved, and answer any other questions you might have about committee service.
Marquis Foyer
7:00pm – 9:30pm
Juneteenth Celebration
Join us for a special reception and banquet in honor of Juneteenth with Toni Tipton-Martin, author of Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking; and The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, who will be speaking on The Jemima Code and the Future of Food Writing.
Marquis 5-6
Monday, June 20
7:00am – 5:00pm
REGISTRATION
Registration desk is open.
M1 Foyer
7:00am – 8:45am
Breakfast
Start your day with a continental breakfast spread in the conference dining room. Marquis 5-6
Special breakfast groups will gather in assigned breakout rooms. Monday gatherings include:
- LGBTQIA+ Networking
Marquis Salon 13 - Small Press
Marquis Salon 12 - Mellon Fellows
Marquis Salon 14 Open Access Table
Marquis 5-6Multimodal Digital Monographs: White Paper Launch
Marquis Salon 15
Brown University and Emory University present Multimodal Digital Monographs: Content, Collaboration, Community, a white paper resulting from a spring 2021 summit that convened scholars, institutional support staff, and representatives from university presses. Eight case studies of enhanced monographs either recently published or in development provided the platform for in-depth, evidence-based discussions on the most pressing concerns and challenges facing stakeholders in digital scholarly publishing today.
8:00am – 5:00pm
Mentorship Lounge
Meeting space for participants in the AUPresses Mentorship Program.
Galludet Room
9:00am – 10:15am
Concurrent Sessions
Motivated by a commitment to equity and inclusion as well as a desire to meet our university’s WCAG standards, presses are increasingly attentive to the need to create books, journals, and promotional materials that are accessible to everyone, including people with print disabilities. The good news is that creating accessible content is now easier than ever. Still, many of us remain unsure about what we need to do to make our materials accessible, or have taken some steps but not others, or have run into problems or are having trouble scaling up our efforts. This session will provide an opportunity to hear from staff at presses that have implemented at least some measures to create accessible content to learn what they’re doing and how; what they’re not yet doing and why; and what they plan to do next to make their publications more accessible.
Moderator: Emily Zoss, Managing Editor for Research Publications, National Gallery of Art
Panelists: Donovan Kūhiō Colleps, Journals Production Editor, University of Hawaiʻi Press; Julia Cook, Production Editor, University of Rochester Press; Jennifer DiDomenico, Editorial Director, University of Toronto Press; Hope LeGro, Assistant Director, Georgetown University Press; Mark Lerner, Production and Design Manager, Fordham University Press; Lisa Quinn, Director, Wilfrid Laurier University Press; Sara Thaxton, Production Coordinator, University of Arizona Press
UDC Catholic Room
This session will be recorded.
The Mellon University Press Diversity Fellowship Program, now in its sixth year and final year, has the goal of diversifying the pipeline of publishing professionals within the AUPresses, particularly within acquisitions departments. This panel features the 2021-2022 fellows from the six partner presses (MIT, Cornell, Ohio State, Northwestern, Chicago, and Washington), who will share their perspectives and offer insights and advice to newcomers and others about their experiences. The panel will have an interview format, and will highlight tips and wisdom for those newer to university press publishing as well as for those working as mentors and managers to fellows within diversity-oriented programs and with newer university press staff more broadly. As the final cohort within the Mellon University Press Diversity Fellowship Program, the fellows will also reflect on important work for the future, including making headway on issues of retention and how to most effectively build future pipelines.
Moderator: Dominique J. Moore, Acquisitions Editor, University of Illinois Press
Panelists: Chad Attenborough, Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow, University of Washington Press; Suraiya Jetha, Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow, The MIT Press; Robert Ramaswamy, Acquisitions Editor, University of Wyoming Press; Fabiola Enríquez, Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow, University of Chicago Press; Jameka Williams, Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow, Northwestern University Press; Jacqulyn Teoh, Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow, Cornell University Press
Capitol Room
What makes born digital journals different from print journals or even hybrid models? Are they the future of academic journal publishing or simply another passing fad? This panel seeks to explore the increasing emergence of born digital journals and what they mean for the future of journal publishing and academia. What are the advantages and disadvantages of publishing born digital journals?
Moderator: Jason Gosnell, Deputy Director, Marine Corps University Press
Panelists: Chris Blaker, Managing Editor, Expeditions; Dr. Lynette Shultz, Co-Editor, Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education; Erica Finch, Scholarly Communication Librarian, Utah State University; Prof. Dr. Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Alfredo Mac Laughlin, Associate Professor and Chair, Philosophy Department, St. Ambrose University
GWU Room
Social platforms Twitter, TikTok, and Meta – to name only a few – drive modern communication and present a rich space for academic analysis. But social media sources complicate the already nuanced fair use landscape. What should publishers recommend authors do when social content is simultaneously copyright to the original poster, self-contained, and a critical source in a groundbreaking academic argument? When is permission sought, what icons are trademarked…and do fair use factors even apply to memes? This panel will allow publishers to share their experience with these questions even as social technology is outpaces the relevant copyright caselaw.
Chair: Elisabeth Maselli, University of Pennsylvania Press
Panelists: Clara Totten, Georgetown University Press; Angelica Lopez-Torres, University of Texas Press; Aurora Bell, University of South Carolina Press; Kerin Ogg, Duke University Press
Georgetown Room
This panel brings together university press leaders responsible for HR decisions in a topical discussion. The panelists will explore how different kinds of university press currently determine classification and compensation for positions and create pathways for advancement, the challenges of doing so in different organizational contexts, and the opportunities for improving how positions are classified and progression between positions supported. Most university presses are nested within higher education contexts in which publishing roles are poorly understood. This means that roles are mapped to “university work families” that may be very generic and not offer good pathways to advancement. Because of its “accidental profession” characterization, university press publishing has not developed the levels of skills-based certification that librarianship, for example, has. Understanding university press publishing in a broader context may help publishing professionals get the career support they need and provide advocacy tools for university press directors to create change at their institutions. The session will also provide an update on the work of the AUPresses and Society for Scholarly Publishing Joint Task Force on Career Progression.
Moderator: Charles Watkinson, University of Michigan Press
Panelists: Christie Henry, Princeton University Press; David Aycock, Baylor University Press; Kate Danser, Princeton University Press; Catherine Cocks, Michigan State University Press
Congress Room
10:15am – 10:45am
Coffee Break and Vendor Showcase
Browse the Exhibit Hall and enjoy the vendor showcase: Workflow Considerations for Accessible ePubs. More >
10:30am – 5:00pm
Book, Jacket, and Journal Show Display
Selected entries for the AUPresses 2022 Book, Jacket, and Journal Show will be on display throughout the meeting. A catalog of selected books and journals will be available free of charge to meeting registrants.
Marquis Foyer, M2 Level
10:45am – 12:00pm
Concurrent sessions
Panelists will discuss strategies and processes for onboarding new editors and work together to outline a toolkit attendees can customize to suit their own journals programs.
Moderators: Julie Warheit, Journals Manager, Wayne State University Press; Sarah Weicksel, Director of Research and Publications, American Historical Association
Panelists: Heather Munson, Senior Production Editor, University of Illinois Press; Michael Regoli, Director, Publishing Operations, Indiana University Press; Emily Taylor, Journals Manager, The Ohio State University Press
UDC Catholic Room
This session will be recorded.
As scholarly publishers, our day-to-day IP licensing activities are filled with inquiries involving permissions requests, translation & reprint rights, serialization, and audio licensing: rights managers have become real pros in these specific areas.
But when it comes to optioning our IP for a possible TV series or a feature film project, we pause and wonder who to reach out to seek advice on how to best handle a producer’s interest in our book. How should we be handling such requests? What questions should we be asking the producer? Should we involve the author? An agent? What elements should we consider when negotiating the option? What are the different steps and stages in the process?
In this panel, we will aim to answer these questions and provide a map to help us navigate the complexities of TV/Film rights licensing.
Chair: Inés ter Horst, Director of Rights, Contracts and Permissions, Princeton University Press
Panelists: Angelica Lopez-Torres, International Rights Manager, University of Texas Press; Sue Berger Ramin, Director, Brandeis University Press
Congress Room
As open access publishing by university presses has become more widespread, concerns have persisted that smaller presses and smaller institutions will be left behind due to lack of resources and administrative support. Meanwhile, it is clear that there is mounting pressure from authors and administrators to make content open, so how can small presses be empowered to pursue OA options despite the challenges? This collaboration lab seeks to provide information and the opportunity for brainstorming that will empower small presses to move from being spectators to drivers of the conversation around OA publishing. Featured speaker John Sherer, Chair of the AUPresses Open Access Committee, will help review the current landscape, laying the groundwork for a conversation on platforms, tools, and approaches in light of scalability and resourcing. At the very least, press staff should come away from this lab with a better sense of how they might make OA publishing work at their own press. The conversation will ultimately move toward brainstorming potential solutions from within the small press community aimed at allowing for greater, more equitable participation in OA publishing.
Co-Chairs: Julia Oestreich, Director, University of Delaware Press; Elizabeth Scarpelli, Director, University of Cincinnati Press and CLIPS
Featured Speaker: John Sherer, Director, University of North Carolina Press
GWU Room
Inside metadata, looking at data for both trade and libraries, this panel unravels how books look in the world. We will touch on cataloging for libraries with interdisciplinary works and why metadata can be tricky for both marketing and acquisitions and discuss best practices and tips from colleagues. A librarian will explain current challenges with both for-sale and OA titles in their catalogs. We will present as a case study how one or a few presses’ metadata is created, curated, then processed through the scholarly ecosystem. This panel will be sure to take into account how minority voices within academia, presses, and the library system are impacted by the structures set in place.
Moderator: Becky Clark, Library of Congress
Panelists: Alejandra Mejía, Duke University Press; Martin Warzala, Baker & Taylor; Alistair Morrison, Johns Hopkins Library; Peter McCracken, Electronic Resources Librarian, Cornell University
Capitol Room
Book pitches are fundamental in publishing—especially for marketing and sales teams—yet there are rarely opportunities for feedback or to see how others structure their pitches. This collaboration lab brings together internal and external pitch experts to provide instructions on crafting a great pitch. In the second half of the panel, attendees will have the opportunity to present pre-prepared pitches in small groups, receiving feedback from fellow attendees and the facilitators, and to discuss best practices and tips.
Panelists: Michelle Sybert, Assistant Director, University of Notre Dame Press; Catherine E. Hobbs, Sales Consortium Manager & Southern Representative, Columbia University Press; Michelle Blankenship, Blankenship Public Relations
Georgetown Room
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Luncheon
Speaker: Shelly C. Lowe, National Endowment for the Humanities Chair, via video recording
Marquis 5-6
1:30pm – 2:00pm
Exhibit Hall Open and Vendor Showcase
Browse the Exhibit Hall and enjoy the vendor showcase: Using Data to Support University Presses and Create Sustainable OA Publishing Models. More >
2:00pm – 3:15pm
Concurrent Sessions
There are many different paths to a successful career in university press publishing. Yet the majority of university press employees work on relatively small teams and may have limited exposure to different ways one may build a career, resolve a professional issue, or learn about new opportunities. This collaboration lab, sponsored by the Professional Development Committee, will invite attendees to share their unique experiences in building professional support networks, focusing on different career stages (early career, mid career, late career) and different types of careers (acquisitions, marketing & publicity, production & design, manuscript editorial, administration, rights & permissions).
Co-Chairs: Christian Pizarro Winting, Columbia University Press; Bethany Wasik, Cornell University Press
GWU Room
Join the AUPresses design community in celebrating the newest iteration of the annual book show. Our panel of industry-leading jurors will be joined in conversation by BJJS Committee Chair Barbara Neely Bourgoyne (LSU Press) to shed light on their thoughts on this year’s selected entries. This panel is intended to open up a conversation about how the university press community designs books, covers, and jackets; how we evaluate our work; and how we can best promote exceptional design practices. The first half of the panel will be set up interview-style and the second half will be a mix of comments from the jurors about specific books and questions and comments about the same from the audience.
Moderator: Barbara Neely Bourgoyne, Louisiana State University Press
Judges: Lisa Hamm; Stephen Coles; Lucy Kim; Tim Green
UDC Catholic Room
This session will be recorded.
Scholars are using increasingly diverse digital technologies to express their research. Publishers, in turn, are working to evolve their platforms and services to support publications that integrate dynamic features such as data visualizations, multimedia, maps, and more. In this effort to keep up with the creative demands of scholars, publications may evolve in ways that present a serious challenge to preserving or even sustaining them in the long term.
In a project funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and led by NYU Libraries, a group of digital preservation institutions, libraries, and university presses collaborated to study examples of these dynamic forms of scholarship. The project, Enhancing Services to Preserve New Forms of Scholarship, resulted in a set of guidelines that will help publishers, platform developers, and digitally-oriented scholars make their work more preservable. In this collaboration lab, project team members from NYU Libraries, Portico, Michigan Publishing, and the University of Minnesota Press will present the guidelines and discuss their experiences with preserving complex digital books. The group will then facilitate a discussion among attendees about preservability of digital publishing at university presses.
Facilitators: Daniel Ochsner, University of Minnesota Press; Karen Hanson, Portico; Jeremy Morse, Michigan Publishing; Angela Spinazzè, ATSPIN Consulting
Georgetown Room
Open Access book publishing is gaining momentum. Initiatives like TOME and Knowledge Unlatched have been joined by new models like Fund to Mission from Michigan Publishing and Direct to Open from the MIT Press. But can university presses of all types and sizes make OA books work? This workshop will focus on sharing knowledge UPs have gained through the development and implementation of OA books models, as well as experience and insight from the library and aggregator perspectives. The goal is to discuss, exchange insights, and provide information that might help UPs find the right pathways for sustainable OA book publishing at their press. The workshop will include:
- Details on newly developed OA books business models, their rationale, background, and approach.
- Discussion of both the positives (what’s worked, etc.), as well as the challenges and work still to do.
- Space for discussion and brainstorming on how existing models might be adjusted and adapted to other presses needs.
Chair: Amy Harris, Senior Manager, Library Relations and Sales, MIT Press
Workshop Facilitators/Presenters: Kristen Twardowski, Director of Sales, Marketing, and Outreach, University of Michigan Press; Elizabeth Demers, Editorial Director, University of Michigan Press; Alison Bradley, Director of Strategic Initiatives, PALCI; Wendy Queen, Director, Project MUSE
Capitol Room
Peer review is integral to scholarly journals, and yet this important work is rarely publicly acknowledged. How are university presses recognizing peer review? What are they doing to make peer reviewers feel appreciated—and to motivate them to continue performing this essential service? This roundtable seeks to bring together professionals working on journals that represent a range of fields, from a variety of presses, for a generative discussion about what journals and publishers might do to acknowledge peer reviewers.
Chair: Julie Warheit, Journals Manager, Wayne State University Press
Panelists: Douglas Eyman, Senior Editor and Publisher, Kairos; Michael Cornett, Michael Cornett, Editor, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies; Cheryl Ball, Digital Publishing Consultant; Executive Director, CELJ; Taylor Dietrich, Author Services Manager, Cambridge University Press
Congress Room
3:15pm – 3:45pm
Coffee break and Closing Announcements
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for a final networking opportunity, Prize Drawings, refreshments, and closing announcements. Sponsored by MDPI.
Marquis 7-10
3:45pm – 5:00pm
Closing Plenary
Publishing for Racial Justice: A Meditation on Copyright Equity in Academic Publishing
Speaker: Professor Anjali Vats, JD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Despite recent turns to center the authorial works of diverse creators, including creators of color, publishing houses continue to serve their historic gatekeeping function. This keynote considers the structural role that book contracts for copyrighted works, including in academic contexts, serve in sustaining existing hierarchies of power and privilege. It argues that the book publishing industry’s management of contracts and copyrights reinforce racial inequity by: 1) normalizing settler colonial politics of Empire rooted in British imperial printing practices, 2) embracing a copyright system—including its tendencies toward long periods of copyright protection, regulated rights of distribution and circulation, and contracts negotiated with large firms—that is historically and empirically structured in favor of white cishet male authors, and 3) contributing to messaging about increasing “diversity” without actually investing in structural changes. This talk thus calls for publishers at academic and trade presses to rethink the economic and political investments of their practices in order to identify and remedy obstacles to intersectional equity in the production of books.
Marquis 1-5