THE PUBLISHING ROLE combines business decisions (and details) with the vision. It's a whole career for most people who enter it. Granted, someone has to take on the responsibility of saying Yes to some projects and No to others. In the for-profit publishing business, publishers get used to saying No almost all the time, because of the large investment in time and money for any publishing project.
IF YOUR COLLEGE has, or is setting up, a university press, then your publishing usually is subsidized by 10-15% by the university. You won't be getting blockbuster novels and your market will be small; however, the college "universe" is remarkably steady, with educators who must keep up with their field.
THE VISION FOR A UNIVERSITY PRESS tends to be narrow — niche publishing for professors at your university, if the books are suitable for class assignments (guaranteed sales, year after year). And a university press may choose to concentrate on one specialty area, in order to build a reputation that will continue to draw writers in that field.
YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE for legal and financial issues, day-to-day managerial tasks, and solving crises large and small. You will no longer be an author, at least in your publishing enterprise.
HARDLY ANYONE PLANS to be a publisher. In a way, it's the job of last resort — someone has to do it. Ultimately, everyone involved depends on you.
YOU HAVE ONE JOB: to make the publishing decision — to publish, or not. Listen to the editors "selling" you on a project, and listen to the marketers calculating how many people would buy it in how short a time.
Bandanna Books • 1212 Punta Gorda St., #13 • Santa Barbara CA 93103
Copyright © 2009 Bandanna Books
