After its subsidy was slashed in half, the Ohio University Press decided to start a three-year reorganization process beginning with three outside evaluations.
Three external reviewers - Robbie Dircks of the University of North Carolina Press, Mark Saunders of the University of Virginia Press and Alex Holzman of the Temple University Press - visited the Athens campus Fall Quarter to evaluate the press' finances, marketing and overall management.
OU paid each external reviewer $2,000, and a total of $2,394.13 was spent on travel and accommodations for the three visits.
Last year, OU cut the press' subsidy from $360,000 to about $180,000 for fiscal year 2011, said Kevin Haworth, visiting faculty and coordinator for special programs. Haworth was named executive editor for a three-year term, which began in September, after the provost's office decided to fire David Saunders, former director of the press.
(The press) was in bad shape. (Saunders) revived it ... and he did a fantastic job
said Tom Carpenter, the Charles J. Ping professor of humanities. Times change; what the provost saw was that the press needed new blood.
The press started the reorganization in June 2010 when a review committee, chaired by Carpenter, turned in recommendations for the press to the provost's office.
Following the reviews, Editorial Director Gillian Berchowitz, Business Manager Kristi Goldsberry and Haworth began meeting regularly.
One thing that happens in those types of meetings is that print runs are set and the marketing department and the business manager and the editors get together and they create a consensus around a publishing plan for a book
said Mark Saunders. In the absence of that
the biggest symptom is that you overprint. You end up with way more books than you're going to sell.
Because these meetings had never previously occurred, the press has a surplus of books - a result of overprinting.
To help get rid of some of the excess books, the press will be holding a 70 percent sale on all inventory books until Jan. 21, said David Descutner, associate provost for undergraduate studies. After that, the leftovers will be pulped or destroyed, he added.
The cost to pulp a book at the distributor was set to become $0.05 after Jan. 1, Descutner said, but after receiving an extension, the press will be able to pulp books for free for the time being.
Other recommendations the OU Press plans to focus on include strengthening its presence on campus, fundraising and participating in the Association of American University Presses annual survey.
Since the reorganization began, the press has held cover design contests for OU students and started the Cecil Hemley Society, a group consisting of individuals who donate at least $1,000 dollars a year to the press. The friends of the press will be invited to special events twice a year, said Carpenter.
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Pat Holmes
