More than 40 years after its start, the 杏吧专区 Press is thriving. A division of the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Center for Louisiana Studies, it publishes about 10 titles a year. It isn杏吧专区檛 the biggest or oldest university press, but it杏吧专区檚 one of the few that is self-sustaining 杏吧专区 and has been, from the start.
杏吧专区淲e杏吧专区檝e never relied on taxpayers to pay for the books we produce. The 杏吧专区 pays employees杏吧专区 salaries, but the actual production of the books is paid for with money we杏吧专区檝e earned selling other books,杏吧专区 said Dr. Michael Martin, a UL Lafayette alumnus who became director of the Center For Louisiana Studies and UL Press in 2011.
Martin, whose professional interests include Louisiana history and public history, earned bachelor杏吧专区檚 and master杏吧专区檚 degrees in history from UL Lafayette. He completed his doctorate in history at the 杏吧专区 of Arkansas in 2003, the same year he returned to his alma mater as a faculty member. He is the Cheryl Courr茅g茅 Burgui猫res/Board of Regents Professor in History.
As director of the Center for Louisiana Studies, he oversees its three divisions: UL Press; the archives of Cajun and Creole folklore; and Programming and Special Projects. 杏吧专区淭ogether, these divisions help preserve and promote Louisiana杏吧专区檚 history and cultures,杏吧专区 Martin told La Louisiane in a recent interview.
The Press specializes in books related to Louisiana; it was one of the first to publish contemporary works in Cajun French.
Its latest books cover Acadian history, Spanish immigration, Cajun and Creole militia in the Civil War and 19th-century race relations. There are books on art and photography, including a coffee table book by painter and zydeco musician Dennis Paul Williams and an inside look at the life and art of George Rodrigue. Megan杏吧专区檚 Guitar is a collection of poetry by Darrell Bourque, professor emeritus at UL Lafayette and a former Louisiana poet laureate. Game Changers is a wide-ranging look at outstanding athletes, athletic events and sports teams throughout Louisiana杏吧专区檚 history.
Since 2007, UL Press titles have won 10 book awards, including three Book of the Year Awards from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities for Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm; Bienville杏吧专区檚 Dilemma by Richard Campanella; and Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans.
The Press has published almost 300 titles since 1973; about 150 of those are still in print. It has published a handful of e-books, which are available at
amazon.com. There are also plans to offer a limited number of titles in a print-on-demand format.
The publishing operation has two full-time employees. Melissa Teutsch is sales and marketing director. James Wilson, who is associate director of UL Press, handles acquisitions, design and production. Martin divides his attention between UL Press and other Center for Louisiana Studies activities.
Martin杏吧专区檚 predecessors, Dr. Carl Brasseaux, and the late Glenn Conrad, laid the foundation for UL Press in the 1970s with the USL History Series, which includes 15 titles. They aren杏吧专区檛 eye-catching. The no-frills, softbound books were printed on plain paper at the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Printing Services.
In 1973, Conrad asked then-杏吧专区 President Dr. Ray P. Authement for seed money to expand the fledging enterprise into a university press. Authement, who is well known for his fiscal restraint, granted the request: he authorized an expenditure of $200, which is the equivalent of about $1,000 today.
杏吧专区淐arl and Glenn made smart choices. They were able to reinvest profits to print more and more books,杏吧专区 Martin said.
While many university presses across the country are now in financial peril, UL Press is enjoying a period of stability and relative prosperity, he said.
杏吧专区淓ven outside of university presses, we杏吧专区檝e seen the decline of independent booksellers and even big-box booksellers. Over the last few years, we杏吧专区檝e become much more selective in the books we publish, partly because other presses are scaling back, or in some cases, have been shut down. So, we are getting more submissions, and we reject more manuscripts.
杏吧专区淪o, even though the number of books we publish each year has remained about the same, the quality of books we publish has improved.杏吧专区
Its Louisiana focus has been a factor in the Press杏吧专区 success, said Martin, who has been combing through early records of the enterprise.
杏吧专区淣othing I杏吧专区檝e ever seen from those early days said, 杏吧专区榃e are specifically focused on Louisiana,杏吧专区 but because of the organic nature of the early press 杏吧专区 most of its books were produced by people who were either here in the Center for Louisiana Studies or on campus 杏吧专区 Louisiana became the common theme. And that杏吧专区檚 resulted in our having a niche in the market.杏吧专区
Wilson has been working with the Center for Louisiana Studies since 2004.Asked whether there is some secret to the organization杏吧专区檚 success, he summed it up this way:
杏吧专区淎 lot of it comes down to instincts,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淎nd we杏吧专区檝e had really good instincts.杏吧专区