Andrea Gapsch, Acquisitions Editor at Purdue University Press, reports on visiting Ohio State University Press
Rationale for visit
As a recently promoted acquisitions editor working to grow key lists at Purdue University Press, I was keen to shadow an established acquisitions editor, Kristen Elias Rowley at Ohio State University Press, a peer press in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. I wanted to learn more about proactive acquisitions, developmental editing, open access strategies, and metadata practices, as well as workflows that I am completely unaware of as an early careerist.
Summary of experience
Kristen Elias Rowley (Editorial Director) hosted me, answered my questions, initiated longform discussion, and introduced me to the staff. Additionally, I met with Tara Cyphers (Assistant Director, Managing Editor, and Acquisitions Editor), Tony Sanflipppo (Director), Becca Bostock (Associate Editor), Olivia Sergent (Marketing and Publicity Assistant), and Samara Rafert (Publicist and Marketing Manager). I attended an internal committee meeting about an advance contract and an all-staff meeting, which included a manuscript transmittal/launch.
Lessons learned
Time management: OSU Press incorporates several small changes to effectively manage their list size (50 books per year) as a small press. One tactic is for acquisitions editors to use the peer reviewers as “blurbers” for scholarly manuscripts, instead of securing new endorsements. Another is to limit developmental editing with scholarly works. Finally, the acquisitions department only schedules standing meetings on Tuesdays through Thursdays, to allow for dedicated time for acquisitions research, manuscript editing, and related tasks on Mondays and Fridays.
Growing a list: OSU Press employs advance contracts about 50 percent of the time to stay competitive as a small press. They use an “internal committee memo” to vet projects for the acquisitions team, pulling comparable books and running preliminary prices and costs for these advance contracts. Kristen’s philosophy is that if an author is shopping around, a nudge or follow-up from an editor may encourage the scholar to go with that press.
OSU Press started an exciting new series by pulling editors and concepts from one of their successful journals. They drew on local institutions, such as museums, for resources. Kristen also shared criteria for the most effective series editors with me.
OSU Press’s acquisitions team focuses on conferences where they make significant sales or where they will find new authors, since conference attendance is expensive. Kristen makes a point to schedule no more than five author meetings per day to maintain adequate time to meet potential authors spontaneously at the booth, as well as not taking lunches during the conference lunch break. She recommended using Microsoft Bookings to schedule meetings and limiting back-and-forth emails. She noted some editors use the plenary to mingle and as a point of discussion when potential authors come to the booth. She has also submitted a proposal for a panel on publishing with a published OSU Press author and another editor.
One very comforting philosophy I learned was that despite the patience required to grow a list—and outside delays such as a pandemic—an acquisitions editor who is passionate about their field will succeed in publishing worthwhile and exciting books in that field.
Subventions: One of my biggest takeaways was how OSU Press thoughtfully employed asking authors for subventions for every scholarly book. They kindly shared their language and gave me research ideas for finding a scholar’s institutional funding.
Alt text: OSU Press shared their workflow (asking the authors to generate alt text, on which the acquisitions editor signs off) and their guidelines for authors.
Metadata: In addition to a word-limited book description field in their Author Questionnaire, OSU Press includes a field where the author can explain the work in as many words as they need. I think this could be very helpful for editing trickier copy.
Internships: All OSU Press internships are paid, and the press has even partnered with a local college that provided funding in exchange for offering publishing internships. Though remote internships are the most accessible, they should be supported by a designated daily check-in.
A final observation: I had the opportunity to experience my residency simultaneously with another Week in Residence grant recipient, Tyler Balli from Ohio University Press. It was very beneficial to have another person there asking questions that didn’t occur to me.