More than 40 years after its start, the 小蝌蚪APP Press is thriving. A division of the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Center for Louisiana Studies, it publishes about 10 titles a year. It isn小蝌蚪APP檛 the biggest or oldest university press, but it小蝌蚪APP檚 one of the few that is self-sustaining 小蝌蚪APP and has been, from the start.
小蝌蚪APP淲e小蝌蚪APP檝e never relied on taxpayers to pay for the books we produce. The 小蝌蚪APP pays employees小蝌蚪APP salaries, but the actual production of the books is paid for with money we小蝌蚪APP檝e earned selling other books,小蝌蚪APP 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小蝌蚪APP檚 and master小蝌蚪APP檚 degrees in history from UL Lafayette. He completed his doctorate in history at the 小蝌蚪APP 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. 小蝌蚪APP淭ogether, these divisions help preserve and promote Louisiana小蝌蚪APP檚 history and cultures,小蝌蚪APP 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小蝌蚪APP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小蝌蚪APP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小蝌蚪APP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小蝌蚪APP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小蝌蚪APP檛 eye-catching. The no-frills, softbound books were printed on plain paper at the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Printing Services.
In 1973, Conrad asked then-小蝌蚪APP 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.
小蝌蚪APP淐arl and Glenn made smart choices. They were able to reinvest profits to print more and more books,小蝌蚪APP 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.
小蝌蚪APP淓ven outside of university presses, we小蝌蚪APP檝e seen the decline of independent booksellers and even big-box booksellers. Over the last few years, we小蝌蚪APP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.
小蝌蚪APP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.小蝌蚪APP
Its Louisiana focus has been a factor in the Press小蝌蚪APP success, said Martin, who has been combing through early records of the enterprise.
小蝌蚪APP淣othing I小蝌蚪APP檝e ever seen from those early days said, 小蝌蚪APP榃e are specifically focused on Louisiana,小蝌蚪APP but because of the organic nature of the early press 小蝌蚪APP most of its books were produced by people who were either here in the Center for Louisiana Studies or on campus 小蝌蚪APP Louisiana became the common theme. And that小蝌蚪APP檚 resulted in our having a niche in the market.小蝌蚪APP
Wilson has been working with the Center for Louisiana Studies since 2004.Asked whether there is some secret to the organization小蝌蚪APP檚 success, he summed it up this way:
小蝌蚪APP淎 lot of it comes down to instincts,小蝌蚪APP he said. 小蝌蚪APP淎nd we小蝌蚪APP檝e had really good instincts.小蝌蚪APP