A state of affairs
Changes afoot at University of New Mexico Press
Next year, the University of New Mexico Press is scheduled to celebrate its 90th birthday, but some observers wonder if there will be many happy returns. The state’s largest book publisher is at a crossroads, making contentious decisions in hopes of preserving its well-respected publishing program. The press is imperiled by falling sales, debt, and the changing landscape of bookselling. If the rescue effort fails, the loss of UNM Press will have a significant consequence on New Mexico cultural life, as well as affecting smaller publishing houses in the state that depend on the press for distribution.
On the UNM campus, Richard W. Clement, the dean overseeing the changes at the press, is optimistic. “This gives the press a second chance and a new beginning,” he said. The reactions of publishers and authors, however, range from skepticism to vocal opposition. Lois Rudnick, an author whose books have been published by both the UNM Press and the Museum of New Mexico Press (which is distributed by UNM Press), is convinced that the first steps being taken are part of a larger scheme to eliminate the press entirely. “If they close the press,” Rudnick said, “there will be holy hell to pay.” UNM Press may be the purveyor of well-reasoned, scholarly tomes, but the debate over the plans for its future is passionate and vociferous.
Created by the Regents of the University in 1929, UNM Press is among the nation’s oldest university presses, and a member of the original group that created the Association of University Presses in 1937. Over the years, it has gained a highly regarded reputation for books on archaeology, anthropology, Western history, Latin American and Native American studies, as well as photography. Among its most successful and well-known books are The
Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday and the paperback edition of the controversial The Education
of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, which has sold more than a million copies.
But the last two decades have been turbulent for UNM Press, along with book publishing in general. The recession, an overall decline in book sales, the advent of e-books, and the changes in retailing caused by Amazon and other market forces have made for a challenging period. Sales are now up and stores are healthier, but the damage done lingers, particularly among certain university presses. While many of the more than 140 members of the Association of University Presses (AUP) are currently having their best year, others are struggling, according to Peter Berkery, executive director of the association. “But those affiliated with public institutions are feeling the financial pressure more acutely,” Berkery said.
In 2012, Missouri University leaders closed their press, hoping to redirect the $400,000 annual subsidy to other purposes, until a public outcry forced a change of mind. In 2016, state leaders in Illinois deemed one university press “nonessential” and cut the budget of another press in half. In 2017, Kentucky’s governor proposed closing the University Press of Kentucky. Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University Press, two years older than UNM Press, ceased publishing new works last fall. The tightening of public budgets has caused libraries, once the most reliable customer for university press books, to trim their purchases. The decreased demand for the standard “print monographs” — or single-subject books — has been devastating for a considerable number of presses. At the University of Michigan Press, revenues of $3.3 million in 2004-2005 fell to $1.7 million in 2015-2016.
AT UNM Press, the fall in sales has been similar, declining from $4 million in 2005-2006 to $2.3 million in 2015-2016. The decline prompted cutting staff from a high of 29 employees to 22 in 2017 (unfilled vacancies have reduced that number further to 19), reducing the number of books published annually to 50, and raising prices by an average of $3.65 per book. The university also chose not to renew its employment contract with John Byram, who had been the press’s director for seven years. To take his place, associate director Richard Schuetz was elevated to interim director. “The publishing business has changed immensely and we need to change with it,” said Schuetz, who has been with the press for 16 years. “We still want to be important and support the local community, but we want to stay in business.”
In Utah, the small Utah State University Press, launched in 1972, followed a reorganization plan that many other university presses have also selected by placing its operation under the university library. The dean of the Utah State University libraries who proposed merging the press with the library was Richard Clement, who is now the dean for the University of New Mexico’s College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences. Not long after arriving on the UNM campus, Clement commissioned a lengthy study to examine the feasibility of merging the press with the library. He asked the consultants to develop a five-year plan, with consideration to be given to outsourcing various aspects of the press’s work. To prepare the report, he engaged two people with whom he had worked at Utah State University: Darrin Pratt, director of the University Press of Colorado/Utah State University Press, and Michael Spooner, its associate director.
Their conclusions about the financial health of UNM Press turned out to be the same as those drawn by three previous consultants over the past five years. The consultants, who included directors of university and scholarly presses, were surprised to learn of the unusual financial relationship between the university and its press. In all but a few years, UNM had chosen not to subsidize the press.
On average, according to various national surveys, university subsidies provide between 17 and 23 percent of total press revenue. “University presses of all sizes require parent institution support if they are to survive and fulfill their mission to publish serious scholarship and quality general interest books,” noted consultant Lynne Withey, director of University of California Press. But instead of a providing a subsidy, UNM permitted the press to run an annual deficit, which was treated as a debt owed to the university. So by 2017, reports sent to the regents made it seem as if UNM Press owed $7 million to the university, a sum confirmed by Clement.
In writing their 35-page report, the 2017 consultants picked up on this theme from the start. They decided to make their initial point clear by setting it in boldface italics: “There is simply no such thing as a university press book publishing program that is self-sustaining on book sales alone.” (The exception to that rule would be Oxford and Cambridge University Presses, both of which operate as profitable companies.) In an interview, report co-author Pratt said that UNM Press’s problem was compounded by the university’s long-standing practice of permitting a deficit rather than providing a subsidy. “That’s the biggest challenge,” Pratt said, “and frankly, it is not the university press’s problem to solve.”
The turmoil and the comings and goings of the various consultants sparked rumors throughout the second half of 2017 that variously claimed the press was going to “sell off” its warehouse, pulp its books, move its operation to the basement of the library, and be run by a part-time professor. The university remained silent about its plans; only in the past month has it showed its hand. Unlike the reports of the three previous consultants, which had been filed away, it was decided that the Pratt and Spooner recommendations would form the basis of a rescue plan. On Feb. 2, university officials signed a memorandum of understanding that the College of University Libraries and Learning Services, the university, and the press would adopt the main recommendations. The report, said the memorandum, “provides a roadmap to putting the Press on a firm foundation for the future.”
Broadly speaking, the plan’s recommendations have five main components. ▼ The first is to adopt the solution Clement undertook at Utah State by bringing the press into the College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences with it reporting to him. This step took effect on March 1, Clement said. This administrative change is becoming increasingly common on college campuses. Approximately 33 percent of the AUP membership is part of the university library, according to AUP’s Berkery. The approach often places the press under a more sympathetic university leadership, along with providing access to cost-savings infrastructure and technology and sometimes even fundraising assistance, Berkery said. “It’s not difficult to lay out on paper the case that the synergy justifies the realignment.”
Charles Watkinson, associate university librarian for publishing and director of the University of Michigan Press who was engaged as a consultant in 2015, was unconvinced it would be a suitable solution in this case. “There does not seem to be any compelling financial advantage in integrating the Press and Library in the particular context of UNM,” he wrote, “especially when the Library itself is facing a number of budgetary challenges.”
But Clement is insistent it’s the right and possibly the only solution. “We have missions that align — the distribution of knowledge,” he said. Since his days as an undergraduate, Clement has been involved in various aspects of scholarly publishing. “I’m the only person here who actually had press background, interest, and the information to do this,” he said. “If I didn’t do this at this juncture, the press will go down.”
But some, like author Rudnick, are distrustful of the move, voicing a fear that other writers have expressed at universities where the libraries are aggressively promoting what is called “Open Access” publishing, the term used for making works available free of charge on the internet. “His interest is not in books but in digitizing and making information free to all comers,” Rudnick said, “which is not exactly good for authors of books, e- or print.” ▼ The second aspect of the plan is to eliminate the debt through a financial sleight of hand. The $7 million debt will be placed on the ledger of academic affairs and will no longer be on the press’s own ledger, according to Clement. “It is money that should have been paid as a subsidy and never was.” How this maneuver will be accomplished is not clear, especially as the regents are facing criticism for a plan to similarly eliminate the athletic department debt. ▼ Third, the university has pledged to include a $350,000 subsidy for the press in this coming year’s budget, to be presented to the regents, and to make it a legislative priority to obtain a permanent subsidy, like that provided to the published at UNM. “The Press can justly claim to be the State’s publisher and much of its output is aimed at reinforcing Southwestern cultural and historical identity and promoting New Mexico,” said consultant Watkinson in his 2015 report. “If the Legislature does not provide the subsidy, then we have to take a long, hard look at what to cut back,” Clement warned. “I will not take on debt. I would jettison the press before that happens.” ▼ Fourth, a new director will be hired after a national search. When a new director is selected, he or she will be charged with making editorial decisions to streamline the 50 or so books published annually with a greater eye to increasing sales. This will most likely mean an end to a number of costly books that range from photography to low-selling books of poetry. But there is no other viable solution than to be more strategic in selecting what books to publish, according to interim director Schuetz. “There is a lot of support for the press, both within the university and within the community, but it has to get into a position where it can sustain itself.” The
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changes already made have resulted in an increase in sales and the press is running a modest surplus, although it is likely to disappear when unsold books are returned for credit from bookstores later this spring. ▼ Finally, the press will now outsource its distribution and fulfillment operations. The distributor chosen by UNM Press as of press time is said to be Longleaf Services, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.To outsiders, this business decision regarding the storage, shipping, and billing of books may seem of little consequence; yet it is the change that has stirred the most debate and attracted the most criticism. UNM Press has selected one of three main distribution companies that have been created by university presses to provide economies of scale and consolidate customer service. “From the university and the press’ standpoint,” Schuetz said, “it looks like a good move financially.”
After completing a cost analysis, Schuetz reported that the 2016 UNM Press budget allocated $179,000 for customer service, $219,000 for its warehouse operation, and $133,000 for the building lease. Its more than 30 client publishers brought in $203,000, leaving the press with a net cost of $328,000 for warehousing, fulfilling orders, and distributing books. UNM Press will save $200,000 from its current in-house costs in its first year with Longleaf, both Schuetz and Clement predicted. “When all the fees are accounted for, the effective rate for our agreement with Longleaf will be about 10 percent of sales,” Schuetz said. However, this calculation does not reflect all of the costs associated with using Longleaf. For instance, Longleaf will pay 10-percent commissions to its sales representatives, as did UNM Press when it had its own sales force. On average, the three main not-for-profit university press distribution services retain 25 percent of net sales, according to a longtime industry expert. “We’ve been fortunate to have a very good distribution operation,” Schuetz noted, “but it is a fixed cost. When sales go up, that’s okay, but when sales decline, that’s difficult.”
“There are many, many positive outcomes to outsourcing the warehouse that people don’t see,” said Pratt, whose report did not necessarily recommend it for UNM. In the case of his own publisher, the University Press of Colorado/Utah State University Press, Pratt said being distributed by Chicago Distribution Services has been a positive move. “There is strength in numbers,” he said. UNM Press’s client publishers will “get some services that UNM Press alone can’t provide.” While exact numbers are hard to obtain, a large majority of university presses have given up distributing their own books. Looking at his membership, AUP’s Berkery said it is an undeniable trend.
Now that UNM has selected a distributor, its client publishers will have to decide if they wish to follow, create their own in-state distribution center, or go it alone. “Those that come along with us will not sign a separate contract. Fees should not change,” Clement said. Longleaf, the distributor, has pledged to move their inventory at no cost to the presses, subject to parsing out some of the slowest-selling titles, according to Clement.
“Of course, I am worried,” said Anna Gallegos, director of the Museum of New Mexico Press. Founded in 1951 to publish books related to the collections in the Museum of New Mexico — and more generally to the culture of the state such as folk art, Native Americana, and the Hispanic Southwest — the publisher depends on UNM Press to get its books to market. Gallegos’ greatest concern is that moving the distribution of her books out of state has the potential to impact her press’s income. The publisher has only just recovered from a $200,000 drop in annual sales during the recession. MNM Press now sells approximately $400,000 of books a year, making it UNM Press’s largest distribution client.
Gallegos fears New Mexico bookstores may be forced to pay more for shipping MNM’s books because of the distribution point’s distance. Booksellers, operating on thin margins, may choose to order less frequently or obtain the books from wholesalers. As wholesalers get larger discounts from publishers than bookstores do, this would cut into the press’s income. “Also, not having local customer service will have an impact,” said Gallegos, who related how some stores actually choose to restock their books by picking them at the current UNM Press warehouse. Smaller accounts, like gift shops in Chimayó or at the Inn at Loretto, may simply chose to cease stocking the books entirely, according to Gallegos. Martha Egan, whose Papalote Press is distributed by UNM Press, is already opposed to the idea. “As an author and bookseller,” she said, “this outsourcing idea is dimwitted, short-sighted, impractical, and inconvenient.” Like Gallegos, she believes moving the books out of state will cost her customers money.
The School for Advanced Research (SAR), which has published more than 300 books since its founding in Santa Fe in 1907, is taking a wait-and-see approach to the press’s changes. “At this point, however, the university seems committed to preserving the press. That’s a major win for UNM and for New Mexicans in general,” said Michael F. Brown, president of SAR.
Very few university presses who have moved to consolidated distribution points have gone back to selling their own books. And each distributor has publishers whose customers are long distances away. For instance, Baylor University Press in Waco and the University of Washington Press in Seattle use Hopkins Fulfillment Services in Baltimore. Kathryn Conrad, director of the University of Arizona Press, whose books are distributed by Chicago Distribution Services, said bookstores in Arizona remain supportive of the press. “Our customers,” she said, “have the benefit of combined shipping with many other publishers and many receive orders faster than before due to our distributor’s central location and their ability to quickly implement new technology to meet ever-changing industry needs.”
It’s not clear that the additional costs that concern Gallegos and others will actually dampen sales. At Santa Fe’s Collected Works Bookstore, owner Dorothy Massey does not consider having to order books from one of the distributors a disincentive. They offer discount schedules equal or better than industry averages. “I’m not concerned about the additional freight,” she said. Stores that don’t want to buy books from the UNM Press’s new distributor can also purchase them from Ingram, one of the nation’s two largest wholesalers. Combined orders of 15 or more books receive free shipping.
One fear regarding the closing of the UNM Press warehouse — the loss of jobs — won’t materialize. Of the five current employees, two have chosen to retire and the remaining three have been promised other jobs at the university, according to Dean Clement.
But all of the steps being taken or planned — from moving to a distributor to streamlining the publishing program — will continue to skirt the endemic problem facing UNM Press and all university presses, for that matter. Sales alone will not keep UNM Press afloat if it is to continue its historic role as a scholarly publisher of books that commercial publishing houses avoid. There is nothing on the horizon, according to industry observers, that will stem the slow and steady decline in sales for these kinds of titles. As a result, university presses will print fewer and fewer copies, be forced to raise cover prices because of higher unit costs and, in turn, the higher price tags will further dampen sales.
Clement and his critics will continue their battle over how to run UNM Press, how to sell its books, and which ones to publish. But the one thing upon which they agree is that UNM Press cannot survive without a subsidy. “No academic press can survive without support,” Rudnick said. That decision will rest with state legislature and UNM’s leadership.
At the Museum of New Mexico Press, Anna Gallegos frets about what may happen. “The preservation of New Mexico culture is the mission of many books we put out,” she said. If UNM Press is weakened, it will have a ripple effect. “New Mexico’s arts, culture, and education sectors would greatly suffer if our regional publishers were pushed out of business.”