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The University of Georgia Press is celebrating 75 years of publishing this year.    (Richard Hamm/Staff) OnlineAthens / Athens Banner-Herald
Richard Hamm/Staff

The University of Georgia Press is celebrating 75 years of publishing this year. (Richard Hamm/Staff) OnlineAthens / Athens Banner-Herald

Local News

After 75 years, the University of Georgia Press stacks up

Georgia’s largest book publisher celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

The University of Georgia Press, started in 1938 with the publication of “Segments of Southern Thought,” has become prominent in the world of university presses for its publishing blend of scholarly work and regionally-focused titles.

“The press has a very strong reputation for publishing serious but accessible history, and that brand extends to our other disciplines as well,” said UGA Press director Lisa Bayer.

Whether the focus is literary, historical or environmental, the press’ titles are scholarly, but well written with little jargon, Bayer said. She noted the press is best known for the quality of its regional coverage, which has meant a bevy of ecologically-centered volumes, a topic that Bayer called a “natural fit” for the press representing the state’s flagship university.

For a book to meet the UGA Press criterion, the manuscript and the author undergo several steps of vetting. The work is reviewed by anonymous readers — professional peers — who offer their thoughts to the author, creating a dialogue between the author, the anonymous reader and the editor. The process always drums up questions about the text, Bayer said. Next, the press staff must reach an internal consensus to move forward with publishing the title. Finally, the manuscript is read by the press’ 12-member board comprised of UGA faculty. The board meets every other month and has the power to reject a manuscript, but rarely do, said Bayer.

“We try to invite board members who represent the different disciplines that we publish,” she said.

Disciplines covered by the UGA Press include natural history, African American studies, geography, Southern studies and international relations, among many others.

About 80 percent of UGA Press titles are considered scholarly, Bayer said, but an interest in trade titles, some with food as a theme, have crept into the catalog in the last decade. That movement reflects an attempt to “try to find those areas of intense saturation of interest and build out.”

Technological advances like print-on-demand have minimized the risk of publishing, Bayer said. Less risk gives the press a bit of breathing room in determining a publishing triumph.

“Success to me is when we use the resources we are given by the university to reach as many people as we can and being good stewards of the scholarship and the resources,” Bayer said.

The UGA Press is celebrating its anniversary by attending multiple literary and publishing conferences and festivals.

• Follow arts and entertainment reporter André Gallant on Twitter: @andregallant and at www.facebook.com/GallantABH.

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