University Press Publishes Books That ‘Make Waves’

Books published by the University of Arizona Press may not be candidates for the best seller list, but director Stephan Cox says the state-supported printing house still fills an important role.

UA Press publications vary from the easy reading “Hashknife Cowboy,” the story of a 20th Century Arizona ranch hand, to “Chinese Theater in the Days of Kubla Khan,” translations of three plays written three centuries before the birth of Shakespeare.

Many of the books printed by UA Press never gain a wide audience or make money, but that doesn’t bother Cox.

25th Year in Business

“The audience for a specialized book may be very small,” Cox said. “It’s not uncommon for a university press, or sometimes even a commercial outfit, to publish a book that has an audience of 500.”

He said books are printed for a small readership if the printers believe the work will “make waves.”

Cox said his printing operation is particularly interested in books that reflect the efforts of Arizona scholars or explain the state and its people to others.

The UA Press just completed its 25th year in business with a rapidly expanding list of published titles. Despite its name, the publisher--officially an arm of the University of Arizona--does not serve just the Tucson school.

It also publishes materials by researchers at Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University, as well as sources outside the education field.

One consideration in deciding what will be printed, Cox said, is what the book will mean to other scholars and even to other authors. For instance, Cox said the popular author, James Michener, routinely reads scholarly works in preparation for a new novel.

His main considerations in declaring a book a success, Cox said, are what reviewers say, whether the book is cited in footnotes in later publications and if the material contributes to a dialogue among scholars in the field.

With a university press, money can’t be the main consideration for either the author or the publisher, Cox said.

“We’re not supposed to make money and we don’t,” he said. “We try to operate with the help of grants so we can break even overall on our total costs.”

Besides state appropriations and grants from such agencies as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the UA Press receives donations from individuals interested in a particular subject.