As I write, I am returning from four days in the incredible and inspiring company of the AUPresses community. The spirit of our collective is working to rebuild itself around the chasm created by the loss of one of its finest craftsmen, Mark Saunders. Mark knew how to create a compelling book, as a publisher, and as an author. And he knew how to make those books impactful, from their content and form, to building the bridges they needed to travel to the book reader and buyer. As the beloved and poignant #WeAreUP tributes this week to have shared, Mark’s early craft was in bookselling, and he carried with him (along with catalogs and advance reading copies) a beautifully honed recognition of the importance of authentic and generous collaboration.
The art and science of bookselling at PUP is defined by such collaborations, and their energy and passions are fueled by consortial teams of sales representatives that we support with peer presses. If you visit Seminary Coop Bookstore, and encounter a Princeton University Press title on its coveted front table, it’s because Lanora Haradon has visited the Chicago store to enjoy incredible conversations with Jeff Deutsch or Adam Sonderberg about the PUP list. And if you strolled past the Harvard Book Store recently, you might have delighted in the Princeton Publisher Focus window, thanks to Karen Corvello’s ingenuity. Patricia Nelson’s passion for bookselling put her on the finalist list for sales representative of the year in 2019; thanks to her, readers in Los Angeles can learn How to Win an Argument at Skylight Books. In addition to the knowledge and joy these rep rapports generate for PUP, they also represent our peer presses @mitpress and @YaleBooks, comprising a consortial partnership (University Press Associates) managed deftly by our three @aupresses sales directors, including Timothy Wilkins at Princeton University Press.
Just as these collaborations inspire and impact the Press and our books in North America, so too does a multi-press sales partnership in Europe, the University Press Group. Jointly supported by @MITpress, @ColumbiaUP, @UCPress, and @PrincetonUPress, this UPG team, now managed by former Thames and Hudson and Ivy Publisher Simon Gwynn, is expanding the European reach of each of our presses, and expanding sales horizons for our books. Working with our international sales director Andrew Brewer, Simon and a team of three full-time sales representatives have cultivated robust relationships with UK and European booksellers. The Ancient Wisdom books greet those who seek classic “how to” advice books at Blackwell’s in Oxford thanks to Ben Mitchell’s bookselling wisdom. In Barcelona, one can venture to La Central and find Lina Bo Bardi: Drawings at La Central, placed in that store by Dominique Bartshukoff, who travels from the Netherlands to Portugal in search of bookstores. Near the Sorbonne, Peter Jacques has ensured that PUP titles like The House of Government still resides in the specialist history bookstore Libraire des Belles Lettres, and in Belgium that The Lives of Bees created a buzz at ACCO booksellers.
With each of these consortia, PUP books and their authors travel in minds, hearts, and suitcases of an incredible team of colleagues. Their enthusiasm and expertise provide a bridge much like those that Mark Saunders crossed so ably, from creator to consumer, from passionate publisher to enthralled reader. And, like Mark, they do so as beloved colleagues whose intelligence and expertise (and powers of persuasion) animate life and reading the world over.
—Christie Henry, Director
Sales conference, Autumn 2019