More University Presses to Close

Last week I mentioned that Northeastern University Press was shutting down. The Christian Science Monitor has a more in-depth article about the decision, and further bad news.

Northeastern is not alone. The University of Idaho has announced that it is closing its press July 1, when the deficit will total $385,600. And the University of Georgia Press faces a possible loss of $289,329 in state support, half of its annual state subsidy.

University presses are facing higher production costs and lower bookstore sales. In addition, libraries, whose budgets have been cut in recent years, don’t place as many orders as before. This is all quite depressing–university presses are one of the few places that publish books a bit different from what you’d see in the mainstream.