Kathryn Conrad on University Press Publishing
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What is university press publishing and why does it matter?
Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps. So I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the best education podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author, Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share. A map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast at occulehyphenmundi.com while you listen.
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Hello everybody, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the editor of the New Books Network, and I'm very pleased that we have Catherine Conrad today. Catherine is the president of the Association of University Presses. And if you listen to the New Books Network, and I know you do, you know that we do a lot of university press books. In fact, I think we've done about 5,000, maybe more, maybe close to 6,000 at this point, and we're very happy to to do that. We're big supporters of the university presses and what they do. Their mission. Their mission is more or less identical to ours, and that is public education. We try to bring scholarship and good research to the people of the world. So Catherine, welcome to the New Books Network.
Thanks, Marshall. Really happy to be here for University Press Week.
That's great. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Yes, I um am a career scholarly publisher. I got the publishing bug actually when I was in high school working for my high school newspaper. But was really fortunate very soon after graduating from college to find a job at the University of Missouri Press in Columbia. where I was just my eyes were opened. I had always thought I might end up working in academia, but university press publishing is this amazing bridge between academia and the general public. I worked in marketing at the time. And sharing that scholarship and that research out to general readers was just something I was absolutely passionate about. and stayed there for about seven or eight years before I moved out to the southwest to Tucson, Arizona.
where I came to the University of Arizona Press first as marketing manager and came director became director about four years ago. Um and just absolutely love my work here. Different subject areas. Um the University University of Missouri Press. uh published in some classic university press fields like history and literary studies. that were my academic background, but coming out to Arizona I had the opportunity to branch out into archaeology and anthropology and a lot of uh interdisciplinary studies like indigenous studies and Latinx studies. Uh, all of which are just so important.
Well that's just terrific. And now you ha y you're wearing a new hat for your sins. I don't know if it's Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Yes, uh I am this year's president of the Association of University Presses and it's something I'm really happy to do because this association has been an important part of my career. It is an incredibly collaborative group of professionals. Sometimes we have publishers coming from commercial publishing environments into a university press environment. And they are stunned by how open everyone is to share information in a commercial environment.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is university press publishing and why does it matter?
0:00–4:43
2
How did Kathryn Conrad become a university press professional?
4:43–9:30
3
What does the Association of University Presses do for its members?
9:30–14:47
4
Why should scholars talk to university‑press editors early in the book process?
14:47–19:25
5
How do university presses collaborate and share marketing information?
19:25–23:46
6
What are the biggest financial and operational challenges facing university presses today?
23:46–29:15
7
How are university presses handling digital publishing, open‑access, and new technology?
29:15–34:20
8
What future directions and innovations are university presses exploring?
34:20–38:40
Speakers
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