Indiana University Press blog

Book review: Plato and the Question of Beauty

"Although 'beautiful' is not a usual term of praise in reviews, it is singularly apt in this case. If beauty, as Hyland shows to be the case in the dialogues, is the phenomenon most suited to awaken and energize the philosophic eros of the soul, then not only are Plato’s dialogues beautiful, but so too is Hyland’s new book about the dialogues, and precisely because it so clearly reveals their beauty. ... Hyland has brought the spirit of philosophy in the dialogues to life as few others have done—and so given us a gift very much in the spirit of Plato’s own." —International Journal of the Classical Tradition

September author events for Robin Hemley

Robin Hemley, author of the short story collection Reply All, has the following events planned for his book in September:

September 6

Hemley will read from Reply All at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City at 7 p.m. More information about the event is available on the Prairie Lights Bookstore website.

September 16

As part of New York City's Sunday Salon Series, which claims to offer "the Big Apple's tastiest prose each month," Hemley will be in NYC reading from his book. The event takes place at Jimmys 43 starting at 7 p.m.

Where's Whizzer?

Reunited and it feels so good

Meet Mollie Ables, Marketing Services Coordinator here at IU Press. In August of 2011, Mollie joined our fun-loving team at IU Press and met Whizzer, her new best friend—IUP’s only pink pony.

Little did Mollie know that throughout the year, someone from the eeeeeeeeevil marketing staff would hide her poor little pony, day in and day out.

On her one year anniversary, we thought it important to begin sharing Whizzer’s adventures with the world on Twitter (@iuppony). So follow Whizzer for daily updates on where she’s been and where she’s headed—and just how much we’ve been horsing around.

7 IU Press books named AAUP Public and Secondary School Library Selections

We are proud to announce that seven IU Press books have been named 2012 AAUP Public and Secondary School Library Selections:

1. Stolen Childhood, 2nd ed. by Wilma King
2. Al Capone and His American Boys by William J. Helmer
3. Beethoven in America by Michael Broyles
4. David Baker by Monika Herzig
5. Fighting for America by Jeremy Black
6. Defeating Lee by Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr.
7. FDR, Dewey and the Election 1944 by David M. Jordan

David Baker was also named an "Outstanding" title. According to the AAUP, titles with this rating "are considered exceptional by the reviewer."

Writes Gay Ann Loesch of the AASL: "This inspiring biography of a brilliant jazz musician takes us from his Great Depression years and his European band tours as a trombonist, to his composing and teaching career at Indiana University. Baker's passion for music and his knack for teaching dominate the writing. Black and white photos, music scores, arrangement techniques and quotes about Baker from other musicians and educators are a few of the unique features of this title. With this biography we come to discover a musician, a composer, a conductor, and an educator not with just text alone, but by listening to his compositions on the CD inside the back cover. So much more can be experienced and learned when you get to listen to Baker's music."

You can read more about the library selections on the AAUP website.

Book review: Kiev, Jewish Metropolis

"Meir has given us a penetrating study. His style of writing is clear and interesting. He knows how to tell a story, arouse curiosity, and sustain interest, a quality that so many academic studies lack. The book merits translation into Hebrew. It is a significant contribution to the historiography of East European Jewry and joins the list of other important studies on this subject that have appeared in recent years." —Jewish History

Greg Schwipps to appear at Rivertown Readings Series September 8

Greg Schwipps will read from his novel What This River Keeps as part of the Rivertown Readings Series. The event takes place at the Yeiser Art Center in Pacudah, KY, September 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Pat Hoefling grant winners report on experiences at AAUP: Part 2

We are pleased to have Mandy Clarke participate in a Q&A with us about her experience at the 2012 Association of American University Presses (AAUP) conference. She and Raina Polivka were recipients of professional development grants from the Pat Hoefling Memorial Fund.

What was the highlight of AAUP for you?
The highlight of the meeting for me was speaking on the regional publishing workshop panel. With a fixed number of attendees, the small space allowed for discussion and analysis that was not possible in the larger, shorter sessions. I spoke on the Building a Big Book portion of this panel, giving a presentation specifically about the quick turnaround to publish This Is INDIANA (within two weeks of the end of March Madness) and the challenges and opportunities this presented. There were many talented and knowledgeable panelists in this session, which was best summarized by Steve Yates of the University Press of Mississippi. “All happy, successful publishers are different; all unhappy, failing publishers are exactly alike. It’s time to stop trying to be some other press whose big books you admire. It’s time to become the focused, niche publishers whose breakout ‘big books’ arise organically from an already perceived and readily engaged market, and are scaled from the beginning to succeed within your publishing program, not someone else’s. Your big book only needs to be ‘big’ to you and in some ways to the author to succeed.” Very perceptive advice.

What are some of the most valuable things you learned at AAUP? What new ideas from AAUP will you incorporate into your job?
The workshop I attended on electronic marketing was remarkable. We will begin implementing a lot of the suggestions given in our next catalog, particularly regarding book trailers which the involved presses are managing to do on a zero budget by means of author resources. Trailers are created 4-5 months pre-publication, when acquisitions editors encourage authors to contact their universities, student interns, qualified friends, etc. to create trailers free of charge, and then brand the trailers with a before and after clip. The book trailers are then used on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as with QR codes in advertisements and in catalogs. They can also be employed by sales reps and bookstores hosting events. As a result of these ideas, IU Press now has a trailer for B.J. Hollars’s Sightings (spring 2013) and we are looking forward to the outcome. Another idea from the University of Georgia Press is to send its electronic marketing manager to conferences to interview and shoot footage of authors. This is the perfect opportunity to promote new series as a whole (in our case, the Break Away Books series would be first in line). It’s also an easy way to work with multiple authors in the same field at once, branding the series, and becoming a tool for both acquisitions and marketing purposes.

For those who haven't been to an AAUP meeting, give some reasons why you should go.
The most important reason to attend AAUP is pretty clear-cut in my opinion—the connections and the camaraderie. Attendees are a group of intelligent and confident individuals, more than willing and excited to share contacts and resources, particularly in the field of publicity.

Book review: Nationalist in the Viet Nam Wars

"[The book] is a first-rate contribution to correcting the record. Readers who approach Luan with their hackles well down will find a new and refreshing view of what happened in Vietnam from the end of World War II through 1975. ... [A]n essential read for those who seek to understand the complex tragedy of the wars of Vietnam." —ARMY Magazine

Pat Hoefling grant winners report on experiences at AAUP: Part 1

We are pleased to have Raina Polivka blogging for us about her experience at the 2012 Association of American University Presses (AAUP) conference. She and Mandy Clarke were recipients of professional development grants from the Pat Hoefling Memorial Fund.

Thanks to the Pat Hoefling grant, I was awarded the invaluable opportunity to attend the 2012 AAUP annual meeting in Chicago. This year’s theme, “Igniting the Future,” resounded throughout the conference as participants and attendees were abuzz with a collective energy to meet the newest challenges to academic publishing head-on. Perhaps the most inspiring aspects of the conference for me can be characterized in two ways: articulation and collaboration.

The articulation of the current state of scholarly publishing and the challenges awaiting us dominated each session, panel, address, and speech. While it is no secret that academic publishers have long been faced with obstacles of one kind or another—contending with trade publishers in the marketplace, working within tight budgets to meet institutional expectations and to maintain sustainability in a tenuous economy—this year was all about recognizing the crossroads in which we all find ourselves and the directions in which many of us are moving. Indeed, instead of discussing the potentials of electronic and multimedia publishing, we explored the realities of e-books and the many creative ways people are re-envisioning content production and consumption.

Which leads me to the spirit of collaboration infused throughout the conference: sharing best practices among presses, listening to and learning the changing needs of our clientele (both authors and readers), and building alliances with various entities in the industry. The most compelling discussions for me focused on the collaborations occurring between academic presses and their home universities. Whether it is in the creation of e-textbooks that supply the university with custom materials for students and faculty or the implementation of other creative initiatives that provide services to the university while also preserving, and even expanding, the mission of the press, strong partnerships are imperative for the future of publishing. 

Many of us working in academic publishing toil away in our offices, correspond through faceless email, and try to stay on target with one schedule in order to start another. There is a frenzy to it all and sometimes a feeling of isolation. Indeed, it is easy to lose sight of the larger publishing landscape and to feel disconnected from our colleagues. The AAUP annual conference is a way to re-connect and to foster new relationships; it leaves one with a profound sense of where we’ve been and where we are going; and it reminds us why we do this in the first place.

Despite the interesting panels and the many fascinating discussions, perhaps the most satisfying and inspiring moments for me were the conversations with my fellow IU Press colleagues that were generated from the annual meeting. We departed Chicago, energized and excited to employ some of the ideas we gleaned from the conference. A sentiment shared by all of us who attended the conference was that IU Press is in many ways already implementing much of what the publishing industry is calling for. One thing is clear: there is a wave of innovation rushing onward—and IU Press is on the crest of that wave.

Tomorrow we will hear Mandy's thoughts about the AAUP conference in Part 2 of this blog series.

Why America is not a post-racial society

Spike Lee recently discussed the concept of a post-racial America with CNN's Don Lemon.

Lee's view that racism did not disappear after Barack Obama was elected president is shared by three IU Press authors in their new books. In Nation of Cowards, authors David H. Ikard and Martell Lee Teasley show the paradox of Barack Obama’s historic rise to the US presidency and the ever-increasing social and economic instability of African American communities. They argue that Americans are no where near having a post-racial society, and that we as a country need to talk more about racism. You can hear more about the authors' ideas for starting productive conversations on race in this IU Press podcast.

Renowned social justice advocate john a. powell also agrees that we have not achieved a post-racial society. In his new book Racing to Justice, powell persuasively argues that there is much work to do to redeem the American promise of inclusive democracy. Culled from a decade of writing about social justice and spirituality, these meditations on race, identity, and social policy provide an outline for laying claim to our shared humanity and a way toward healing ourselves and securing our future. Watch him discuss race in this video: