Category: The Book Biz

Celebrating the first annual University Press Week!

Welcome to the first annual University Press Week! Taking place November 11-17, 2012, University Press Week highlights the extraordinary work of university presses and their many contributions to culture, the academy, and an informed society. It is sponsored by the Association of American University Presses (AAUP). Continue Reading Celebrating the first annual University Press Week!

Kathleen Purvis: Preparations of a Book-Signing Novice

As a first-time book author facing book-signing events, I’m going to have to sign my name in books that people are buying. (At least I hope so. Otherwise, I’ll get a lot of practice sitting at little tables and smiling cheerfully while people ignore me.) Continue Reading Kathleen Purvis: Preparations of a Book-Signing Novice

Vicky Wells receives 2012 AAUP Constituency Award

We are very happy to share the news that UNC Press director of contracts and subsidiary rights Vicky Wells was presented with the AAUP 2012 Constituency Award at the annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses last week in Chicago. The AAUP, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is comprised of 134 nonprofit scholarly presses. The award… Continue Reading Vicky Wells receives 2012 AAUP Constituency Award

Manteo Booksellers, flooded during Irene, needs your help

Independent bookseller Steve Brumfield of Manteo Booksellers asks for assistance after Hurricane Irene flooded the store. Please contact NC Sen. Kay Hagan. Continue Reading Manteo Booksellers, flooded during Irene, needs your help

It’s time for our Spring ’11 titles to take the Page 99 Test–I hope they studied.

It’s been a while since we’ve put any of our books to the Page 99 Test.  Let’s make up for lost time, shall we?  Just as a refresher, the Page 99 Test follows Ford Madox Ford’s suggestion to “open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you.” Read on to… Continue Reading It’s time for our Spring ’11 titles to take the Page 99 Test–I hope they studied.

Introducing DocSouth Books!

UNC Libraries & UNC Press are collaborating for DocSouth Books, available Fall 2011. Popular texts from DocSouth will be in e-book & Print-On-Demand format. Continue Reading Introducing DocSouth Books!

Remembering Reynolds

  Today, we leave you with a lovely essay by Georgann Eubanks, author of Literary Trails of the North Carolina Mountains and Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont.  Here, she writes about the life and work of Reynolds Price–what he meant and continues to mean to her, to all of us readers, to North Carolina, and the world of… Continue Reading Remembering Reynolds

Look Out for Lookout Press, a new literary publisher in our state

North Carolina has a new publishing house! It’s true, and we’re happy to announce it here.  We’ve just heard that UNC Wilmington, Ecotone, the Creative Writing Program’s literary magazine, and the Publishing Laboratory at the University, have joined forces to help create and foster Lookout Books, under the direction of Emily Smith and Ben George. This new house is an… Continue Reading Look Out for Lookout Press, a new literary publisher in our state

UNC Press to Publish Books Online through JSTOR

We have some exciting news to share with you. As the Chronicle of Higher Ed and Inside Higher Ed have hinted over the past couple of days, UNC Press is one of five university presses (so far) that are teaming up with online academic content provider JSTOR to make scholarly books available online in a new venture called “Books at… Continue Reading UNC Press to Publish Books Online through JSTOR

Highlights from First Amendment Day 2010

UNC celebrated its second annual First Amendment Day yesterday, and as predicted, it was an absolute smasheroo. The day began with the weather exercising its freedom of expression with sheets of rain, but only a few of the events were shifted inside before the drizzling tapered off. The events kicked off with a planting of a symbolic Liberty Tree next… Continue Reading Highlights from First Amendment Day 2010

Banning Books is Alive and Well in America

The following are rulings on and objections to books in the last year.  Read on to see which books these are. 1. “The teacher must appropriately prepare students for parts of the book that may be considered provocative; limit the book to juniors and seniors; should a parent object to the book, board policy is currently in place that allows… Continue Reading Banning Books is Alive and Well in America

Erica Eisdorfer: Reader, Writer, Bookseller, Defender of Your Freedom to Read

As we kick off Banned Books Week, we welcome a guest post today from someone committed to the freedom to read. Erica Eisdorfer is more than just a booklover, she’s a novelist and a bookseller, too, and she’s had first-hand experience on the censorship front.–ellen Banned Books Week 2010 is the 29th annual celebration of our freedom to read. The… Continue Reading Erica Eisdorfer: Reader, Writer, Bookseller, Defender of Your Freedom to Read

Celebrating Banned Books Week 2010

We’re revving our engines in anticipation of Banned Books Week 2010, which starts tomorrow and runs through October 2. Banned Books Week is a weeklong celebration of the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. The project is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the… Continue Reading Celebrating Banned Books Week 2010

Virtual Library Advocacy Day

If you love a book, you probably love a library. Do something to help keep public libraries around. Today more than a thousand librarians and library advocates headed to Washington, D.C., for their annual library lobby day. On the agenda for their discussions with their representatives is the request for funding the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at $300… Continue Reading Virtual Library Advocacy Day

The History of the Book: The Long and Short of It

The Wall Street Journal‘s got a breezy and abbreviated history of the book all wrapped up in this entertaining six-minute video. Check it out: A fun, snappy little glimpse at a four-hundred-year history, no? But if you want the full history of books in America in all its juicy detail, you can find it in (ahem) actual book form as… Continue Reading The History of the Book: The Long and Short of It

Books, Trails, and More: Visit Hendersonville This Weekend!

The Blue Ridge Book Fest began today and will run through Saturday, June 5, at the Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC. The free event opens its doors at 8:15 Saturday morning and the programs run strong until the end of the fest at 4 p.m. More than thirty authors will be in attendance, representing genres from adventure… Continue Reading Books, Trails, and More: Visit Hendersonville This Weekend!