Shrinking Library Market Poses Challenge to University Presses
Laura Waldron’s life is publishing. An author, a publisher and the marketing director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Press, Waldron offers a perspective on academic publishing that is uniquely well rounded.
After an internship at Carnegie Mellon Press piqued her interest in publishing, she cut her teeth in sales and marketing for Princeton University Press and eventually represented 15 different university presses in the Mid-Atlantic territory as a trade sales representative. Today, she is closing in on her 10th anniversary with Penn Press and is the author of “Museums of Philadelphia: A Guide for Residents and Visitors,” which was published in 2004 by Westholme Publishing, a company she and her husband founded. An independent publisher of American and European history and culture, military history, sports, and regional interest, Westholme will publish 20 titles this year and is expected to gross more than $1 million by the end of 2008.
Matt Steinmetz is the publisher and brand director of Publishing Executive.