Ronald Chrisman is Director and Editor-In-Chief of UNT Press where he has served since 2000. Below are answers from an interview conducted by myself and fellow classmate, Veronica Jones.
1.
Was it always your ambition to become a
publisher or did publishing just happen?
I would say the latter, I’d
always enjoyed books, reading books growing up but I didn’t intend in going
into the world of publishing. When I got started I ended up just kind of
dropping into it and that seems to be anecdotally what I hear a lot of other
people in publishing saying that happened. That they kind of dropped into it,
but grew to love it.
2.
How did you get your start in publishing?
My start was at Syracuse
University Press back in 1988. I just took a job as the Editorial Assistant
there when I saw it open up on the campus job board. Everything just went from
there, I learned on the job. I was a Psychology major with a History minor, I
got my Master’s Degree in Social Science with a focus on History.
3.
How is technology changing print culture
regarding publishing?
That would probably be the big
“E-book” issue. Yeah, over the last decade or more the whole culture of
publishing has been changing to not just offer a print format for reading in
hard cover or paper back but to also offer it for electronic consumption. For
the whole book or parts of it that can be consulted in an online database.
Also, coupled in with that is printing techniques have increased with
electronic products all the way down to one of the On-Demand printing. So
there’s kind of two concurrent issues going on with electronic technology and
how we do books.
4.
How many books/prints have you published
personally?
Here at North Texas, we do an
average of about 18 books a year, sometimes 20, mostly hardcovers and
paperbacks.
5.
What steps did you have to take to be in the
position you are in now?
First thing was just getting
starting. You get started at an entry-level job. I got started as an editorial
assistant, and then I soon got moved into the full time doing acquisitions. At
that point I was just learning on the job when I was at Syracuse. To continue
in the field what you tend to have to do is be willing to move around. So I spent
about 5 years at Syracuse and then I made it up to Assistant Editor there and
then I was at University of Oklahoma Press for 7 years. After that I went to
Director and Editor-In-Chief at North Texas, since 2000. You have to have a
willingness to move around and get experiences at different publishing houses
is how you tend to move up in the business.
6.
What do you think reading and authorship will
look in ten years?
Authors will have to keep up with
current trends and know how to market themselves. It’s important for them to
know their market and how to deliver to it. They will have to be engaged in the
evolving social media and be able to reach a wide audience through it. You have
to have a following.
7.
What do you think publishing will look like in
10 years?
Consumption will be available on
multiple platforms and will become even more of a simultaneous process. It will
be technology-driven and consumers will have the option as to whether they want
the full manuscript of the material or just bits and pieces. Authors will
8.
How do you feel about authors that self-publish?
Depending on your market, it’s
better for some people to self-publish. If you are writing a book about your
family ancestry or a topic that is specifically catering to one group, an author
is better off self-publishing in order to get the material out. I do support
author’s self-publishing their work.
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