Northeastern University Press, which announced earlier this year that it would close at the end of 2004, got a last-minute reprieve last month when it joined University Press of New England in Lebanon, N.H. "I think it's really wonderful," said UPNE director Richard Abel of Northeastern's decision to join the consortium. "There's a strong overlap in publishing areas." He cited Northeastern's strengths in criminal justice, New England titles and ethnic and women's studies. For Northeastern provost Ahmed Abdelal, who will serve on UPNE's board of governors, the important thing is that "through this consortium, Northeastern University Press will be able to continue publishing."
Although the Northeastern University Press name will continue and its backlist of 400 titles will be distributed by UPNE, the press's offices will close in mid-January, since UPNE handles all the day-to-day publishing activities of its members. This fall, despite the whittling down of staff to just one production person, acting director Jill Bahcall managed to release Northeastern's list of 13 books and one distributed title. Under the new arrangement, Northeastern will cut its list from 30 to 35 books a year to 15. Four books are scheduled for release this spring, including Boston Ballparks and Arenas.
To smooth Northeastern's transition from independent publisher to consortium member, Cornell University Press will continue to warehouse the press's backlist for the next year. UPNE will monitor stock levels at Cornell and handle frontlist fulfillment.
Northeastern is the second university press to join the 34-year-old consortium in the past year. The University of Vermont joined UPNE late in 2003. Other members include presses for Brandeis University, Dartmouth College, the University of New Hampshire and Tufts University.
