During the 2024 University Press Week, AUPresses is asking how do university presses around the world #StepUP in the work we do every day? This year's blog tour posts will showcase the many ways university presses #StepUP or give voice to the scholarship and ideas that shape conversations around the world. At University Press of Mississippi, we’d like to highlight the First Author’s Initiative with a Q&A with UPM Director Craig W. Gill.

Why did UPM create the First Author’s Initiative?

CG: We saw a need and knew that we were uniquely positioned to address that need. University Press of Mississippi is a consortium press affiliated with and supported by the eight state universities of Mississippi. Our universities include HBCU’s, small regional universities, and large research schools, and our Board includes two members from each of our universities. This means our Board members and local authors come from a range of academic institutions, and we work with those schools every day. We know firsthand the obstacles faced by authors at small schools and teaching institutions, or regional authors who are outside the typical academic model entirely. We also specialize in subject areas, like African American studies, that have been historically underserved.

Publishing a first book is often the hardest task an author will face, and that task becomes even more difficult when the author faces barriers created by the traditional publishing model that focuses on large universities and tenure track faculty.

What does the First Author’s Initiative do?

CG: The UPM First Author’s Initiative directly supports the publication of books by emerging scholars, nontraditional authors, and authors from a wide variety of backgrounds. The Initiative was established through generous gifts from our authors and is part of the University Press of Mississippi New Horizons Fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi. Funds from the Initiative support the work of these authors so they can achieve success regardless of their academic status or access to resources. Funds may be used to offset a variety of costs that might otherwise be a burden to an author and the Press, such as permission fees or the cost of color reproductions.

How many authors has UPM awarded the First Author’s Initiative?

CG: Books supported by the Initiative include:
Mississippi Zion: The Struggle for Liberation in Attala County, 1865–1915 by Evan Howard Ashford
Carnival in Alabama: Marked Bodies and Invented Traditions in Mobile by Isabel Machado
TeenSet, Teen Fan Magazines, and Rock Journalism: Don't Let the Name Fool You by Allison Bumsted

As part of the Initiative, we work with the authors to provide additional publicity, celebrating the authors and the books, and looking forward to the big ideas first-time authors will contribute to the future.

To learn more or make contributions to the UPM First Author’s Initiative through the University Press of Mississippi New Horizon Fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi, visit our donation page.