EDITORIAL POLICY

OUR DIRECTOR'S

VISION

OF PUBLISHING

Dr. Alain Saint-Saëns has a long and multifarious experience as an editor and publisher.

Dr. Alain Saint-Saëns has been Series Editor with International Scholars Publications from 1992 to 1996; then Series Editor and General Editor with University Press of the South from 1995 to 2000; before being named Director of University Press of the South.

Under his editorial leadership, University Press of the South has published some two hundred remarkable academic books and novels in several languages --English; Spanish; French; Portuguese; German, and has now forthcoming titles also in Arabic; Catalan; Chinese; Guarani; Italian; and Russian.

Dr. Alain Saint-Saëns created Presses Universitaires du Nouveau Monde in 1998, to allow French and francophone scholars from four continents to be published in French and distributed all over the world. Some of the best scholars in the field immediately offered their support and were published with Presses Universitaires du Nouveau Monde.

Dr. Alain Saint-Saëns has been part of the Editorial Board of the Mediterranean Conferences, of which he was Co-Director from 1993 to 1998, and he has served as a consultant for several other international academic presses. He is also a Member of the Editorial Board of two prestigious journals, Hispania Sacra and Punto y Raya.

Dr. Alain Saint-Saëns

at the MLA Chicago Exhibit,

December 1999

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AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. ALAIN SAINT-SAËNS

- What Did you Accomplish as General Editor with University Press of the South?

"In eight years now, we have transformed a small local press into a dominant academic press with national and international scopes. We have established a very solid, and I believe, merited, reputation of excellence in publishing. Honesty, clarity, and hard work have been the keys of our success. Some of our Series are among the best in their respective field --Iberian Studies; Latin American Studies; Gay/Lesbian/Queer Studies; French and Francophone Studies; Theater; etc... Our Series editors are highly regarded scholars. Our staff has been totally dedicated twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, answering questions, treating potential authors with respect and cordiality, helping our authors to get grants, providing letters of evaluation to third-year review, tenure, or promotion committees. Nothing makes me happier than to hear that one of our authors was granted tenure at her university, or became Full Professor in his Department. We do care for our authors.

We have secured links and distribution rights with internationally renowned academic presses --Presses Universitaires de Lyon; Presses Universitaires de Toulouse; Editorial Complutense; Editions Christian Pirot; Honoré Champion Editions; Editions Slatkine; etc...

All that would have been impossible without the support of great scholars, who understood what University Press of the South could bring to serious academics. Teresa Soufas and the late Daniel Heiple (Tulane University), Edward Friedman (Vanderbilt University) and Catherine Larson (Indiana University), Paul Freedman (Yale University), William Monter (Northwestern University), Amadou Koné and Barbara Mujica (Georgetown University), Allyson Weber (University of Virginia), Mary-Elizabeth Perry (Occidental College), Fred de Armas (Penn State University), Jean-Jacques Thomas (Duke University), and many others in America, Europe, Australia, and Africa, have been instrumental in offering their scientific recognition to our editorial project from the start on."

- How did your role change when you became Director of University Press of the South?

"I decide the general policy of the company; work on giving more visibility to the editorial within the academic world; recruit more local and national partners and sponsors; and develop more associations with major universities in the country and worldwide. My approach has been more global, regardless of the continent or the country. I want every scholar in America, Europe, Australia, or Africa, to know that, if her book is scientifically solid and peer-reviewed positively, we will publish it.

We currently consider manuscripts for publication in nine languages; I would like to extend that to as many languages as possible, as long as there is a market nationwide and/or worldwide for the book. Too many excellent scholars still cannot find a publisher within the territory of the United States, because traditional, not to say outdated, university presses publish only in English. They seem to ignore that many more languages are talked today in the USA, and that many scholars write directly in their native language.

Moreover, many European scholars would like to have access to the North American market; we fully provide this service to them.

Most of the time, very gifted African scholars cannot find a publisher in Africa; we welcome them.

- What are the new goals of University Press of the South?

"We recently opened a new Arabic and Islamic Studies Series, with already some very important scholars and novelists from various countries whom we are to publish very soon. We encourage academics, novelists, and poets worldwide to submit manuscripts directly in Arabic, Turkish, or Farsi, the most important Persian language.

We are also developing a very promising African-American Studies Series, with many forthcoming titles in both academic and fiction fields.

Last but not least, we are very proud of our new Children's Book Department. In the near future, we hope to publish attractive books in English and Spanish for preK-12 kids, providing them with entertaining material and opening their minds to respect to diversity and tolerance."

- What Are the Most Fundamental Values Exemplified by University Press of the South?

"First, a commitment to excellence in publishing. I want to publish only top quality books. Very often I have told young professors that I was not interested in publishing their recently finished doctoral theses. Even if it is a good one, it is still a thesis, not a book. It won't help them to publish it without revisions. I therefore encourage them to revise it carefully and to come back and see us within a year or two.

Second, a commitment to diversity, regardless of color of skin, nationality, ethnic background, gender, or sexual preferences. I have clearly emphasized that in my own academic work, and I want every scholar to feel comfortable and approach University Press of the South in total confidence. Moreover our staff, editors, designer, printer, and interns, are also totally representative of this policy. We are indeed the rainbow people at University Press of the South and very much proud of it. If University Press of the South can help change the image and perception of the editorial world, by showing the right example, so be it.