5.1 Changes in the university press publishing environment  (Page 2/3)

At a third press, single-author monograph sales of between 1000 and 1500 copies are hoped for, but sales inthe 800 to 1200 range are probably more realistic. At that level, such books might break even if they are given what the press calls"standard treatment," as opposed to the more lavish treatment art history titles tended to receive during the late 1990s. This sourcealso noted, parenthetically, that it is a myth that "big, beautiful books" sell better than monographs with more modest illustrationprograms. She also pointed out that library purchases are down across almost all disciplinary categories, because journalpublishers have been ratcheting fees upwards, which has squeezed out the library budget for monographs over the past 20 years ormore. If it were to achieve single-author monograph sales of 500 to 600 copies, she said, a press would have to count itself lucky,whether in the humanities, literature, philosophy, or the social sciences.

At a fourth press, it used to be the case that as much as 80 to 90 percent of its monograph sales were tolibraries. As this source put it, "we could count on selling 1000 copies of anything." In the early 1990s, though, sales fell byabout 20 to 40 percent, followed by a continuing slow decline in sales over the remainder of the decade. This was followed, around2001, by another large drop-off in sales of 30 to 40 percent.

Other factors contributing to the problems facing publishers of art history titles include shrinking floorspace given to art books at museums, declining demand for art history-related titles at bookstores that sell to the generalpublic, and declining sales of books associated with university courses. While the museum-based "book store" still exists as aniche outlet for arts-related titles, books face increasing competition for floor space at museum shops. As a result, "fewmuseums have the caliber of bookstores they should have," according to one source. Museum stores are becoming more "consumer-oriented,"said another. A third said, "Museum stores seem to focus more on merchandising trinkets rather than books. I don’t consider museumstores to be venues for serious readers anymore."

Bookstores serving the general public are also less willing to stock art history-related titles than they used tobe. As the market becomes more and more saturated with colorful, low-cost, image-heavy, and text-light art books put out bypublishers such as Taschen, stores become less willing to allocate space to more scholarly titles that are not likely to generatesignificant sales. Compounding the problem, says one source, is the fact that "our reps are trying to sell our titles to people whodon’t know who Picasso is." And because traditional sales outlets are drying up, university presses must rely increasingly heavily ondirect marketing efforts, such as producing seasonal catalogues and engaging in electronic marketing campaigns, which createsadditional costs.

The decline of independent bookstores in recent years has also hurt sales of art history titles. As onesource explained, "Independent bookstores and museum stores used to get the sales going [for particular titles]. Now, it’s much harder to initiate a buzz to aid in the sale of a truly successfulbook."