Flogging a Dead Book?

Abstract

This article explores an issue that has been neglected in Australia, the intertwined fates of the scholarly book and the university press. These institutions face two significant threats: the commercialization of the university, which has left academics with less time for the patient research and writing needed to produce a monograph, and the ‘tyranny of the journal article’ (in contrast to that of the monograph, which has been noted in American debates), which has devalued the monograph and thus reduced some of the incentive for academics to write one. After examining the decline of university presses in Australia, the article concludes that they, and the monographs they publish, will best flourish with increased philanthropic, governmental, and university funding; careful list diversification; creative commissioning; cross-subsidization; and the savvy use of electronic and traditional forms of publishing and dissemination.