if ~- ,-e -1

Australian National University Press

The Vice-Chancellor, Chancelry, ANU

Dear Sir John,

P.O. Box 4, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600

(Jlhone 49 2812 Telegrams PRESS NATUNIV

17 July 1970

I am grateful for your letter of 16 July on the Press's Annual Report. Your advice on quantities is well noted, and your comments on design and presentation will be appreciated very much by all here.

w. A. Wood Director

l uly 1970

od. Director, A •• u. Pr••••

er Mr d,

l ••• l••••d tor celve th Pr 11 for 1969 nd ah 11 rren • for his h gut • ting. I uld have no jec 1

of th report to Jeanneret.

ey 1 ggest that your r ate justice c Wh t I w uld r gerd a • le a t ln h aign nd

presentetl n of ook.1 11,u d y the rea,. or t ls the staff of th Preas, orking in difficult circ st nces, 1h uld be give credit and I h 11 ntl n this en he eport la su 1tted to Council.

Youra sine rely,

J ••

MEMORANDUM

Australian National University Press

-Chancellor

Date 12/6 /7 0

of the Universi t Press for 1969

~z~ o-\ I have pleasure in submitting :) ~ e ewith the second annual report of the

\o .--...... University Press as required by Council. tJJ Copies of this report are also being

furnished to the Editorial Committee for information.

With your leave, I should like to send a copy of the report to Mr M. Jeanneret, Director of the University of Toronto Press, for his information and possible comments.

I

A JI -A - ,1 - ~

Annual Report of the University Press for 1969

1· f C{ I o It

·r£~ t,J.

Prepared by Press Director, 9/6/10 ~

In its i\lovember 1969 issue, the Editors of the Australian Book Review, of ten harsh cri ties of the Press, commented that 9 books from the A.N.U.P. are devaloping a fine, dignified, and attractive appearanceo••• The A.N .U.P. will 0e comc increasingly ir:1portant in the presentation of Australian scholarship in an in-c:ornational context'.

;, i [,/. t 'no_

I also believe that in b½e last few years the Press has begun to fulfil tha expectations of those who championed i ·cs es tablishment and that 1969 saw the Press take another good stride along the course 'that will enhance the reputation of e1e University and advance Australia's credit in the \vorld of scholarship'. (2993/1968)

The progress was achieved in spite of trouble from several quarters - tlw departure of two key staff mGmbers, the continuing difficulti~s experienced at various levels of the University as 'd1e Press adjusted to ::ieu forms of accounting and financial operation, increased production costs resulting from inflatior1 and the efforts of th0 Press to gain breatI1i11g space after the very large expansion in 1968.

For raasons to be noted below, the Press' s publishing program in 19 69 declined from tl1e quantitative levels reached in the previous year. But sales slightly exceeded forecasts, production costs, tl1e largest item of expense, uere below budget, and the financial outcome was considerably better than in the previous year . ~le improved financial position, a stronger inventory position, the addition of saleable books to the backlist, and the recrui tmcmt of two experienced managers for production and promotion together placed the Press in a more favourable position for the future.

I. Publications

Twenty-four ne·w books and five issues of two journals ·rere published by the Press in 1969. These figures may be compared ·with thirty new books and three journal issues published in 1968. The decline is attributable to production delay::; caused by staff turn-over, p rinters' slothfuln0ss, inexperienced designers, and protracted overseas negotiations. Further, in 1968 the Press' s large program was st1ollen by a l>acklog from previous years, now cleared. The publishing program should be able to continue at a slightly higher level •,lithout substantial d3lays in production schedules. __

Four 1969 titles were iraported as co-edition3 from the University of C:alifornia Press, E .J. Drill, and RoutlGdge and ICeg an Paul. Three of the tw1-:: nty titles produced under the control of the Press were printed in _rong Kong, the same number as in 1968. All the others were printed in Australia.

'j_1he PrGss's list continued to r ef lect particular

Gtrengtn in the social oci'.:?nCGs, five} t.itlcs coming fror,1 authors in rrsss, four RSP;J.cS, threC:: SGS, and one RSBS. A numbe r of the e levcn other titles were by authors formorly associated. with 'b'1is University or published in s e ries under the g e neral ~ditorsh i p of academic staff at A.N.U.

During the year 24 manuscripts were accepted for publication ,,1hi l o 31 at.h e rs were r 0 j e ct2c~ or withdra'i-m . Both figures arc lrn·mr than in 1968. 'l'h. ougl1 we cannot be certain of all t he reasons for the decline, we do knm-.r t11.at fewGr unsolicited manuscripts, particularly unpub lishable one s from the cornmur.ity u.t large , were r e ceived.

II. FinanceG

Comparative operating and b alance statements, pr,3pared DY Accounts, for 1968 and 1969 are attach<:!d . ~he decline in the net operating loss by $29 ,00 0 is encouraging, <.:! VGn though this improv, ... m1Gnt was achie ved in part by write-offs of unsaleaJ l e inve ntory and thl:: dGcline in m1,.'nber of neu -t:.i tles produced. Sales income exceeded b udge t for8cast by some $5 ,00 0 and all major items of expense wore he l d within budgGt limits. Tho Pre ss's reserve fund increased to a more satisfactory level afte r sinking prGcipitously in 19:50 .

The Pr-:;ss continued to be t roubled by a lack of familiarity in t he Uni versity wi"t!1 the new methods of support and accountingu and occasionally financial d e cisions imp ortant to t.111..2 Press \JCre made wi thout advice to the Pres s . But I now fuel mor3 confident:, as the result of continuing conve rsations and written exchanges between tlw Director, the Secrc~t:ary, Assistant :.-\;gistrar, and Accountant that the practices and rnr2asurcs put into ef fect in 19G8 arc understood and t hat communication failures a r e les s li!wly to occur.

III . Sales and ~romotion

1969 \•ms a notable year in that sales i n come exceeded production costs for the first time . '.i:'l1e y ear al::,o saw the Press ta;:e over its own distribution within Australia from the Cheshire Group of publishers. The change-over occurred wi th li ttlu difficulty and wi th no apparent decline in sales, even t h ough the Pre ss has an yet to develop s ufficie nt promotion programs and representation for its titles . On the contrary u th :::..i moneys formerly dispensed t o ti.1e Cheshir-3 Group as paym..:::nt f or services helped support t he Press O s orogram at a leve l that would have beGn nec:-1ssary e ven l f the agency a rrangement had continued •

.. Ti th University approval, the Pres s agreed to DG the oxclusi v 0 stock-holding raprGsen tati ve in Australia and new Zealand for tho Univers it? of Tor on to Press. '.i:h is agency arrangement e ff e c.:.iv<.:=: ly comn1encGd in Barch 19 70 <,Ji t.h tl1G arrival of the first Toronto shipments .

,- Overseas sales continued to play u vital part in the Press's activities. Eleven editions of eight nm-1 titles were sold to overseas publishers in quan ti tios ranging from 250 to 2,000 copies. Agents in London, SingaporG, and Tokyo h0lpc6. circulate Press books in their respoctiv~ markots. Arrangom<.mts werG mad2 for n North American di.3tributor to begin rcprcscnt.ing the Press in the Western .-Iemisphere as from 1970, thus offeri.1g for the first time hop~ that all Press titlc2s uill b'-' promoted and sold in the richest book rnarkfdi: .

Twelve b ooks and seven issues of the New Guinea Research Bulletin 'l'lcro banded over to tl10 Press in 1969 by other departments for commercial distribution.

IV. Proo uct:i,.on

No'ciC<-)able improvements in d.er;ign of Pn~ss ti tlcs !las ;_)ecn achie,;ved, but the Pres::; continues to struggle for higl1 quali·cy rnanuf acturing from Australian print ers . Australi an made :Jook papers, ·1.-rhich tariff \-,alls r2quirc tht, Press to use, remain consider al> ly less dependab lu thnn des irable .

The introduction 1:>y tJ10 GovGrnment in nid-y.Jar of a bounty on printing lias bencfi ted thi:":: Pr0!'..ls; al though sub3cqucnt increases in papGr prices and awards in the p rinting industry have partial ly und2rmined the cost advantages that ~10 b ounty ulan was designed to provide.

V. Editorial

Statistics r~lating to editorial activities are regularly rcport:ea. to the ~ditorial Comrni tteG. In addition I have noted a number of points· in rny commcmts above. But I cannot r efrain from oxprossing pleasure at the continuing professional worl~. of the Press cdi tors, uho during tl1.o year were required to assume additional duti~s in the c~sence of production s ·caf f .

Th:} Editorial Cornmi t.tao con tinuod to provid0 helpful direction and support for tiic Pn~r;s' s pub lisi1ing program. 'rhG Commi ti:eu' s concern for increasing emphasis on publication in sevcro.l are<1s, notably 'i:.hc natural sci,.mcos, is sharcJ. by i::hc Pr~ss u which 1-:>clievoc that 1970 and future years will reflect realisation of this aim.

VI. Staff

'I'hG difficulties in rccrui-t.ing cxperiencGd publishing staff t,JCr..:: ap!)areP..t in 1969 when tlw Pr.3ss attcmpt:ed to find suitable persons for e10 upgradod posts of Promotion Hanagt~r and Production iian?1.gcr . Eventually , 11r .~.R. Fiold, t1i th c:;{periGncc in tho promo tion of Government pu;:,li c ations , w2.s ap:)ointcc.. to t he :f:ormGr position, and ;11 r E . JtJcroyd , v1ith commercial ~)rinting :riroduction e:::~porienco, was aJ:-'pointad to the latter. The arrival of tllcso two officers gave the Press Bt:r cngth in tuo important S(;Ctions that 11ov0r previously had enj oyed strong indiviJual mancg8ment.

VII. Other i1'atte:rs

During the yca.r the Press arrnngod to lease storage space f row the Departmi2n t of Supply in Fyshw·icJ~ to accommodate s·cocks for which space ,·,as not available on campus.

The Press applied the Stai1dard Book Numbering scheme to its publications, using cstablishod title account numbGrs for this purpose . ~ventually we may cxpoct major book.sellers and librari~s t.:i:1roughout b.<ic wor ld to adopt the scheme to their ordering and cataloguing procedures .

A new Copyright Act came into force in 1969, permitting Australia to adhere t.o the UHESCO Conv-2ntion, thus ext.:!nding wider protection to publications of thG Press and facilitating overseas sales.

U::IVZR.SITY PRI:SS

Operating- Statement for the year ended 31 December

Income

Sales of publications

~ iscellaneous income

Cost of Sales

Stock of publications, 1 January

3ook I1anufacturing costs

Editorial expenses

Royalties

Commission on sales

i.ess Stock of p ili)lications 31 December

~ or~s in Progress Les s subsidies

Title subsidies

Gross Operating Profit

Administrative Expenses

Salaries

Superannuation, etc.

Advertising

All other expenses

Net Operating Loss

1 9 GB

$

86 , 0 38

93

86 ,.131

73,531

104,091

1,204

10,238

10 9 , 06 4

90,409

3,200

93,609

95,455

{9,324)

58,946

8,832

7,924

10,489

86,191

9S,515

1969

$

104,255

511

104,766

90,409

8~ ,185

3,271

7,636

30

190,531

105,109

707

6,455

113,271

77,260

27,506

65,410

8,178

7,963

12,215

93,766

66,260

Ud IV.CRSITY P ,;.,;35

Statement of Balances as at 31 December

Accumulation Account

Balances, 1 January

Operating . eserve

I:sooJ;: Stock

l1.dd University subvention

Less operating loss

Represented by

Reserve

Stock

1908 1969

$ $

71,446

73,531

144,977

73,724

218,701

95 ,515

123,186

32u777

90 ,40 9

123,186

32,777

90,409

123,186

98,626

221,812

66,260

155,552

48,736

106,816

155,552