Story by Sabra Jackson, Staff writer
Leila Salisbury, director of University Press of Kentucky (UPK), will be presenting a scholarly book printing seminar April 12 at 10 a.m. in Faculty Hall.
University Press of Kentucky is a publisher of scholarly writings for the state of Kentucky, five universities and historical societies.
The event was planned by Tasha Ramsey, assistant to Salisbury at UPK, and the provost and president’s office. Ramsey has been working with Salisbury’s schedule and the members of the UPK to make time for Salisbury to attend each one.
James Duane Bolin, professor in the department of history, is on the editorial board for UPK and is the representative of Murray State.
“I cannot remember the last time that we’ve had the executive director of the University Press of Kentucky visit Murray State, so this is really wonderful that she is coming to Murray State,” Bolin said.
Ramsey said this gives Salisbury a change to reach out to faculty members and students who may have projects that would fit well within UPK’s current subject areas.
Jonathan Dunning, first year graduate student of history from Metropolis, Illinois, said he is looking to publish articles, thesis papers and possibly books in the future.
“I think this seminar will be important because I do not have a lot of experience in publishing anything and so it will be kind of interesting to see how to go about this process and how it works,” Dunning said.
Dunning said he is hoping to meet with Salisbury to go over his own thesis paper, “The First Red Scare in America history”, and see what the next steps are.
Those who attend will learn about selecting the right publisher, putting together a strong and compelling proposal, revising, how the market dissertations have changed and what that means, getting involved in the marketing process and more.
“She will speak about modern scholarly publishing, providing helpful information for those who are looking to publish their book projects or revised dissertations,” Ramsey said.
Salisbury was the assistant director before she became executive director at UPK. She has been executive director for a few short months, but Bolin said she has done a great job.
“She’s very well thought of in publication circles around the nation,” Bolin said.
Dr. James Clinger, professor of Political Science at Murray State, won the medallion award for his book, “Kentucky Government, Politics and Public Policy.” It was named as the best book published by the University Press of Kentucky two years ago.
“Just to get her insight will be very useful for me as a writer and somebody who looks over and edits my own papers,” Dunning said.