WSU Press Authors Waived Royalties in 2024 to Support University Publisher
Fifty-one WSU Press authors (or their heirs) waived royalty payments on 2024 sales of their titles, totaling roughly $2,000 that can be used to support future publications and operations.
“The waiving of royalties has a significant impact on WSU Press, as it helps us to earn back the cost of producing a title more quickly, and it allows us to apply the monies that would otherwise have been paid out toward the costs of marketing and producing new titles,” said Linda Bathgate, WSU Press assistant director and editor-in-chief. “As we are a small press with limited resources, every dollar counts.”
“I am grateful to this distinguished group of authors for their generosity in helping us make the WSU Press sustainable,” said Trevor Bond, WSU Libraries interim dean. “Supporting the press in this way will help us continue to publish outstanding books.”
The list of authors includes Don Albrecht; Delores Aldridge and Lincoln James; Kurt Armbruster; Dennis Baird; Kit Bakke; Susan Banks and Carol Orr; Tom and Helen Bartuska; Philip Beach; Maria Doss; George Bedirian; David Bullock; Central Washington University; Jeff Creighton; Gordon W. Davis; Jane Demaray; Kari Engelsvold; Eileen Fredrickson; Mary Ann Gonzales; Jean Godden; Joan Gordon; Tyson Greer; Tom Haig; Alan H. Hartley; Trova Heffernan; Wanda Herndon; Edwin G. Hill; Craig Holstine and Richard Hobbs; Karen Keiser; Annette Lansing; Mark Lansing; Laura Celise Lippman; Lyndel Meikle; Charles V. Mutschler; Oregon Catholic Historical Society; Barb Owen; Elsa Kirsten Peters; Paul Pitzer; Maryan Reynolds with Joel Davis; Kent Richards; the estate of Jo Ann Roe; Richard Scheuerman; Dorothy Scholz-Beyer; Jane Spalding; David Stratton; Orlan Svingen; Suzanne Tedesko; Kristine Thordarson; David Edward Walker; Elizabeth A. Weir; Jerry William; and Bob Wodnik.
Scheuerman, retired Seattle Pacific University associate professor and author of last year’s WSU Press book Celebrating Palouse Country: A History of the Landscape in Text and Images, said he has long benefited from enriching friendships, understandings, and experiences made possible by dedicated press staff members. They and a “galaxy of authors” have contributed in critical ways to the region’s well-being by showcasing a wide range of books on its special heritage, natural history, and contemporary issues that otherwise might never have been published.
“Books by the press are wonderfully designed with graphics that enhance text for colorful creations that marry valuable knowledge with attractive layouts to bring me back to them time and again,” he said.
WSU Press publications have also yielded innumerable tangible benefits by sharing important stories about agricultural innovation, Northwest salmon recovery efforts, tribal cultures and identity, Hanford Project mitigation, and a host of other topics, Scheuerman said.
“Contributing book royalties to such a worthy cause is the least I can do as an author to promote this crucial mission.”