Dear O'Abby: What's the difference between a university press and a publisher?

 Dear O'Abby,

Like most of your readers, I'm a writer trying to get published.  As part of my research I've been looking up the publisher of all my favorite books and discovered that many of the books I've enjoyed the most were published by university presses. 

What is the difference between a publisher and a university press?  And is one better than the other?  

Any light you can shed on this would be gratefully accepted.

Kind regards,

Pressed.

Dear Pressed,

Generally speaking, a university press focuses more on academic writing and often publishes work by faculty members of that university.  The things a university press chooses to publish might be academic, scholarly or focused toward a very niche audience.  University presses tend to be less concerned with turning a profit and more focused on serving a small community of interested readers.

That said, many university presses also publish novels and other works intended for a broader "trade" audience.  Novels that may have been written as part of a PhD or Masters programme are often published first by university presses and then those authors may continue publishing with that press in the future.

Commercial publishers, on the other hand, are more focused on publishing books that will sell en masse to a broad audiences.  

In terms of whether one is better than the other, it really depends on your book.  If you're writing non-fiction, particularly if it's on a very specialised subject, a university press might well be the best route for you.  If you've written a romance novel, a commercial publisher is likely to to be a better choice.

Where the line gets a bit blurrier is if you've written a particularly literary novel.  For something like that, a university press might be a good choice.  Whereas if you're writing non-fiction about something that's relevant in pop-culture, a commercial publisher is probably a better fit.

But certainly don't rule university presses out.  They often have very experienced, discerning and talented editors.  While they often have less to spend on marketing and a lower profile than a commercial publisher, they are also likely to champion your book for longer and keep it in print and on shelves long after a commercial publisher has moved on to the next thing.

And yes, you can publish with a university press even if you don't work at or attend that university.  You don't need to have gone to university at all....

Hope that helps!

X O'Abby.