Image: Getty – IR Stone
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Recognizing Potential’
In London, the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)—which is associated with the Publishers’ Licensing Services program mentioned recently by Publishing Perspectives columnist Richard Charkin—an announcement recently was made of the winners of the ALPSP Rising Star Award for 2024.
In its second year this still-young accolade is meant to “recognize potential in early-career individuals.”
The association is an international trade body, “which supports and represents nonprofit organizations that publish scholarly and professional content, and those that work with them. Membership is for the whole organization so all employees can take advantage of the benefits on offer. We’re proud to have more than 320 member organizations across 35 countries.
The award reported on today (August 13) is open only to ALPSP members, and the person making the nomination is asked to outline in no more than 500 words why her or his nominee should be considered.
All five winners have been offered a free place to attend the ALPSP 2024 conference (September 11 to 15 in person plus an allowance toward travel and hotel expenses. Following the meeting, they’ll be expected to provide a short report about their experiences at the conference, and it’s anticipated that those essays will be published on the ALPSP blog or site. ALPSP also offers the four finalists free virtual registration for the conference.
The Five ALPSP Rising Stars for 2024
- Hazel Rowland, an associate marketing manager at IOP Publishing
- Anna Savage, a publishing executive with BMJ
- Ella Gibbs, a journals executive with Bristol University Press
- Heather Townsend, a sales and customer service coordinator with Bristol University Press
- Melody (Zhuxin) Zhang, an associate publisher with Wiley
Wayne Sime
Wayne Sime, CEO of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, is quoted, saying, “We’re thrilled to be running these awards again this year and it’s exciting to see so much talent and potential in the scholarly publishing industry.
“ALPSP is delighted to be able to offer all five winners the opportunity to attend our annual conference in Manchester, made possible by the generous support of our sponsor, PLS.”
Joining Sime on the jury are Sophia Anderton, CEO of BJU International; Laura Dormer, co-founder and editorial director at Becaris Publishing; and Emma Watkins, head of marketing and communications at 67 Bricks.
Gender Equity in Awards
Needless to say, hearty congratulations are due without hesitation to all five of the announced winners in the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers. There is also another factor that discerning readers will have noted: all five winners are women, at least as can be deduced from their names.
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, the international book publishing business includes many superb efforts to support and promote women in important careers in business, as well as a widely shared and clearly correct conviction that more women should be found in the CEO positions and other top leadership posts of publishing companies. It’s also recognized that in some markets—particularly in the largest English-language markets, the United States and United Kingdom—women make up more than 70 percent of book publishing’s workforces.
As was discussed in this recent story on boys and men in many contemporary cultures and on potential responses from the publishing industry, there are legitimate questions as to how fully an industry so handsomely staffed by women can expect to provide the content needed by both genders. In fact, as Quarto/Quarry senior acquiring editor Jonathan Simcosky puts it, “Maybe paying some attention to boys is the next frontier for gender equity.”
Simcosky has worked with the American Institute for Boys and Men‘s founder Richard V. Reeves on this. What’s more, Barack Obama has just included Reeves’ book Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It from Brookings Institution Press on his annual summer reading list.
And maybe paying some attention to the relative balance of fine women and men making up the gifted staffers of so many publishing houses is not only the right thing to do—so that struggling men and boys have more content they need—but also a way to help the industry meet its goal of serving diverse societies.
Good questions to ask in a case like the ALPSP Rising Stars program are:
(a) Were no male candidates put forward?
(b) Were no male candidates competitive with the female candidates?
(c) Were few or no males available for nomination at all?
There is essentially no right or wrong answer here. And there absolutely is nothing wrong with honoring the five winners of this year’s competition and wishing them continued progress in their work. There is something very valuable, however, in asking questions of this kind. Is recognizing only one gender’s work what’s intended? Is it what’s wanted?
Being conscious of such results is the key. It’s a matter of intentionality. Does book publishing want and intend to look increasingly like a women’s industry? Perhaps not. Perhaps so. But not thinking about such issues—not talking about them—is the biggest danger.
More from Publishing Perspectives on book and publishing industry awards is here, more on academic and scholarly publishing is here, more on the United Kingdom’s market is here, more on women in publishing is here, and more on men in publishing is here.