Being a small publisher in an age of changing relationship to print can feel like a dangerous place, like being a tiny fish among sharks. In a draining bathtub. Things that ten years ago we took for granted (there will always be books - the peer-reviewed paper is the cornerstone of the scientific process - libraries will always exist) are no longer a sure bet. Nevertheless, it's definitely an exciting time to be a publisher.
With this in mind, here are some thoughts for ways to approach the world as a scholarly publisher in 2013:
1. Gird thyself: learn about the issues that matter. Social media, sure: that’s the fad (and it’s here to stay, in one form or another). But also the older stuff. Copyright. Content. Indexing.
2. Return to your roots: explore the tradition of scientific communication and scientific publishing. Scientific communication has been in a state of constant change since it first emerged from the parlors of the leisured class 300 years ago. Learn what prompted the founding of your own publication/ imprint – and how it has responded to earlier challenges. Envision how it can change to meet the future.
3. Go forth into the world: advertise and monetize. Master these concepts, or at least accept that they are the price of doing business. Very few societies want to divert tight funds to obscure journals that can't support themselves: that means we need to explore every avenue of support, and come up with new ways to survive all the time.
4. Seek out your comrades-in-arms: synergize. Network. What have other societies done? What's exciting? What's musty? What can you steal and who can you team up with?
Nothing is certain in this digital age; however, we can rest on the assurance that for now, the need for reliable, well-sourced information is more critical than ever, and scholars rely on us to provide that information - and, for now, they are willing and able to pay for that information.
Emily Wortman-Wunder is the managing editor of Minerals & Metallurgical Processing, Transactions, and the peer-reviewed papers in Mining Engineering, all published by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc.