Faculty authors get a cash break from the UA

The Author Support Fund, facilitated by University of Arizona Provost Paul Sypherd, can provide faculty who publish with $500 to $1,500 to help offset publishing costs. Awards are given to authors with manuscripts that could bring recognition to the writer and to the UA, according to a memo from the provost's office.

There is usually about $10,000 to $15,000 available in the fund, which can help support 12 authors, said Elizabeth Ervin, vice provost for academic personnel.

"But it depends on the number of applications," Ervin said. "If there are a lot of good requests, then the funds can expand."

Faculty and academic professionals with manuscript-length works are eligible for the publishing supplement.

"Anybody of the general faculty or academic professionals can apply whose position responsibilities include expectations of research and publication," Ervin said.

A three- or four-man committee, set up by the provost, will consider a set criteria before deciding which books to support. The group will take into account the recognition of a publishing house or press, manuscript reviews and the number of books an author has already published.

The committee also examines the nature and purpose of the book, royalty advances for the work, support by the author's department head and dean and the importance of the manuscript to the applicant's field.

Author Support Fund Guidelines: Applications likely to receive strongest endorsement: Respected publishing house or press Outstanding reviews of manuscript First books Authored, rather than edited manuscripts Applications that are likely to be given lower priority: Undistinguished publishing house or press Previously published articles or essays Unrevised dissertations Edited manuscripts Translated books Manuscripts that are likely to be excluded from consideration: "For-profit" textbooks Fiction Popularized science

Political science professor Jeanne Clarke received money for a biography in 1996, which was published by John Hopkins University Press.

"It helped me - I think I received $750," said Clarke. "Although that doesn't break the bank, it helped me hire a student to do the indexing for my publication."

Along with indexing, which can cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000, authors face charges for permissions, figures and photographs and for subvention required by the publisher.

Mark Luprecht, humanities department director, received $1,400 in aid last year from the Author Support Fund. His book, "Of Angels Things and Death: Paul Klee's Last Painting in Context," will cost $5,000 when it is published.

"It was especially helpful because there was a lot of art involved and I had to pay for the photos and transparencies, which cost a lot," Luprecht said.

The award is meant to help as much as possible with the publication, Ervin said. She added that the fund does not necessarily cover all the expenses of publishing.

"Nowadays, a lot of books require the author to support the publication, even if they've written an outstanding book that everyone thinks is great and should be published," Ervin said.

Authors who want to apply for funding should turn in a formal request to the provost's office by Nov. 16.

Teresa Hansen can be reached via e-mail at Teresa.Hansen@wildcat.arizona.edu.