Hi Melissa, the most important issue is identifying your audience. If
your customers are going to be people who come to your museum, hire a
freelance design and production firm and do it yourself. If your
publications are primarily of interest to people in Texas, then look
for a publisher who specializes in Texas to partner with. If you have
material that will be of interest nationally, then look for a broader
trade press as your partner. Deciding to partner, and who to partner
with, will largely determine what administrative, budgeting and
contracting issues you need to address. 
best
Mitch Allen

--- Melissa Prycer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> My job duties are shifting again, and part of the proposed new duties
> include launching a publications program.  Though I have some
> publishing experience, it's very limited and certainly will only take
> me so far.  Most likely, anything we do will be a partnership with an
> existing press.  At this point, I am more concerned with some of the
> logisitical details (budget, contracts) than what we might publish
> (we all have lots of ideas--and I think those ideas will crystallize
> as we begin to talk to others).
> Here are my very vague and very broad questions: how do I even begin
> to get started on this?  What are the kinds of questions I need to be
> asking the presses--and myself?  Are there any museum publication
> programs worth taking a look at (I'm more interested in history
> examples than art for this portion)?  What kind of resources are
> available for launching this kind of program?  Any articles that
> might help?  People I should try to talk to?
> In a nutshell, I'm looking for "Starting a Museum Publication Program
> 101"  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Melissa
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> Melissa Prycer
> Curator of Education
>  214-413-3671
>  
> Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park
> See what's new!  www.dallasheritagevillage.org
>  
> 
> 
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Mitch Allen
Publisher
Left Coast Press, Inc.
1630 N. Main Street, #400
Walnut Creek, California 94596
925 935-3380 phone and fax
[log in to unmask]
www.LCoastPress.com

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).