By Katherine McClellan

Despite his busy schedule as director of Baylor University Press, Dr. Carey Newman carves out the time to teach students that a love of reading can lead to an exciting career in the publishing industry.

Newman earned a doctorate in religion from Baylor University in 1989. He began his career in the classroom. After nine years he then became senior editor for academic books at Westminster John Knox Press in Louisville, Kentucky. In January of 2002, Newman came to Baylor as director of church relations. A year later, he was appointed director of Baylor University Press and has served as its director ever since. Baylor’s 121-year-old Press, the academic publishing arm of the university, publishes about 40 new books each year — primarily in the field of religion — for scholars, students and intellectually curious general readers.

Newman’s position at the Press keeps him busy. From 5-8 a.m. on a typical day he reads work sent in by authors. He handwrites comments between the lines and in the margins of his readings, composes emails and sends any changes made back to the respective authors. At 8 a.m. Newman begins answering his emails –– but tries not to become lost to emails unless he has completed his reading for the day. Then, in his words, “the running of the Press takes over” –– copywriting, meetings with staff, emails and calls with meetings on campus. As many as 150 book projects are up and running at the same time at the Press, and Newman must keep tabs on them all.

This semester, while staying busy with the Press, Newman has chosen to teach a publishing course in Baylor’s English department, showing his investment in the lives of future publishers. Just what inspired him to teach the class? “I love undergraduates,” he said. “I love teaching, and I love Baylor.”

There’s a practical reason as well. Newman knows that a steady flow of undergraduate and graduate Baylor students will intern and even work for the Press, and many of those will come from the English department and Professional Writing program. When first approached about creating a curriculum for a publishing class, Newman jumped at the opportunity. “I get to teach what I love to do every day, at the place I love, for the students we hope to serve,” he said.

Through the course, Newman is hopeful that his students will learn about the rich history of publishing, “its many turns and twists, its rascals and heroes and its lore.” He knows publishing is a business, and wants his students to gain some perspective on that facet of the industry. He also wants his students to acquire “some of the skills needed to be an editor –– making judgments about what to publish, how to develop good work and how to make ready a suspect for publication.”

While the skills he teaches in his class are incredibly important, they pale in comparison to the final thing Newman hopes his students will take away at the end of the semester: “I want them to fall in love with the profession.”

Newman believes the course he teaches is necessary. “It’s the only course in Baylor’s curriculum that directly addresses publishing,” he said. “The course is a set of clothes you can try on to see if publishing fits. It also shows how liberal arts directly connects to the practice of a profession.”

By taking the course, Baylor students are developing an understanding of what it is like to work in publishing. And to Newman, that makes it all worthwhile.