By Daniel Buckwalter

Like any arts-driven organization, the Oregon State University Press in Corvallis suffered a degree of whiplash in March when the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the brakes on spring titles for the publishing house.

Not only were there supply-chain issues with the University of Chicago Press, but also the fact that Amazon.com stopped ordering titles all together.

Additionally, Powell’s Books in Portland, a major player in the indie book market in Oregon, closed its physical chain and now does online service only.

In Eugene, Black Sun, J. Michaels, Smith Family Bookstore, and Tsunami Books all have scrambled to make similar adjustments.

April, especially, was not a kind month.

But Marty Brown, marketing manager for OSU Press, notes that the publishing house has regained its footing in the month of May. The supply chain has been re-established, and though working remotely instead of in the office, the entire staff is busy with eight titles this spring and moving ahead with fall titles, too.

“We’re finding out that there’s a demand for books,” Brown says. “People want to read.”

OSU Press also is offering a 50-percent-off sale on its Ebooks through the end of May. It’s just one of the modifications OSU Press has made since the pandemic struck.

Brown says the publishing house spent all of January and February planning events for authors, then all of March and April canceling them.

“It’s rewarding to the authors to get out there and talk about their books,” she says, especially since many authors “work for years on these books with little reward.” But for the foreseeable future, talks by authors will need to be virtual.

OSU Press isn’t entirely out of the pandemic quagmire, Brown admits. While the university “does offer some shelter,” she says, the new fiscal year begins in July, and OSU, like all universities, is trying to navigate budget scenarios in these uncertain times.

But Brown is optimistic.

“We think books are essential,” she says. “Books will find their readers.”

For more information about OSU Press and its May Ebook sale, go online to OSUpress.OregonState.edu.