Indie Film in Pittsburgh - College of Humanities and Social Sciences ...

ecame a full-time position. “I never anticipated
it becoming a full-time job, since I started it as a
hobby,” says Costanzo.
The press has expanded to include several
different genres. Even though they still focus on
poetry, they also publish collected short fiction,
edited by Sharon Dilworth, literary criticism,
business texts, art history, and even a cookbook.
There is not a unifying form that the books have
to follow. “We’re looking for what we think of as
excellence, books that really adhere to the
university mission of scholarship,” says Costanzo.
The publishing house runs with one full time
staff member, assisted by a number of
undergraduate students. “They are the ones who
are the prime movers,” says Costanzo. “Without
the students in editing and publishing we could
not do what we do.”
One of the major tasks that the students take on
is choosing several manuscripts from unpublished
authors to publish every year. The students go
through several hundred manuscripts that are
submitted every year and find forty that they meet
with Costanzo to discuss. This year, four
manuscripts were chosen from two hundred and
fifty to five hundred submissions.
It seems mind-boggling that four manuscripts
could be chosen to publish from so many, but
Costanzo was very confident in his students.
“Last year we had an exceptional group of
students,” he said. “The students apply the
standards that they have learned in the workshops.
This gives them the chance to see how writers put
together manuscripts. It’s a learning process for
them as well. When you read that many
manuscripts, about 10% of them announce
themselves as publication ready. Students are
able to pick that up really rapidly.”
“What is important is that the press stays
relatively young while I grow older, and the
students help with that,” says Costanzo. “They
identify some of the younger generation, the one
that is closest to theirs. It’s been a pretty healthy
thing for everyone involved.”
Costanzo has enjoyed running the press for the
past thirty-five years. He believes that the best
part of the job has been the relationship he has
with his students, especially the ones who go on
into the publishing field. “For me its been
education of the most desirable sort; a learning
process for the students but one which prepares
them not only for a career in making books but
also prepares them for intellectual aspects that
make them succeed in this career. It’s a
tremendous reward and one that goes on and on.”