CUP launches trade-focused 'destination' list

Cambridge University Press has established a new trade programme in response to the boom in "brainy non-fiction".

It follows CUP’s success with recent titles such as James Williams' Stand Out of Our Light, on the effect of technology on our attention spans, and evolutionary psychology study The Ape That Understood the Universe by Steve Stewart-Williams.

The 30-40 titles a year in the programme won't carry special branding, but will receive particular focus in terms of sales, marketing, editorial and design. The list will focus on history, politics, economics, psychology and climate science. Executive publisher Michael Watson, who heads the scheme, said: "As well as [repackaging] books we’ve traditionally published, we’ll be picking up more, and making CUP more of a destination publisher for academics who want to write for a broad audience. Look at the success of Sapiens or Prisoners of Geography: the world is very much in flux, accepted truths are being questioned, and people are looking for guides. We can [deliver] that."

Out on 30th November will be On the Brink: Trump, Kim and the Threat of Nuclear War by former Pentagon insider Van Jackson; and in February 2019 comes There Is No Plan(et) B by Mike Berners-Lee, a look at environmental challenges and how they can be addressed.