The next time you peruse a row of books at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble, pay close attention to the names of the authors. Some of the literature you see on the shelves may have been written by UW graduates and students.

Many published UW alumni come from various backgrounds. It wouldn’t be unusual to come across a painter, sculptor, Pulitzer Prize winner, police lieutenant, former NFL running back or poet among this extremely diverse group.

COLUMNS, a quarterly periodical published by the UW Alumni Association, released a list of top 100 books by 100 UW authors in December of last year.

Famous names grace its pages, from beloved children’s literature writer Beverly Cleary to David Guterson, who is famous for his murder mystery Snow Falling on Cedars. COLUMNS is a testament to the extensive and long-running publication history of UW faculty, staff and students, but it doesn’t stop there.

UW Press has had perhaps the greatest involvement in the publishing and literary community in the Pacific Northwest, boasting distribution partnerships with art museums and highly recognized institutions all over the world.

UW Press was formed in 1915. A collection of poems by Henry Howard, the English Earl of Surrey, was the first book published under the UW Press imprint.

Today, UW Press is the largest publisher of scholarly works in the Northwest. The press has 1,400 active titles, publishes 60-70 new books each year, distributes 300,000 volumes annually, and has published nearly 4,000 books since its founding.

In addition to its domestic operations UW Press distributes overseas, where many of its books are translated into more than 10 languages.

The press has books warehoused in London and sales representation throughout Asia and Australia. Its main office is based in downtown Seattle, where 35 staff members provide services such as advertising, copy editing and warehousing.

Patrick Dent, a senior double-majoring in comparative history of ideas and English, has been working for UW Press for a year and a half. Looking for office experience, Dent found a position in marketing and sales.

“I’m an assistant to the publicist,” Dent said. “I deal with correspondence and make sure books get sent to reviewers.”

Dent’s coworker, senior Nicole Britain, does internet research trying to find professors to market their academic books.

“It’s really fun,” she said. “The people there [UW Press] are great. Everybody knows your name.”

UW Press is the publishing arm of the UW and publishes regional nonfiction and scholarly works on topics such as anthropology, Native American studies, Asian studies, architecture, Western American history, Middle East studies and art history.

UW Press is also recognized as the foremost publisher in the world on the art and culture of Alaskan Eskimos and Northwest Coast Indians.

“The natural sciences, particularly zoology and botany, are also well represented,” said Pat Soden, director of UW Press.

According to Soden, hard sciences like astronomy, physics and medicine are less likely to be published in book form, since the primary mode of publication in those fields is through journals.

UW Press writers have won numerous accolades. From the Oskar Halecki Polish History Award to the Stuart L. Bernath Book Prize, UW Press has garnered plenty of recognition through its authors.

Many UW academics published their first book through UW Press. About one-third of books published by the press originate from the UW.

“In fact, almost every department in the humanities and social sciences has someone on the faculty who has published with us,” Soden said. “If you are taking a class in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, the chances of sitting in a course taught by a published professor are quite high.”

The process of selecting books for publication is complex and time-consuming. Staff members review more than 1,000 manuscripts and proposals annually and choose 40-50 works for committee approval.

The University Press Committee, a group hand-picked by UW President Mark Emmert, works closely with UW Press editors to select books for publication.

The committee goes over peer reviews, which consist of two or three written evaluations for each manuscript. Two positive evaluations are initially required before the committee may even consider a manuscript.

From there the committee votes its approval or disapproval of each project. Less than 5 percent of manuscripts submitted to the press are selected for publication.

Most recently, several UW Press books won Buildbookers West and Association of American University Presses (AAUP) awards for exceptional design, top-quality scholarship, and literary excellence.

UW Press operates on a $5 million annual budget comprised mostly of private contributions, book sales and grants. The press has been a member of AAUP since 1947.

Reach reporter Anthony Shelley at development@thedaily.washington.edu