January 15, 2006

Getting a book into print has long been a gamble, but, says Astrid Wilde, the vagaries of the industry are making self-publishing an increasingly attractive option.


Books the big boys missed

BRITISH PUBLISHING IS busy shooting itself in the foot.

Not so long ago Britain had several large and medium sized publishing houses that vied with each other to bring out well written, readable books. New entrants to the industry added interest to an already lively literary scene and a new author was always something to get excited about.

Then the big businessmen moved in. Most fiction is now produced by three big publishing consortia and the quality read, the steady seller and the book by the new and innovative writer has virtually disappeared.

The publisher has always been a businessman, and has always had to make a profit; but he used to be a professional too, with a thorough knowledge of his subject and a commitment to producing good books whatever the genre. Above all, he cared about the long-term interests of his company.

Today’s publisher is neither a businessman nor a professional, but a profiteer. He picks a few spectacular titles, hypes them to the skies, piles ’em high and sells ’em cheap. Two pounds off the cover price, three for the price of two, go to the supermarket and pick up your bedtime read along with your instant cocoa. Today’s publisher is nothing better than a spiv.

And like the spiv, he cares nothing for the long-term prospects of his business. When the customers become tired of being ripped off, or he hears the plodding tread of the law approaching, all he has to do is pick up his suitcase and go: or in modern business parlance, massage the accounts, start a few stock-market rumours and sell up.

The reading public rarely sees a new author nowadays, unless it be some pop star, or sports celebrity or some scruffy so-called television cook; most of whom will have had their books ghost-written for them. The industry doesn’t want new authors. It would have to pay someone to vet them and that would eat into the profits.

The industry doesn’t want many of its established authors either. Writers whose books have sold steadily for years, paying the publishers’ bills and providing the stability that allows for innovation, have been dropped. Steady profit doesn’t matter among people who expect to become instant billionaires.

Small wonder then, that many frustrated writers are turning to self-publishing to give their books a chance to be read. Self-publishing simply means that authors organise the printing and marketing of the books themselves. It has a long and reputable history, especially for niche market publications. Museums and public bodies have always published their own books.

As you would expect, some self-published books are neither well written nor well produced (though I have sometimes seen as bad from the big publishing houses) but a few are superb. The following three are particularly worth reading and the world would have been worse off without them.