The publishing industry is a big earner for the UK economy but in a world dominated by a few big publishing houses, the smaller independent publishers are often overlooked. John Hampson profiles the UKs independent publishing sector.
The UK is home to one of the largest and commercially most successful book publishing industries in the world. It shares with two other, considerably larger countries China and the USA the distinction of producing more than 100,000 new titles per year. In 2003, the UK publishing industry had a turnover of £3,531m, comprising sales of 583 million copies. Furthermore, and perhaps surprisingly, the UK is the largest book exporter in the world. However, headline facts such as these cannot convey a real picture of the industry. A small number of corporate conglomerates, and their household-name authors, dominate the market. Alongside sits the independent publishing sector, commercially less powerful but, in cultural terms, often more creative, adventurous or, even, idiosyncratic.
Independent publishers tend to be niche players. For a publisher such as Faber & Faber the niche may be large (contemporary fiction and poetry, the arts in general), but for others it may be specialist indeed Ayebia, for example, focuses on African and Caribbean writing; while Iron Press describes itself as the UKs leading independent publisher of haiku (a Japanese form of poetry).
Prizes and surprises
Beyond bestseller charts, awards and prizes often provide a useful indicator of the vitality and well-being of different parts of the publishing world. The experience of the past decade would suggest that independent publishing is in good health. Ten years ago, independent publishers rarely featured on the shortlists for the major literary prizes, but nowadays it is rare to find them not represented. Within a few years of their foundation, innovative companies such as Arcadia and Birminghams Tindal Street Press found themselves with titles on the Booker Prize shortlist. In 2004, Serpents Tail had a Nobel Prize winner in Elfriede Jelinek, while two Carcanet Press authors graced the shortlist (of four) for the Whitbread Poetry Prize 2005. And one could offer many more examples.
Publishing is part of the creative industries, and it is its mix of creativity and commerce that many find so attractive, not to say irresistible or even compulsive. But not all parts of the publishing world share the same balance of creativity and commerce. It is often said of large publishing groups that they are controlled by accountants but never of the independents. Some independent publishing houses may be run as exemplary businesses, but it is the quality and originality of the work that they publish that establishes their name and reputation. As noted above, independent publishers tend to be niche players, but collectively there is scarcely a niche that they fail to occupy.
Arts Council England (ACE) is principally concerned with supporting publishers in the fields of poetry; new, experimental and under-represented fiction; and literature in translation. As with the other artforms, it has revenue clients that is, publishers in receipt of an annual grant and also awards project grants (through its Grants for the Arts programme). ACE also funds training programmes through specialist companies such as the Publishing Training Centre; it offers professional advice on business development, including the role of advisory boards; and it supports the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG). The IPG is an umbrella organisation for the independent publishing sector, with a membership of 480 companies sharing a combined annual turnover of £500m. It provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and resources, and an authoritative and influential voice on issues of common concern.
Sales support
Hand in hand with the conglomerisation of the publishing industry over the past two decades has been the rise of the highstreet chains (e.g. Waterstones, Borders) with centralised stock-control systems, and the concomitant decline of independent retailers. Alone, many independent publishers especially the smaller ones find it difficult to access the chains, so ACE also supports specialist sales and marketing agencies, such as Inpress and Independent Northern Publishers, which, by combining forces, can offer independent presses a more even playing field. In the past decade, publishers have also successfully explored other routes to market, such as mail order (e.g. the Thirst Bookclub), Internet sales, and direct sales at festivals and other live literature events.
It is not easy to predict the future, though we can say with some certainty that those publishers that continue to offer the public unusual, challenging and high-quality work and simultaneously manage their businesses efficiently will thrive, while those that dont will not. Rather more helpfully, however, we can identify some of the main issues that will confront independent publishers in the medium term.
Future forecast
Distribution will remain a major challenge and publishers will have to devote more time and creativity to reaching their audiences. Sales through the major chains may remain problematic for some publishers, but independent retailers are showing greater interest in independent press titles, and there is considerable potential for growth here. Other routes to market already noted above, in particular the Internet, will become ever more important, and here the independents have the opportunity to showcase their titles on an equal footing with the conglomerates. Black British writing has made enormous progress in the past quarter century, but the voices of many communities in the UK remain silent. These include minority ethnic groups, countless imagined communities, and new groups such as asylum seekers. One of the major challenges facing independent publishers in the next decade will be to unearth voices from those communities, and thereby help maintain the very particular vibrancy of contemporary British literature.
Digital technology (in particular, print on demand) should lead to a rationalisation of print runs usually the most expensive part of the publishing process with knock-on benefits to cashflow and financial management. Print-on-demand technology also allows publishers to continue to make available slower-selling backlist titles. The death of the book has been often foretold, but it always proves remarkably resilient. Books that people are likely to want to read from end to end such as novels seem less vulnerable to technological change than other media.
In artistic or cultural terms, independent publishing in England is a notable success story. Publishers of great vision and keen judgement have made a vital contribution to literary culture, not only of this country but also of the world. Often they have succeeded against the odds and the advice of bank managers! In my view, the financial scenario will remain problematic, especially for smaller literary presses. However, with assistance and encouragement, independent presses should continue to find those authors and those books that elude or simply do not interest the publishing giants. And for that, we should all be grateful.
John Hampson is Senior Literature Officer at Arts Council England. t: 020 7973 6440;
e: john.hampson@artscouncil.org.uk. More data about the independent publishing industry in England can be found in the recent ACE publication Kitchentable to laptop: Independent publishing in England.
w: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publications