![]() You do history and current affairs and sports and arts and biography ? I think they thought I was incompetent. When I explained this to American publishers, they didn’t think I was specialized. We’re almost entirely invested in researched nonfiction. Sutherland House is fairly specialized for a Canadian independent. I met a woman who only publishes books for military families, a man who published books that interpret Japanese culture for Americans, a woman who publishes almost entirely black female authors, a man who publishes a series of short books each explaining a different piece of software.Įach of the publishers had a deep understanding of his or her narrow audience and knew how to reach it. Rather, I heard a lot of talk from the publishers in attendance about the need to find an addressable commercial niche. Government support for book publishing in the US is rare and over four days, I didn’t run across a single publisher at the Independent Book Publishers Association conference who specialized in literary fiction or poetry. Not surprisingly, the individual businesses within the sector are also weak. The inclinations of our publishers toward literary fiction combined with the Canada Council’s disincentives to commercial publishing have helped produce a Canadian independent publishing sector weak on commercial fiction, commercial nonfiction, and researched nonfiction. As we’ve discussed here before, the Canada Council tends to frown upon history, biography, science writing, journalism, etc., which sell more reliably than literary fiction but less so than commercial fiction and nonfiction. ![]() Nor are most forms of serious, researched nonfiction. These genres aren’t supported by the Canada Council, however. Also commercial nonfiction-how-to’s, self help, and cookbooks. What sells? Nothing is guaranteed but commercial fiction-fantasy, mystery, romance, etc.-in relatively reliable. The odd book will break out-a precious few will be hugely successful-but the vast majority of titles struggle to sell a few hundred copies. No surprise, then, that of the 100 or so English Canadian independents, roughly half specialize in literary fiction and poetry, and maybe another quarter is strong in those genres while also doing other things.Īs a rule, literary fiction doesn’t sell. ![]() It allows publishers more scope to follow their inclinations. Nothing wrong with that-it’s a lifestyle choice.įortunately for them, the Canada Council, which is often writing the biggest cheques, favours literary fiction and poetry. They’re as commercial as they need to be to keep doing what they like. It means more to them to win a Giller or a Griffin prize than to build a commercially successful business. Most of the Canadian independents I’ve met are primarily interested in literary fiction and poetry. Publishers tend to produce books that reflect the kind of books they like and the kind of books that governments fund. Inevitably, the availability of public money shapes the Canadian publishing environment. If these grants were to disappear tomorrow, all but a few of our independents would either be out of business or circling the drain within a year or two. An Ontario tax credit, for instance, will cover up to 30 percent of an eligible publisher’s non-printing expenses. ![]() Ontario, BC, and Quebec have additional grants programs of their own. The two major federal grants programs are the Canada Council for the Arts (sends cheques for up to $250,000 annually to eligible publishers) and the Canada Book Fund (sends cheques for amounts equivalent to between 10 and 15 percent of an eligible publisher’s sales). Most find it a struggle to break even with the grants. I don’t know of a single Canadian publisher who wouldn’t be underwater without grants. ![]() In my experience, between 20 percent and 60 percent of revenue for the roughly 100 independent publishers this side of the border comes in the form of grants. I attended an annual conference of the Independent Book Publishers Association in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, in part because I was curious to see how US publishers manage without generous federal and provincial grants. ![]()
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