Charlotte reading to indie publisher panel.

Hi everyone again. So, last week we continued with the ‘industry professional’ talks. This time, it was all about smaller independent publishers and we got four speakers with different opinions on the way forward for indies, as well as the different problems they encounter. But before their talk, we had a couple of readers.

We had Inge Watson, Jane Murrell, Rebecca Balfourth and Charlotte Geater. The pieces varied from memoirs, to non-fiction writing, to pop culture narratives… I particularly enjoyed Charlotte’s piece. Look her up and read her stuff. She has a very strong contemporary voice, which is always funny as it is intelligent.

Then the speakers started. At first, there was some talk about how evil Amazon is to the publishing industry. I remember feeling very guilty, like when your vegan friend starts reciting all the animal cruelty that goes into packing your favourite burger at the pub. And so, as with the burger, you want more information, maybe so you can look for alternatives to make you feel less guilty, or maybe so someone can convince you that you’re just wrong and you can easily amend it. That day I had bought half a dozen books from Amazon and so I payed a lot of attention…

Anyway, it wasn’t all about the transparent ills of capitalism. They showed us some of the people they published, the way that they work very close to their authors editing manuscripts and the way that it is more a labour of love than one about the perpetual worry of increasing sales. Although they did mention how pressured about it nonetheless… But that stuff doesn’t matter. In fact, what was interesting was how they all criticised big publishers for sometimes looking over great writing (mainly due to internal pressure and having to hit large sales numbers) that they then discover to do well. It is definitely a trend I expect to see growing, as long as big publishers and agencies seem unapproachable by new writers lacking of any industry experience. The publishers were Myriad, Galley Beggar, Cultured Llama and 3.AM (yes, the same 3AM from the Paris-based literary magazine). Look them up and see what you think.

Next week it’s time for poetry and Tony Frazer (Shearsman Books) is visiting which is very exciting stuff. See you then!