Niches Will Ever Be Filled

A bit late to the party, but the New York Times has noticed that the recent flurry of publisher mergers is going to reduce the number of available imprints and we are going to lose literary lights before they can be sparked.

They take the case of Donal Ryan (Limerick Abu!), an obscure writer residing in the west of Ireland whose literary merits should have been recognized when the publisher read the gentleman's return address. It's obvioius that Mr. Ryan, imbued with the aura of Limerick and its abundance of incredible storytellers, would write something worth publishing.

Alas, not everyone is aware of the brilliance of Limerick writers. Mr. Ryan went the usual route and received the usual rejections. He is a civil servant, without a Master's degree in Fine Arts. He does not teach creative writing. He has no platform. In short, he was deemed unlikely to have created a blockbuster novel that would sell a million copies. Therefore, the big houses had no place for him.

Yes, New York Times, this is a problem but it has been a problem before the merger mania took hold. It is a question of who runs the publishing houses, not how many there are. The blockbuster mentality rules these days because publishing is less about art than ever, and all about business. If good books go unclaimed, it does not matter, as long as those that are published sell through.

Mr. Ryan's novel was picked up by a small publisher without a large budget for substantial advances and publicity and book tours. They took a chance because there is a niche market for good books written by unknown, ordinary people with a gift for storytelling. As the big houses leave those niches unfilled, independent publishers who are small enough to consider art as well as business step in and fill that niche.

Lilliput Press has a microscopic back list and they accept submissions from authors who have not garnered the attention of a literary agent because literary agents aren't interested in small advances that don't yield a decent commission for them. The Dublin-based publisher acts as its own gatekeeper, to select the sort of books that the editors like. It doesn't have to be a blockbuster, just good.

Major publishing houses have not been searching for hidden gems for a long time because they want to cut costs, and buying a manuscript from a graduate of the Iowa writing program promises a savings on editing expenses. It is cheaper to go with a known commodity than take a chance, or invest in, someone with talent in need of polishing.

The small indie presses fill that niche. But without a large advertising budget, it is difficult to get such literary prose into the public consciousness. What works in Ireland, a small nation, is not readily translated into the massive market of the entire United States. So yes, publisher merger mania is reducing the odds that a gifted writer of no credentials will be discovered. But there are entrepreneuers out there with enough love for books over-riding a love of profit to give those authors a chance.

For an author like Donal Ryan, you have to prove yourself before the big houses take notice. As long as indie publishers exist, those "internships" can give a writer the opportunity to get ahead in a difficult industry. And provide avid readers with a wider variety of writing styles to enjoy.