INDIE PUBLISHERS - GOOD TIMES?

In an article for The Guardian, about the Penguin merger, Gavin James Bower states:

'In any recession, the vanguard is to be found beyond the mainstream – and risks taken by those typically seen as outsiders. Indies, as they always do, will be seen as the risk-takers in a climate of doom and gloom, nurturing talent and publishing books not deemed safe enough for the panicky, profit-driven corporations.'

But also:
'Print sales are falling – down 11% in 2011, the trend continuing in 2012 – while bookshops, both specialist and chain, are closing. Borders has gone, Waterstones is in turmoil, and independent booksellers the length and breadth of the country are vanishing. Publishers, meanwhile, are being squeezed by the last remnants of the High Street, struggling to make established margins pay. Last but not least, advances are falling, the midlist novelist looking like an endangered species and writing for a living no longer an option for the vast majority of published let alone aspiring authors.'

I am an endangered species. Maybe that's why I am having a hard time getting a killer agent. Sigh.

Read the whole article here.

DUBLIN WRITERS' FEST

The Dublin Writers' Fest is in full swing. This all day seminar on Independent Publishing on Saturday looks good. And at €10 for the day, a total bargain.