First of all, there is the amazing coincidence of all those publishers from Orion in England to Random House in the United States deciding simultaneously to stop accepting manuscripts directly from authors. Is this a deliberate and coordinated move to scale back publishing across the board?
If I were cynical I would say that it almost sounds like the heads of each of the major publishing houses and their flunkies got together at some previously arranged neutral site. Like a group of Mafia Dons, who would just as soon kill each other as talk. Forced to deal with a common enemy, they gathered to protect their turfs.
Promises were made and vows were exchanged, and the next day the announcement appears on all the websites. America's, and some of Britain's, publishers are no longer open for new business unless accompanied by a recommendation from an agent they know on a first-name basis. Even then, if the book won't play on Oprah, the chances of it being published are slim.
What amazes me is how they seem to have forgotten, or even worse not noticed, the potential audience beyond the confines of our continent and the British Isles. American companies could perhaps be excused on grounds of ignorance, but for the Brits to forget about India and the rest of the Commonwealth nations (the countries that were formerly colonies of England) is just silly. They were the ones who forced the English language down their throats in the first place.
Passage to India
India has probably one of the largest, educated English-speaking populations in the world right now. Its economy is booming, and more and more of her people have the money to spend on books and other forms of leisure. How hard would it be for an imprint to reach an agreement with an Indian press and start delivering titles for publication?
But with the exception of Penguin India, no one seems to be doing very much to take specific advantage of the market. Even Penguin treats India like another foreign country and gives preference to American publications. What this means is that while Penguin can dump as many American-published titles as it wants onto the Indian market, it only exports a few Indian-published titles to the States.
Article comments
1 - DukeDeMondo
Richard, i wish you none but the best in your attempts at getting published, and i dare say it's a matter of When rather than If.
2 - vikk
Hi Richard,
Good luck with your book. I will say that the closed submission policy has been around for a long time and not really that new. It's always been difficult but not impossible to get published through the slush pile but generally it's helpful to take the time know the industry--as you're doing--learn who the players are and then pitch your idea and book. Agents are certainly being used more and more as the primary screeners for publishers.
Frankly, I don't blame the publishers that much for the policies. I've seen the types of manuscripts that are sent to them and many, many, many of them should not have been sent. They simply weren't ready to be published. It takes time and energy and expense to go through slush piles. With so many people determining that they can write and that what they write is publishable immediately, the numbers have only increased.
I don't think it's any kind of conspiracy but rather a response to inundation of material and its quality that they've been receiving. The publishers are simply repsonding to various changes in the marketplace both in their providers and their consumers. OVer the last twenty years I've seen publishers tighten their submission belts and then let them out. Just as the various genres run high and low, submission policies change.
I don't know enough about India and its publishing to comment. But I do know that in the US publishers tend to look at many, many more things than we--the writers--consider.
For me, I tend to try and find my way through whatever current system is operating. It takes time but people do get published and it happens every day. I know way too many folks published to doubt the fact that it can still happen and happen to new writers.
Anyway, good luck in your literary pursuit.
3 - alessandro nicolo
I've often wondered if that is indeed the case: the wannabes clogging up the lines for more legitimate writers. Good piece. I think the writing industry is predicated on one notion: work like a dog to get published. It literally is like starting and running a business. And it seems so much harder to do in Canada.