Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10344
Title: The Publishing Paradigm: Commercialisation versus Creativity
Contributor(s): Fisher, Jeremy  (author)
Publication Date: 2012
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/10344
Abstract: On 4 May 2009, I was on a panel at the inaugural Alice Springs Writers Festival. The festival was small, but the enthusiasm of the writers there was enormous. The Chair of the panel, Peter Bishop - then of Varuna, The Writer's House - encouraged the audience of would-be writers to retain their creativity, to keep their individual voices, despite what editors, publishers and agents might tell them the market needed. I was more cautious. While it is, of course, very important creative writers maintain their individual voices, if they are going to develop a sustainable career path through writing, authors need to be aware of the market they are entering and the forces that operate within it. For instance, authors need to be cognisant of the role of the acquisitions or commissioning editor in the development of publishing lists and their rejection policies. While most editors and publishers I know profess to be, and, on the face of it, are, open-minded and genuinely interested in quality manuscripts, they have their own foibles and idiosyncrasies. These are further compounded by the strictures of their employers. In the main, a great non-fiction book is not going to be taken up by a publisher whose eye is focused only on the fiction market, even when an editor champions it. Likewise, a literary novel with potential sales of 3000 is not going to be considered in the acquisitions meeting of a publisher that has decided it will only publish books capable of selling 20,000 copies or more. These days, much more so than in the past, an editor also has to convince the sales force that a book will sell, why and to whom. In this context, a chick-lit title is an easier option than a beautifully crafted novel aimed at teenage boys. Why? Teenage boys are not reading and rarely buy books (Australia Council for the Arts, 2009). Young women, however, are still avid readers and book-buyers.
Publication Type: Book Chapter
Source of Publication: The Creativity Market: Creative Writing in the 21st Century, p. 54-65
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Place of Publication: Bristol, United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781847697110
9781847697097
9781847697103
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 190402 Creative Writing (incl Playwriting)
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 360201 Creative writing (incl. scriptwriting)
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 950203 Languages and Literature
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 130203 Literature
HERDC Category Description: B1 Chapter in a Scholarly Book
Publisher/associated links: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=xsu6_rANP-0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA54
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/160126463
Series Name: New Writing Viewpoints
Series Number : 8
Editor: Editor(s): Dominique Hecq
Appears in Collections:Book Chapter
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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