The Precarious Life of Canadian Publishing

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LOGOS Culture, commerce and the national interest: The precarious life of Canadian publishing

Roy MacSkimming Culture and commerce represent the duality at the heart of any country's book industry. But, as Chinua Achebe has said about Africa, even if foreign pub lishers can do certain things better, a vital literary environment is impossible without indigenous pub lishers. That is where the national interest comes in. In countries such as the US or the UK, the national interest takes care of itself. Rich liter Starting his book-centred career ary traditions, on the one hand, and large and afflu as an editor in Clarke Irwin, ent home markets and well-developed export Toronto, Roy MacSkimming has trades, on the other, sustain viable publishing indus been pubhsher - he co-founded tries as happy meldings of culture and commerce. In Canada, these conditions are still in New Press in 1969 - Uterary edi process of being achieved - through the enlight tor, columnist, grant administra ened application of public policy. Transnational tor and cultural policy consultant publishers tend to see the Canadian government's during the past twenty-nine role in publishing only in terms of restrictions on foreign investment. In fact, that role has evolved years. Now Policy Director of over the past twenty-five years within the overar the Association of Canadian ching goal of building a mature industry with a Publishers, he is also the author measure of Canadian control sufficient to achieve of five books. His latest novel. cultural self-definition and national self-determina tion. Those ultimate objectives - seemingly more Out of Love, has just appeared in appropriate to a developing nation than to one of Canada. the G-7 - explain why book publishing is highly politicized in Canada. The volume of book production in Canada today is impressive. Of the 8,000 or so orig inal titles (70% in English and 30% in French) published each year by nearly 300 firms, fully 80% are issued by Canadian-controlled houses. Cana dian writing is increasingly admired internationally. But this success has a precarious commercial basis, as the following two case histories illustrate. The Prometheus of Canadian trade pub lishing was Jack McClelland. Now retired as head of McClelland and Stewart (M&S), he certainly suffered Promethean torments for bringing fire to the country's literature. Between the 1950s and '70s, he

transformed his father's company from a and then as pattner in a new venture, I prudent model of school publishing and helped found the Association of Cana an agency for British and American books dian Publishers (ACP) in 1971. Our ini into an extraordinarily prolific house spe tial objective was to lobby Canada's cializing in Canadian writing. A tisk-taker federal and provincial governments for by temperament and an imaginative and policies to strengthen domestic publishers flamboyant promoter, McClelland backed in their struggle for survival. Indeed, Sur most of the major Canadian authors of his vival was the title of Margaret Atwood's time: Farley Mowat, Margaret Laurence, enormously influential study of Canadian Mordecai Richler, Leonard Cohen, Mar literature published that same year by one garet Atwood, Pierre Berton, Peter C of our founding firms. When the ACP Newman, to name a few. McClelland succeeded, to a considerable extent, I liked to say he published authors, not went off to do literary journalism, consult books. His professional and personal com ing and my own writing. But in 1991, mitment to his writers was legendary; he when several important Canadian houses stood by them come what may and virtu went out of business, I found myself unex ally invented the writer-as-public-figure in pectedly returning to the ACP, in a repeat Canada. version of the original scenario: seeking a But M&S skirted bankruptcy during the renewed government commitment to an '70s and early '80s. It was saved from for industry that had fallen once again on eign takeover or worse only by govern perilous times. Twenty years had passed. ment intervention. McClelland came to Canadian-owned publishers now had a be regarded as a great publisher, but a tei- high profile, but theit financial problems rible businessman. Just before using up all remained essentially unsolved. These nine publishing lives, he sold the firm in problems can be summarized quite simply 1985 to Toronto property developer Avie as severe undercapitalization and intense Beruiett - an entrepreneur of proven busi multinational competition in a market ness acumen and substantial resources. which is not insignificant, with annual Bennett has continued to keep M&S in sales of C$1.2 billion, but highly frag the forefront of the industry. The company mented. still publishes many of Canada's intetna- tionally successful writers, including several Booker Prize nominees and the co-winner for 1992, Michael Ondaatje, as well as two Canada's population of 27 million recent contenders for the Nobel Prize, nov sttetches in a thin band across the southern por elist Robertson Davies and poet Irving tion of a land mass greater than any other coun Layton. The firm's sales have soared due to try's (since the demise of the Soviet Union). aggressive acquisition of British and Amer Seven million people, concentrated mainly in the ican agency lines. But M&S is still losing province of Quebec, are French-speaking. This money - a situation tolerable only because leaves an English-language book market of some of Bennett's deep pockets. Bennett has 20 million, not allowing for the high proportion of publicly vindicated Jack McClelland. Con immigrants for whom English is a second or third sidering the odds against profitability in language - only slightly latger than the English- Canadian book publishing, Bennett says, language markets of India (18 million) and Aus McClelland was a far better businessman tralia (16 million). Neither India nor Australia, than people realized. however, shares a 5,000-mile open border with the A more mundane illustration comes from world's most dynamic exporter of every kind of my own experience. During ten years in cultural product, the United States. In fact, the the industry, first with an established firm Canadian situation may be more appropriately