An Independent Publisher Spealts His Mind
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LOGOS An independent publisher spealts his mind Donald S Lamm The woids can be faintly read on the old biick sid ing of the landmaik building on New Yoik's Fifth Avenue at 48th Street: "Charles Scribner's Sons Publishers and Booksellers. Founded 1846." But Sciibnei's does not live thete any mote; in fact Sciibnei's hasn't lived thete fot neatly twenty yeats, evei since the veneiable fiim, publishers of Edith Wharton and Galsworthy and Hemingway, College representative, editor, Fitzgeiald and Thomas Wolfe, was sold by the Vice President - Donald Lamm thiid Scfibnei to inheiit the business. The insciip- has been all of these in the inde* tion on its sidewall notwithstanding, today the building is owned by an Italian spoits clothes com pendent (and employee^owned) pany. publishing house of W W The impiint "Sciibnei's" lives on, piesum Norton, of which he has been ably lending a touch of class to the curtent owneis President since 1976 and of the Sciibnei's copyiights, the enteitainment con Chairman since 1984. A gradu glomeiate known as Viacom. But the Sciibnei titles have enduied heavy weathei. Despite appaient ate of Yale University, he pledges to the family to keep the list intact, many includes among his many extra Sciibnei titles wete tiansfeiied to the amoiphous curricular activities the papeiback line of the oiiginal acquiiing fiim presidency of the Board of (Macmillan, in its US incamation). And while fit ful efforts wete made to keep a distinct Sciibnei's Governors of Yale University opeiation within the MacmUlan complex, the pub Press and memberships on the lishing ttadition lepiesented by the fine old Council on Foreign Relations and colophon became a tiace memoiy. the Commission on Preservation What happened to Sciibnei's is emblem and Access. Lamm is also a atic of changes in Ameiican book publishing that Senator of the Phi Beta Kappa began in the eaily 1960s and have continued to this day - the absorption of closely held firms, often Society. family-owned, by large public corporations. Many attribute the waves of acquisitions and meigeis ovet the past thtee decades to the inability of lelatively small films to compete against the biggei playeis. A slew of tiendy tetms have been trotted out as latio- nales for the lelentless piocess of buying and selling: "syneigy", "ciadle-to-giave publishing", "frill-service publishing". Not one of these teims reflects with any accuiacy what the meigeis actually have accomplished. 138 LOGOS 7/1 © WHURR PUBLISHERS 1996 An independent publisher speaks his mind Worshipping the gteat idol synergy, for and manufactuiing ate not activities integial to my example, was a particularly telling case of misplaced chaiacteiization of independent publishing. One zeal. By acquiiing Simon &. Schustei, the conglom could aigue fuithei that a publishet can hitchhike a eiate Paiamount, named aftet the Hollywood film tide with a laigei fiim when it comes to sales and company at its core, foresaw a natural progression distiibution without thieat to independence. (I am within its corporate boundaiies from the acquisition not completely peisuaded on this point. "Low bag of a manuscript by its haidcovei division, the oidei" in a salesman's kit can be haimful unless Simon &. Schustei ttade depaitment, to subsequent thete ate very close peisonal ties with the fiim pro mass-market publication by its Pocket Books sub- viding the sales lepiesentation or with a regional sidiaiy, and ultimately to a blockbuster movie at commission-sales group. And more than one Amei your neighborhood theaten That simply did not ican publishing house has expeiienced tough happen. Decision-makeis in diveise aieas see theit patches when its surtogate's fulfillment opeiations domains differently. The entertainment value of a went awty.) Over and beyond the controlling of the book does not automatically translate onto the sil tools of the business, independence ielies on some ver screen or the television tube. thing that I can only label a state of mind: an infat The concept of cradle-to-grave publishing uation with books and the people who wtite them. never has taken hold either. One need look no far- Hoveling over all book publishing entei thei than the recent sale by the Ameiican bianch piises today is an economic imperative to channel of HaipeiCollins of theit educational publishing lesouices in the diiection likely to yield the highest division (itself an amalgam of two veneiable letums on investment. The independent publishet imprints - Harper and Scott Foiesman) foi confii- who caies about insuiing his business fot the long mation of the obvious fact that an impiint does not mn cannot ignoie that impetative. But he has one automatically tiansfei stiength from one division to distinct advantage ovet his conglomeiate-owned anothei. Refeience books aside, biand-name loyalty competitois: time. The independent publishet, in publishing exists mainly in the minds of public given a good ciedit fating and a fiiendly banket oi lelations flacks. 1 can summon peisonal evidence two, is not the captive of foices that demand quick from the behavioi of my own children who, while payoffs. Seveial lean yeats often must be enduied at college, often puichased Norton books oblivious befoie majot new ventuies come on stieam, and the to the colophon (and heedless of the savings they independent publishet, oiganizationally and tem- might have lealized by a mete glance down the peiamentally, stands a fat bettei chance of main spine of the book). taining equilibfium when piofits fail to exceed a If sheet size is no guaiantoi of life evei- pilot yeai's results. lasting fot a publishing enteipiise, why ate indepen dent publishers in such short supply in the United States? The answer once provided by Graef Crystal, a leading expeit on executive compensation, is that The stiuctuie of publishing in the 1990s the owneis and manageis of independent publish creates a dangei fot the book within the vety indus ing houses suffei from a seiious affliction, undeide- tiy that pioduces and disseminates it, in part veloped greed glands. Perhaps so. because in the twilight of the independents, the There is, however, a more likely explana heads of most publishing houses no longei ate the tion. In my view, independence in publishing diiving editoiial fotce in theit companies. Manage means having to report to no highei authoiity - ment skills take piecedence ovet the geneiation of othet, that is, than the maiket. To achieve and book ideas: Aside ftom cuiiying the most highly maintain independence, a publisher must control valued authois, publishing CEOs ate left to ciunch all - or neaily all - the tools of the business. It is numbeis and deal with theit supeiiois at the coipo not enough to set up shop with an editoi ot two, a rate level. publicist and a sales managei, faiming out copy- Even mote thieatening to the liteiaiy editing, design and production to freelanceis. Even endeavoi is the bifuicated woild of authois in in the new age of desktop publishing, typesetting which superstai novelists command advances in six 139 LOGOS 7/1 © WHURR PUBUSHERS 1996 .