The value of the small presses
© Borge Bjelland
Since small presses are increasingly under threat from various sources, it may be concluded they have no importance, but is it really the case that small presses are expendable? As the founder and editor of Dream Catcher magazine, Paul Sutherland presents five points for argument in favour of the small presses, looking specifically at what they have to offer us as writers, readers and our culture as a whole.
1. A personal approach
First, small presses might be far more successful than we think. If all their sales and subscriptions were added together would it come to such a small figure? It might be a very extensive amount, perhaps £100,000, but the fragmentary nature of small press production, like other creative industries, makes this harder to recognise.
Usually, one individual, a twosome or a small group (often in a voluntary capacity) runs these enterprises. Yet this individualistic approach that makes small presses so vulnerable makes them, I would argue, invaluable; because its personal approach allows small presses to be more responsive to new ideas, local interests, experimental writing and works from unestablished authors, and perhaps above all, more responsive to issues of cultural diversity.
2. High quality content
The context of autonomous editorial control is relevant here. Most small presses have long backlogs of manuscripts to choose from, and literary magazines such as Dream Catcher receive large numbers of submissions with relatively few pieces of work accepted. In fact, Dream Catcher receives about 5,000 submissions a year of which we can publish no more than 140 items.
This ratio is not an exception in small press, literary magazine and journal industries, and gives these publications the opportunity to choose from the best of the best writing available at any given time.
Small presses also occasionally publish poor writing, but they have no monopoly on that; celebrity verbiage from a well-known publisher is just one case where big publishers show they have no more critical controls than the smallest operation in a city flat.
Small press editors are not pushovers. They’re often writers themselves in the small press culture. David Constantine, editor of Modern Poetry in Translation, is just one of numerous examples, and that magazine was founded by none other than Ted Hughes.
3. The seeds of publishing giants
Don’t forget that even the major publishers started as small presses. The Hogarth Press and Faber & Faber, both began as concerns that published the ‘unpublished’; both were also guided by writers now with vast international reputations - respectively Virginia Woolf and T.S. Eliot.
So why did such excellent writers waste their time as small press editors and publishers? It wasn’t just to have ‘their style’ published, never mind their friends - these writers knew that they would be inspired and challenged by the most cutting edge and radical writing.
Publishing is a process and the present time’s over-emphasis on the outcome leaves less conspicuous elements undervalued. Small press industry is a vital link in the publishing process, often undervalued, under cashed and little known.
Almost every writer that emerges to some level of prominence has had to run the gauntlet of small press editors. Readers need to have courage and spirit of adventure to discover where mainstream authors first appear.
Taking an analogy from football (or soccer, for American readers), the major teams Man United and Arsenal never doubt the importance of minor league teams. Their scouts scour these teams for new talent; they know that the Rochdales and Scarboroughs are training grounds and showcases for the great players of tomorrow.
Likewise, small press publications are also training grounds and showcases as literary agents and producers look through the pages of small press collections to find emergent writers with promise.
4. Preservation of endangered writing forms
Without the small presses whole forms of writing become endangered species because major publishers shun or fiercely limit them. For example, major publishers generally reject poetic writing and the short story for reason of form.
In fact, high profile publishers won’t touch a collection of short stories until the author has a novel to their name, which is such a problem that the ‘save our short story’ campaign was launched in 2002. Yet short story collections appear in small presses almost universally.
Small presses that publish collections of short stories are absolutely essential in trying to keep this form alive, as well as providing ways for writers to reach their public.
Ghazzals, Rubaiyat and Haiku and their variants offer forms with which particular minority cultures in the UK identify. Small presses offer a lifeline to under-valued and under-represented literary forms and by inference to ‘excluded’ cultures.
5. Sustaining the presence of a literary culture
Next time you’re at a book signing, ask your favourite author what he or she thinks of small presses. Probably they will tell you how essential these minor presses were, not only for their own maturing as a writer, but for the existence of a literary culture that provides them now with a living, a purpose and a readership.
Small presses help inform and sustain the very presence of a national literary culture from which all culture feeds its audiences and readerships. In fact, I believe that there would not be a national literature heritage in the UK without the persistence and energy of the individuals (mostly voluntary) who manage the small presses.
Paul Sutherland is the founder and editor of Dream Catcher magazine, as well as being a poet and short story writer.
Related posts:
- Paul Sutherland of Dream Catcher tells us how to improve our chances of seeing our words in print - Paul Sutherland is the founder and editor of Dream Catcher...
- The importance of identifying your writing niche - Short story and horror novel writer Andy Kirby explains how...
- The week ahead at EssentialWriters.com - With December underway, some of us feel like this is...
- Dream Catcher review – designed to linger in your mind - Each issue of Dream Catcher offers up a collection of...
- The week ahead at EssentialWriters.com - In the pre-Christmas whirl of celebrations and deadlines, it can...
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment