by amy boyle
“[the industry] is stuck replicating its own problems.”
Farhaana arefin, hajar press
On Wednesday 28th April, York St John hosted an Independent Publishers Showcase. The event was led by Rebecca Tamás and featured panellists from Hajar Press, The Emma Press and Peepal Tree Press – all independent presses helping to pave the way for an improved publishing industry in the future.
In recent years, there has been a significant growth in the number of independent publishers across the UK, with a particular growth in the North in an attempt to disperse the largely London-centric industry. This has resulted in a number of new, innovative and often radical presses attempting to challenge the antiquated and isolating nature of the contemporary publishing industry.
Founded in 1985, Peepal Tree Press’ aim is to ‘publish books that make a difference’ and they are ‘most concerned with whether a book will still be alive in the future’ (https://www.peepaltreepress.com/about-us). Hajar Press, newly established in 2020 by Brekhna Aftab and Farhaana Arefin, is an ‘independent and proudly political publishing house run by and for people of colour’ seeking to ‘address structural inequalities’ and to use their publications to promote ‘[c]ommunity and solidarity’ (https://www.hajarpress.com/about). The Emma Press, founded in 2012 by Emma Dai’an Wright is a ‘BAME-led, feminist, radical organisation, keen on making poetry, publishing and literature as welcoming and accessible as possible’ (https://theemmapress.com/about/). What all three presses have in common is a shared vision for the future of the publishing industry – an industry that they all agree needs fundamental and wide-spread improvement.
Throughout the event, panellists discussed the inherently flawed nature of publishing as it remains today. Issues of the London-centric nature of the industry were discussed, as well as unpaid internships, lack of diversity, reflected in both the workforce and publications, Amazon’s dominance and control over the industry, and the fundamental issue of minority writers being perceived only as minorities, and not as the complex and valuable beings that they are.
Whilst they acknowledged that the larger publishers are making some improvements, there was a shared consensus amongst the speakers that more needs to be done. This was discussed particularly with regards to the narrow-minded nature of larger conglomerate publishers and the stories that they are willing, or in many cases unwilling, to share. Although efforts have been made within the publishing industry as a whole, with a greater push for diversity in the workplace, more improvements are still required, and greater emphasis needs to be placed on the need for real, fundamental change.
Farhaana profoundly pointed to the industry’s inherent flaw in that it is ‘stuck replicating its own problems’. Larger publishers focus on sales figures. They consider which books and authors have sold well, and often decline manuscripts that do not fit this ‘success model’. It is an industry that perpetuates a lack of diversity and authenticity. However, independent publishers are continually challenging this. Jacob Ross from Peepal Tree Press highlighted that Peepal published Monique Roffey’s most recent book, The Mermaid of Black Conch, after her manuscript was rejected by larger publishers. She has since won the 2020 Costa Book of the Year Award for this publication. This, Jacob highlighted, exemplifies that publishers often become ‘victims of their own models’.
Independent publishers are tackling these problems by focussing the measure of success in the ‘uncompromising’ (Jacob) nature of their goals, the ‘raw’ and ‘honest’ nature of their visions (Emma),the communities they form with their readers and writers, and through ‘connecting people through books’ (Brekhna). In the contemporary publishing industry that is being shaped by independent presses, there is a greater emphasis on the publisher’s responsibility to publish a variety of stories and to promote ‘genuinely authentic voices’ (Jacob). Independent publishers, therefore, are leading the way in a movement for a new and better publishing industry that is all-inclusive, diverse and authentic.
I hope to establish my own independent press one day and carve my own place in this increasingly passionate and radical movement for greater change in the industry. I would like to thank the panellists – Brekhna, Farhaana, Emma and Jacob – for an engaging, thought-provoking and ultimately imperative conversation about the contemporary publishing industry and what needs to change.