This week has seen the announcement by Salt that they will no longer be publishing single author poetry collections. This is big news in the poetry world because Salt has published over 400 such titles over the years and has championed the work of many talented poets working today. It is always sad when an independent press makes a change such as this. These ripples go a long way in the small poetry pond. And I know how the Salt poets must be feeling right now. Although my own poetry is now published by a publisher (Ward Wood) which is thriving and very much in the game, my first publisher (bluechrome) disappeared over night without a sound. It was devastating at the time. But I am not here to bemoan Salt’s decision too much. After all, Salt is, first and foremost, a business and it is, actually, to their credit that they are running themselves as such. Businesses always have to make these sorts of hard decisions and I assume Salt did not make this one lightly.
This does mean, though, that the field, and therefore, the choice of poets being published has narrowed further. The remaining poetry publishers, the small indies and the four biggies, can not publish all the poets worthy of publishing. And although this sounds like bad news, I believe there is good news here, too. It means that, despite news articles to the contrary, poetry is still very much alive in our language and culture. Every year sees new hysterical claims that this or that genre is “dead.” But that is now, and always has been, ridiculous. People still write poetry. Actually, people still read it, too. Poetry continues to be the art form of choice to mark the major events in our lives — births, deaths, marriages, etc. And the quality of new writing is high. All you have to do is go to any of the thousands of poetry readings and festivals held around Britain (or America for that matter) and listen. There are gems everywhere. And what about all the literary journals and magazines that still do publish poetry? How easy do you think it is to get a poem accepted into one of those? I assume you know for yourself if you are persevering to read this post. But if you don’t, let me just say that although I have two published collections, I still get a weekly stream of rejections all saying that although they may like my work, the competition and quality of submissions is so high they are rejecting me (again).
But it is true that not enough people go into book shops or on line and buy poetry collections. Book selling is under siege now in general, and poetry is especially susceptible. But I am here to say that just because people aren’t buying poetry books doesn’t mean they aren’t writing and, more importantly here, experiencing poetry. It is the delivery system which needs to evolve, just as the art form always has and will continue to evolve.
Where do I sell my books? Predominantly at events. It is clear to me that people are now preferring to take in their poetry not via the page necessarily, but aurally and visually. Poetry is an event now. You go to a reading and sometimes, if you like the work, you take a copy of it home. But mostly, you don’t. Now, people are more likely to want to experience a poem live, up front, first hand, in a real voice. And that is the challenge to publishers. That, I believe, is how they can make money out of poetry.
Remember records? Remember record stores? Remember buying an album or cd, taking it home and listening to it alone or with a friend or two? Is that what people do now? No. The entire music industry has changed. The growing pains were intense, but that industry now understands that the money is in concerts. People want to go see musicians play, and maybe then they’ll download a track or two. It is the personal interaction with the artist that the music-loving public now craves. And so, record companies put their energy into gigs. They set them up. They publicise them. They send their artists out. They pocket the ticket sales. I do believe that poetry today is more like the music industry than any other art form. And so the delivery system must change, just as it did with the music industry, if anyone ever is going to make any money out of poetry.
I can hear the publishers arguing with me now…there isn’t the staff, the time, the expertise. Yes. I know. But I also know that publishers like Salt will not continue to sell poetry books because the poetry consumers do not buy them. People still consume poetry. But not in that way. Alas, the people who disseminate the art form will have to find new ways to make it economically feasible. Mark my word, if that happens, poetry will become the break out art form. All us poets, not just the handful of famous ones published by the famous publishers, will proudly take to the stage. Their publishers/agents/managers will feel the gold in their pockets and smile. The audiences will be enriched and so will the culture.
Recent Comments