A state of f***

Anybody with aspirations to write professionally will know that the publishing industry is in a state of flux. Digital delivery to e-readers combined with the inexorable rise of the mega-bookstore are making things difficult for the traditional high street bookshop and, consequently, for the publisher, agent and writer.

It's the same in television, it seems. Libby Purves, that most excellent author, Times columnist and sailor laments the passing of The Bill after 26 years and, in passing takes a sideswipe at publishing generally:

'Publishers have no time or nerve to grow new novelists slowly and forgivingly: if your first book doesn’t go stratospheric you probably won’t get the second, far better one, into print. Often a “name” earned elsewhere or a startling personal history provide the only way in.'

Read her full article.
And this is one reason why small-scale publishers like Unbound Press deserve support. For those talented writers who can't contrive a 'name' or construct 'a startling personal history', we and others like us are your main chance.