"We asked ourselves, how would we structure a company in this century," said Nina von Moltke, co-founder of Authors Equity, during a panel discussion on the state of independent publishing at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week.
On the panel with von Moltke were Nelleke Geel, publisher and owner of Meridiaan Uitgevers, based in the Netherlands, and Tom Kraushaar, publishing director of Klett-Cotta Verlag, a German publishing house with roots dating back to 1659. Porter Anderson, editor-in-chief of Publishing Perspectives, moderated the discussion.
"We've seen big publishing become bigger and bigger," von Moltke continued, while at the same time, media platforms have disseminated "almost completely," online channels make up roughly 70% of sales in the U.S., and authors are communicating more directly with consumers and readers than ever before.
Along with Authors Equity co-founders Don Weisberg and Madeline McIntosh, von Moltke worked in traditional, large publishing for a long time, and it was becoming harder to support authors within that framework. She likened the Authors Equity model to being more of a "producer" than a traditional publisher. The concept involves a long-term relationship with authors that is based on higher royalties rather than advances, with authors supported by teams of freelancers.
Noting that Authors Equity is only about seven months old, von Moltke said they've signed about 20 authors, with five titles coming out this year and another 15-20 next year. The question the team is facing now is how quickly to expand. Though their model is scalable, they are wary of doing too much too soon and would rather start "a little slower."
Recalling her time in traditional publishing, von Moltke remarked that it can be tough sometimes at a major corporation, because you "have to say no a lot." Even if you understand the author's position very well, and wish you could say yes, you "have a big business to protect," and if a concession is granted to one person, other authors will likely ask for the same thing. Authors Equity, von Moltke said, has a lot more flexibility in that regard.
Geel, whose publishing house is five years old, agreed on the risks of a new publisher growing too quickly, but said "you will grow whether you like it or not." Authors already on the list will not always deliver consistently, and publishers "have a program to fill" and need to be on the lookout for new voices. Because of the Covid years, she said, 2023 was the "first normal year for us," and being the Dutch publisher of Hilary Mantel has helped bolster the company in its early years.
Next year, Meridiaan Uitgevers will publishe 17 or 18 new titles, and Geel called 20-22 titles per year a "lovely amount of books to handle." She also talked about her rationale for building a list and identifying which titles will "pay the bills," which will at least earn back their money, and which will either not make money or outright lose money. Commenting on the latter, she said there can be "other reasons" for having books on the list that are not expected to be earners.
Martina Hefter, a Klett-Cotta author, won this year's German Book Prize for her novel Hey Guten Morgen, Wie Geht Es Dir? (Hey, Good Morning, How Are You?); when asked about the effect that winning a major prize or literary award can have on an independent publisher, Kraushaan said that it does boost sales and creates some "prestige" with critics, booksellers, and the like, but he felt that the most valuable effect was in-house. A success like that, he said, is a "very, very social thing" in a publishing house, and it validates the team that they are going the right way and moving in a good direction. He makes sure that everyone in the publishing house, "is part of this success."
Kraushaan extolled the flexibility that being independent provides, and said that although some of the most successful German publishing houses have very focused lists, he is a "fan of diversified publishing." A diverse list is one that he views as more sustainable, and with a broader list, "probability of success grows." He explained that he doesn't like to work on success, as there is always some luck involved with a given title's success, but "probability of success we can work on." --Alex Mutter
