How open is publishing? | The Bookseller

"The most important people in publishing are the writers and illustrators, those who create brilliant books and stories. Last week I read comments from [new Publishers Association president] Joanna Prior in The Bookseller regarding innovation in publishing: "We're not a closed world that is difficult to get into, we're open to innovation, to doing things in new ways." I thank her for starting the debate because I think publishing can be seen as a closed shop and needs to do much, much more to harness the masses of untapped creative talent that I see every day. Low entry-level pay and unpaid internships are stifling creativity in publishing ... And then I get annoyed because publishing is missing a trick, and countless sales opportunities are lost. As Dan Holloway, author of Opening up to Indie Authors, and a speaker at this year’s London Book Fair, says: "I understand that big publishers genuinely want to find new and exciting things but I don't think they know how to do it or where to look. As long as they keep recruiting and interning from the graduate elite, they will always be pulling from an opinion base whose sense of taste and quality and innovation has been moulded in a very controlled and limited environment. What are they doing to get in touch with street artists and aspiring rappers, and out into the poorest schools and after school clubs to ensure that those kids whose parent(s) don't have a room of their own, let alone a space for their kid to do homework in, will be inspired, encouraged and enabled to convert the angers and passions and hopes of their experience into the great literature of 10 years' time? ... "