PUBLISHERS STRUGGLE
Local book scene under siege
REGINA The day her first book came out was the best day of D.M. Ditson’s life, and it was a Saskatchewan publishing house that gave that to her.
After working for three years to write a book detailing her own experiences with sexual abuse and her healing journey, Ditson spent a year searching for a publisher. Then in 2017 her manuscript won the John V. Hicks Long Manuscript Award, presented by the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild.
Shortly after that, Coteau Books approached her and said they were interested in publishing her work.
“It was the most discombobulated that I’ve ever felt,” Ditson said, recalling the day she received the news. “I just started turning in circles, and then I fell down on the floor and I just didn’t know what to feel. It was just like an overwhelmed joy disorientation.”
On May 1, 2019, Coteau Books officially released Wide Open, Ditson’s first book.
In February, only nine months later, the longtime Saskatchewan publisher shut its doors as it entered into bankruptcy protection. Ditson was heartbroken.
“It was devastating. I’ve actually cried a few times because of the news,” she said. “I’m just thinking now about all of the other firsttime authors who won’t get to have books (published) or who won’t get to have this kind of opportunity.”
Now Ditson said she is searching for a new publisher for Wide Open so her story doesn’t die out.
She is also starting work on a second book, a project she said Coteau had already expressed interest in, and is unsure where to turn to have that published once it is finished.
But it’s not just Coteau Books feeling the pressure in Saskatchewan’s publishing industry.
Jillian Bell, executive director of Saskbooks, said Saskatchewan’s approximately 50 publishing houses have been struggling to adapt and remain sustainable in a changing market.
She said the cost of producing a book in Canada has jumped by 40 per cent since the 1990s while retail book prices have remained virtually the same. This has caused profit margins for the publisher to drop from between 10 and 12 per cent per book to single digits.
The loss of local, independent book stores has squeezed margins even thinner.
Smaller book stores typically asked for a 40-per-cent discount on cover prices to buy the books wholesale, said Bell, but large box stores are now requiring up to 60-per-cent off.
After hearing that Coteau Books was shutting down, Bell said the mood in her office was “heartbroken and really worried” for the industry.
“It’s not that often when you have a small business that’s been able to operate for 40 years, so when you hear that they’re going into bankruptcy protection, it’s shocking and it’s concerning,” she said.
“It also makes us wonder how sustainable literary publishing can be. And we need to make sure that it is, that it continues to be as sustainable as it has been.”
Without local publishers, Bell said it becomes harder for Saskatchewan authors to make a start in the industry, particularly if their stories distinctly appeal to a local audience.
But despite the challenges, the province’s writers and publishers are finding ways to innovate and keep the industry alive.
Edward Willett is one such author and publisher.
For his upcoming book, an anthology of science fiction stories from more than a dozen writers called Shapers of Worlds, Willett launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $13,500 he needs to produce the book through his publishing company Shadowpaw Press. He has already raised nearly $6,000.
Despite already having a number of his books picked up by the major American publisher DAW Books, Willett started Shadowpaw Press as a way to publish more of his own works and to also print other peoples’ stories.
“It’s a tough business for sure,” he said.
“As a publisher, there are certain costs that you can’t escape even though I use print-on-demand technology.”
Self-publishing gives him more control over the finished books and also allows him to produce them more quickly than a major publishing company would, he said.
Over the last few years, Willett has seen a steady rise in the number of Saskatchewan authors turning to self-publishing or using local publishers instead of submitting their manuscripts to major companies.
Bell has also noticed these changes, and said as pressures mount local publishers and authors are finding new ways to make sure Saskatchewan’s stories are told.
This has led to a rapid rise in self-publishing.
A hybrid style between traditional and self-publishing has also become popular, where the author offers the publisher capital to fund the book’s production in exchange for higher royalties once it is released.
“That mindset of being able to fix what’s wrong, no matter what is against you, is what’s going to help the publishing industry in Saskatchewan continue to thrive,” said Bell.
“The publishing industry might look different in two years or in five years, but I know ... books aren’t going away. Writers aren’t going away.”
Her optimism is still tainted by worry, however.
Bell said that Coteau Books’ closure was the first time she has seen such an established publishing house go under and called it “disturbing.”
“I think you can be optimistic and still be concerned because the loss of Coteau Books, it is a huge concern,” she said.