Talonbooks: Publishing from the Margins

Talonbooks:
Publishing from the Margins

Two Financial Crises

In 1975 Talonbooks abruptly found itself in serious financial trouble. During the preceding year Talon, along with ten other B.C. publishers, had applied for a provincial grant, and had received indications that funds would be forthcoming. Based on these assurances production plans were made for the following season. However the funding program was withdrawn by the provincial government. Ten of the publishers who had applied were officially notified in writing that they would not receive their grants. Through some oversight Talonbooks was not notified. By the time the oversight was noticed, a significant number of Talon's planned titles had been printed and the company had incurred substantial debts with the printer and other suppliers. By pointing out the extent of the financial crisis Talon was facing due to the loss of their promised grant, Karl Siegler convinced the provincial government to come up with $25,000 for Talonbooks, an amount which was matched by the Canada Council. The incident was later cited as a precedent through the recently founded B.C. Publishers Group, and may have played a part in the establishment of a provincial support program for B.C. publishers which began a couple of years later.

As an adjunct to publishing, Talonbooks had been doing job printing since 1969, first on their Addressograph-Multigraph 350 press, and from 1974 on a larger Zenith 25. Initially this arrangement made financial sense: printing was yet another source of income for the company. Rising paper prices through the second half of the 70s (in particular a steep relative increase in the prices charged to purchasers of small lots of paper) gradually put the squeeze on this enterprise. The final straw came in the fall of 1977 when Gordon Fidler left Talonbooks for other employment, having tired of the years of working at a substandard salary. Talon was unable to find a replacement willing to work for a salary that the company could afford. As a result the Zenith 25 printer was sold and Talonbooks began to concentrate on publishing alone.

There have been other examples of British Columbia businesses which have combined publishing and printing. Most of them have eventually decided to specialize. While Talonbooks chose to eliminate the printing side of their operation, Intermedia is an example of a former small publisher and printer that decided to concentrate on printing. With a small amount of capital to work with and with fewer personnel than the large general publishers, diversification is a luxury that is not readily available to small publishers.

The Canada Council block grant program which began in 1972 gradually fell behind the actual needs of the Canadian publishing industry. So much so that by 1979 many publishers were in desperate financial straits. Talonbooks' situation was further aggravated by what Karl Siegler described as the lack of "a rational, ongoing and substantial program from the province of B.C. [which] has yet to get around to supporting Canadian publishers" (Quill & Quire, January 1980).

The lack of provincial support was not made up for at the federal level. Mary Schendlinger, Talon's advertising and promotion person from 1981 to 1988, felt that "B.C. publishers were always at the bottom of the heap for Canada Council's block grant program, even though B.C. didn't have provincial policies like many of the other provinces. As a result Talon slipped further behind. This effected Talon's entire list: the number of titles that could be produced, the ability to attract authors, any plans for expansion. By the time a provincial program was created, Talon was several years behind where they could have been if they had been located in another province" (Schendlinger 1991).

Publicly at least, Talonbooks was threatening to move east as a means of surviving their financial crunch. Relocating to Ontario would make Talon eligible for grants from the Ontario Arts Council. The threat was largely for show, an attempt to pressure the B.C. government into enhancing their support programs to a reasonable level. However even behind the scenes the possibility of a move was being investigated. In a letter to Karl Siegler dated July 3 (1978?), James Lorimer suggests specific distribution arrangements that might be available to Talonbooks, and mentions an office location that could be arranged for them (Talonbooks Archive).

By 1979 Talon had built up a $40,000 deficit, and was on the verge of being forced to stop book production entirely. They were pulled back from that brink with a $20,000 grant from the Canada Council, a grant made on the condition that "Talon Books undergo an independent audit and the B.C. government provide matching funds" (Quill & Quire, June 1980). These extraordinary grants were in addition to Talon's regular grants through the block grant program, and enabled Talonbooks to create a half-time position covering the areas of advertising and promotion.