Talonbooks: Publishing from the Margins

Talonbooks:
Publishing from the Margins

Conclusion

I have tried to show in this report that some of the most significant events of Talonbooks' history can be linked to the publishing programs in existence at the time. More than once in its history Talon has been rescued on the brink of bankruptcy only with the assistance of extraordinary grants. Talonbooks and publishers like Talon are very sensitive to the focus of the policies providing assistance to Canadian publishers, as well as to the amount of funds available through these programs.

Talonbooks has managed to survive for 24 years, no mean feat given the financial realities of the Canadian marketplace and the parameters which Talon has set for itself. Foremost amongst these parameters is Talon's ongoing editorial focus on marginal areas such as poetry and drama. This core editorial policy at Talon has been remarkably consistent over the years.

Just as Talon magazine's content reflected the editors' interest in poetry, Talonbooks' list has also reflected the interests of its employees through the years. Peter Hay's background in drama; David Robinson's aim of expanding the role of drama, and his urge to publish a cookbook; Karl Siegler's ongoing interest in literature and ethnography; Mary Schendlinger's wish for more feminist representation; Jeff Derkson's association with the Kootenay School of Writing: all of these influences and interests are represented in the Talonbooks of today.

Karl Siegler feels that Talonbooks is currently operating at peak efficiency when compared with industry statistics. Their title output per employee is above the industry average, and unit sales regularly exceed the averages for their genres.

Small Canadian publishers in Talon's league risk failure if they venture too far from their initial commitment, if they diversify and branch out into areas that they cannot compete in, and do not want to compete in. While Talon has responded to changing granting policies, it has not remade itself. Nor is it likely to: Karl Siegler firmly believes that Canadian publishers such as Talonbooks, by continuing to publish poetry and drama titles into a marketplace too small to make such titles financially viable, are performing an important role in defining and maintaining Canadian culture. He believes that government granting policies should recognize the importance of these contributions by allowing publishers such as Talonbooks to continue to specialize in the areas they have shown they can do best.

Publishing from the margins has always meant operating with little margin for error. An entire season can hinge upon the emergence of one title to cross-subsidizing the deficit of others. Any speculative venture can put the entire backlist at risk as well. As the above history shows, Talonbooks, and publishers like them, have always travelled, and will continue to travel, a lonely road. I'd like to close with the following comment from Karl Siegler, taken from a 1986 interview published in Line magazine:

Yes, we've been very very lucky for a number of reasons: we've always had very good people here Ð bright, idealistic and committed and so on. And although the terrible struggles of the last 20 years have really burned out a lot of those wonderful people, someone else has always come in to take up the torch so to speak. [...] But then those were the times too. We're talking about the 60s and 70s when idealism, commitment, sacrifice, culture, all those things, were writ very large. When I look down the road at the next 20 years, I don't see that happening again.