In this guest blog post we hear from Kaggsy, blogger and book reviewer, about the #ReadIndies project which takes over bookish social media in February.
Reading Independent Publishers Month, now in its fifth year, grew out of a previous reading event started by Lizzy Siddal and myself. Both of us were fans of Fitzcarraldo Editions, an established indie, and we both had many of their books on our TBRs. So Lizzy came up with the idea of holding a Fitzcarraldo Editions Fortnight in February 2020, where we read as many of their books as we could and encouraged others to do likewise. I was delighted to co-host with her, and the event was something of a success; we might well have repeated it in 2021.
There were so many brilliant independent publishers on the scene putting out some amazing titles.
However, at that point nobody could have foreseen the way 2020 would go; with the Covid pandemic and the effects on the economy and industry, it was clear that independent publishers were under a lot of pressure financially. Lizzy came up with the idea of expanding our focus, as there were so many brilliant independent publishers on the scene putting out some amazing titles. We both felt that they needed to get as much attention as possible, and so #ReadIndies was born – the whole month of February devoted to featuring books by a variety of indie presses on our blogs. Fortunately, many of our fellow readers and bloggers agreed that this was a good thing and many joined in!
Since then we have continued to host our #ReadIndies event and plug those outfits we feel need as much support as possible. The event recurs annually and we now find ourselves in the middle of our fifth year of co-hosting, with a burgeoning indie publishing industry and all sorts of networks of support in place for our favourite names.
Independent presses are in many ways the lifeblood of the publishing industry.
So what makes independent publishers so important, and why do we want to spend our time reading them and singing their praises? Well for me, independent presses are in many ways the lifeblood of the publishing industry; they do so much of the heavy lifting in seeking out and promoting new talent, and they take chances on books and authors which would be considered marginal by the big publishing houses. Much of mainstream publishing is controlled by what’s known as the ‘Big Five’, and indies can specialise in a way that the large conglomerates simply can’t.
Indie publishing comes from the heart. Because indie presses aren’t restricted by marketing dictates, they can publish the books they really believe in; they support authors who aren’t necessarily the easiest to market or who don’t fit in with the current trends, and therefore in my view often end up bringing out the most interesting books. Personally, I’m a little finicky about what modern fiction I read, and independent presses release titles which are a welcome antidote to what I consider mainstream pap… There are a good number of authors, such as Iain Hood and Douglas Bruton, writing stellar works which wouldn’t be out there for us to read without independent presses.
You could regard indies as the modern equivalent of chapbook or fanzine culture; and as we now have digital printing options, it’s much, much easier to set up a press than it used to be, when everything had to be set by hand with metal type. Having said that, it should be remembered that Leonard and Virginia Woolf managed quite well when they began hand printing books for the Hogarth Press; however, their print runs weren’t huge, and modern methods are much less time-consuming!
Things have improved in recent years for indies; there are now even prizes aimed at books published by small presses, and there is growing recognition of the achievements of independent publishers. Despite this, however, the way forward is still not a smooth one for small presses; recent months have seen mergers, with some indies being amalgamated into larger ones (Fum D’Estampa with Deep Vellum, Gallic Books with Pushkin). Although it’s heartening to see that the books they publish will hopefully continue to be available, it’s a sobering reminder that if we don’t support our favourite small presses, they may not always be there.
So this is another reason why Reading Independent Publishers month is so important to us; if we can shine a light on some of our favourite books and authors which are coming from indie presses, hopefully we can encourage more readers to explore a bit more widely than they might already do so. What’s that saying? Use it or lose it – which applies to indie publishers, as well as to independent bookstores and libraries. Readers *do* have buying power, and we need to make sure they use it in the right way!
You can find out more about #ReadIndies on our blogs:
lizzysiddal2.wordpress.com
kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com
Kaggsy has blogged at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings since 2012, and regards reading as having always been one of the most important parts of her life. From an early love of Enid Blyton and Narnia, she moved on to Tolkien and the Beats in her teens, as well as discovering a love of poetry. In her twenties she came across translated literature, a love of which has stayed with her since then, and nowadays she reads anything from Golden Age Crime to Russian classics, non-fiction, 20th century women’s writing, Oulipian literature and modern quirky fiction. Indie presses are some of her favourite publishers!