Rhyme & Reason

A study of Independent Publishers in Australian SF

Jennifer Lusk

[Editor's note: this piece was written in December 2006]

First Impressions

A number of Australians have debuted on fantasy shelves in major bookshops around the country over the last ten years. Sara Douglass was the first to draw serious attention in the mid-nineties with her BattleAxe trilogy, the second two books winning the 1997 Aurealis Award for excellence in the category of full length fantasy. Since her success, a number of other Australians, mostly female, have added their epic trilogy fantasy to the mix, published primarily by Voyager/HarperCollins, but also by Pan McMillan and Random House. Last year, HarperCollins alone published twenty Australian speculative fiction titles[1]. While the shiny covers and large print runs have done much to seemingly aid the speculative fiction genre in this country, the very loyal ‘genuine’ speculative fiction community is not so certain.

While it’s wonderful for those authors and Australian publications in general that these major international companies are publishing Australian fantasy, there are concerns that what they are publishing is in fact mass-produced, bland, copycat fiction coming directly from a trilogy tradition that began overseas in the seventies. The argument is that speculative fiction, which includes science fiction, fantasy and horror, is about more than blockbuster fantasy, just as the film industry is about more than the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Stephanie Smith, from HarperCollins is the first to admit that fantasy sells better than science fiction[2], and it would seem trilogies make marketing sense to larger companies. While many companies are happy to capitalise on that, there are a number of publishers who make it their duty to foster the other aspects of the genre.

Recent History and New Perspectives

In the eighties and early nineties, major publishers were importing American and UK titles rather than publishing Australian work. Whether this is because there was a lack of faith or a lack of work is unclear. The majority of Australian speculative fiction was published through small independent companies such as Aphelion and MirrorDanse, and in anthologies and magazines such as Eidolon and Chimera Press’s Aurealis. Aurealis was critical in bringing attention to high quality Australian speculative fiction, establishing the Aurealis Awards in 1996. It was around this time, that major publishers, for reasons unknown, began to take notice of Australian speculative fiction writers.

Australian interest in the genre peaked in 1999 as WorldCon, the most highly regarded international convention for the genre, came to Melbourne. It became clear to publishers, authors and readers alike that Australians could compete with international publications. The genre itself had been experiencing a worldwide growth in popularity, culminating in the interest generated by The Lord of the Rings films at the turn of the century.

Given the growing profile of the genre with major publishers in the county, a number of small independent publishers, such as Altair-Australia and Ticonderoga, started up in the mid to late nineties, capitalising on the climate. Almost all of these, however, took up a position of protest against the mainstream publications, labelling them unoriginal, uninspiring and unchallenging. These companies sprung from a desire to improve the quality of speculative fiction in the country and to provide opportunities to talented writers whose work may not fit into the major publishers’ limited idea of the genre.

These small companies made use of new technologies and formats as ways of getting work read at a low cost. Digital printing, print on demand technologies and, of course, e-publishing all feature in these companies. The major problem for such companies is marketing and distribution as they are unable to compete with their larger counterparts in this area. Luckily, the speculative fiction crowd is a loyal and vocal one, and with specialty stores like Minotaur, Pulp Fiction and Slow Glass, the last being online, and large attendances at the many conventions around the countries, these companies are able to sell books without even having to look at mainstream distributors. Word of mouth also plays a large part in the marketing of these books, and indeed the genre as a whole, as Russell Farr’s ongoing study into the habits of speculative fiction readers shows.[3]

This study by Russell Farr of Ticonderoga also shows that readers of speculative fiction, despite their stereotypical love of future thinking, still prefer to read hard copies to online copies, especially as the works reach lengths greater than 5000 words. Cat Sparks of Agog, however, feels that as new technologies, such as e-ink and portable e-books become more available, her market will be the first to embrace them[4], aiding the low-budget publication of quality work no end.

Case Studies

Robert N Stephenson and Altair-Australia[5]

Robert N Stephenson has dedicated his life to speculative fiction. A writer of science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction and poetry, and the name behind Altair-Australia, he has experienced all sides of the speculative fiction industry in this country. He created Altair-Australia originally as a magazine publisher in 1997, forming the literary agency branch of the company later that year, one of only a few in the world to cater for speculative fiction writers and the only such company in Australia. In 2000, the company ceased publishing magazines, but resumed publishing in 2004 with an imprint running via print on demand. In all cases, Altair-Australia has focussed primarily, and at times exclusively, on speculative fiction, with an aim to improve the quality of speculative fiction in this country.

However, Stephenson has not earned himself popularity in the speculative fiction community. His methods and philosophies are seen as heavy-handed and have caused conflict with others in the industry. At first, Stephenson’s aim was to encourage publication of quality international work within Australia, rather than to immediately seek out Australian work, his theory being that it might challenge and inspire Australians to greater heights. As it stands now, only 50% of Altair’s publications are from Australian authors, a combination of new works and compilations from established authors.

The company runs via print on demand technology, saving money for the company and thus allowing the author to take home a greater percentage of the sale price. With the increased accessibility and decreased cost of digital printing and the ease of international communications, print on demand makes business sense, but it does have its drawbacks. For Stephenson, whose biggest hurdle is marketing and distribution, print on demand means he’s not faced with a shed full of books, as he prints only what he knows he’s about to sell, but small print runs do raise the cost of printing per book. Stephenson is focussing instead on the outlets offered through Amazon and Barnes and Noble who have been running successful print on demand stores for several years.[6]

Ironically, Stephenson has had very little success selling within Australia. While other small print companies of similar focus are selling around four hundred copies of a book within the country, usually via specialist bookshops and conventions, Altair has struggled to find buyers. Luckily, print on demand means that it is relatively easy and profitable to publish in other countries as required. However, it is a concern for Stephenson and his major concern for the company.

Stephenson himself is the first to point out that, as a business venture, Altair books will never make him money. His is doubtful about any small publishers chances of competing with major companies. This venture is absolutely done for the love of the genre and his perseverance comes from his belief that his work can help improve the quality of Australian fiction and its standing on the world stage. While he may not be winning friends, his work is influencing people and, by using the money from works by established authors such as Kate Forsyth and Sean Williams to fund newcomers, he is providing opportunities for exceptional writers to be published around the world.

Cat Sparks and Agog! Press[7]

Agog! Press is about as specialised a publisher as you can get with only one book published per year: the Agog! series anthology of Australian short science fiction. It has now published five such annual anthologies since 2001 when Cat Sparks, the managing editor, came up with the idea. A writer, photographer and cover illustrator, she felt that the industry didn’t so much need another writer as a forum for quality work. Australian Anthologies were, as she puts it, thin on the ground at the time, and Agog seemed to successfully fill a void.

Sparks thinks of Agog as playing a major role in raising and maintaining the quality of short science fiction in this country. According to her, when she was sourcing stories for the first anthology, pickings were slim. By her fifth anthology, she feels that she now has the luxury of skimming the cream off the top of a pool of great work. Certainly she believes the thriving short science fiction scene is being entirely supported by independent publishers rather than major companies. She prides herself on the knowledge that some more recent publications have come as a direct result of her success.

And Agog! is successful. The anthologies have won a number of awards, including two consecutive Ditmar awards for Best Australian Collection and has provided Aurealis finalists almost every year, including a number of winners. Personally Sparks’s work has been acknowledged with both a Ditmar award and an Aurealis Convenor’s Award for her contribution to the profession. From a business point of view, the full measure of her success comes from the recent partnership between Agog! and American publishers Prime. This partnership allows her to attract international attention and sales, promoting the featured authors and Australian science fiction in general.

Agog! has small print runs of around three to five hundred copies,  and, like most small publications, is marketed and sold primarily through conventions and specialist bookshops, such as Galaxy and Pulp Fiction. The alliance with Prime has an added bonus, as all titles are now available for purchase online through Amazon, which will run print on demand copies once all hard copies are sold, paid for by Prime with profits to contributors. This ensures continued exposure for the work at no cost. That being said, Agog!, whilst paying contributors, does not run at a profit, barely covering production costs, with Sparks not taking anything to cover her work on the titles.

Sparks has no intentions of expanding Agog! Press beyond its current focus for several reasons. Firstly, she wouldn’t feel confident or qualified to publish or promote full length works in a competitive market, but more importantly, she believes in what she’s doing and the contribution Agog! makes to short science fiction. Sparks absolutely considers herself a niche publisher. She sees the role of such publishers to preserve under-marketed genres and forms and to push the boundaries that major publishers won’t and will continue to do this as long as she’s able.

Russell Farr and Ticonderoga[8]

Russell Farr created Ticonderoga in 1996 with the notion of publishing special one-off collections from established authors. He took up the opportunity to publish quality work in his favourite genre as it became apparent to him that there were more writers than publishing opportunities. Ticonderoga published only six titles in its first three years, from a variety of authors including newcomers Simon Brown and Stephen Dedman and American Steven Utley. The passing of the GST and the subsequent tax on books encouraged Ticonderoga to look at online printing, and a webzine was established in 1999. After a hiatus from 2000 to 2004, Farr worked with Liz Grzyb and Lee and Lyn Battersby, to re-establish TiconderogaOnline[9] as a regular quarterly web publisher of speculative fiction and commentary. Ticonderoga re-established its print publishing in April 2006 and aims to publish four to five titles per year over the next five years.

Whilst Farr is happy enough with online publishing as way of getting work read and respected, he is as yet unhappy with the current models in respect to ensuring payment for an author. While his work on Ticonderoga is borne of his love for the genre, he most definitely wants to run the company at a profit, both for himself and his authors. Electronic publishing, at this stage, is unable to guarantee payment for each copy of the work distributed. Similarly, Farr does not regard print on demand as a business model that works in favour of the author. While it saves costs for the publisher, Farr feels that the difficulties in promoting and selling the book are too great to ensure the author decent returns.

For print publications, Ticonderoga manages its own distribution through specialty shops and online catalogues. Its current print runs are around five hundred copies. However, Farr hopes that future print runs may well run into 2000-2500 copies, at which point he feels it would make sense to look at hiring a mainstream distributor, although he’s conscious of the fact that most distributors are reluctant to work with independent publishers.

Farr balances local and international content by reserving print publication for Australian writers, whilst opening up TiconderogaOnline to internationals. Farr feels that in order to foster Australian talent, then it must be a priority. He is not backwards in stating the editor’s role in creating quality work. “What the local scene needs is good editors who know their craft, and who are prepared to devote time to offering constructive feedback to writers, and who are prepared to work on “almost there” stories to make them “really there” stories.”[10] Farr’s aim for the genre is to encourage Australians to take more risks and use that which makes Australians unique to create original ideas, themes and ultimately works.

Farr does not consider himself a niche publisher, but rather sees Ticonderoga as working to push Australian speculative fiction into the mainstream. He cannot reconcile the notion of niche publishing with his expansive vision for the company, but rather sees himself as maintaining quality fiction in a genre which is currently experiencing success both in independent and mainstream publishing markets.

Other Players

There are several other independent publishers on the scene, the most prominent being MirrorDanse, founded in 1994 and headed by Bill Congreve. MirrorDanse’s mission statement is a now-familiar tune, though it is one of the older and better-established companies of its kind. MirrorDanse claims to be “devoted to limited edition works of science fiction and dark fantasy. Our aim is to prove genre fiction doesn’t have to be the same, poorly written clichés that we are all familiar with – commercial, plot-driven fiction doesn’t have to be badly written.”[11]. MirrorDanse started by publishing limited editions from well-known Australian writers and has since split the company into two imprints, MirrorDanse Editions and MirrorDanse Books, the first dedicated to the best, but not necessarily the most marketable works. The second imprint focuses on the wider mass market, aided by the distribution services of Tower Books. MirrorDanse represents some of the most prominent writers in the science fiction and horror genres in the country, such as Sean Williams, Robert Hood, Terry Dowling and Greg Egan[12].

Another small but tenacious publisher is the press arm of the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild, which has published seven titles to date, with their anthologies winning a Ditmar award and receiving nominations for Aurealis Awards. Of their dedicated work, Garth Nix commented “The CSFG anthologies have proved to be great vehicles for new authors to show their talent and for established contributors to uphold their reputations.”[13] CSFG sell and advertise through their site, but seem to be well known to the dedicated speculative fiction fans.

The various magazine and online publications also contribute to the upkeep of quality in this genre and have given many authors their first publication. Current titles of note include the long running Eidolon[14], which now publishes anthologies and novels as well, Borderlands[15] and, of course, Aurealis[16].

Deliberations and Directions:

Each of these companies works with a different focus, with different styles, methods and types of publication, but they all have one thing in common: a love of the genre. It is the passion of the individuals behind these publishers that keep them going and it is a labour of love, not profit. Despite their differing approaches and opinions each recognises they have a role to play in the landscape of speculative fiction in this country. They each take on the responsibility of fostering Australian talent and encouraging that talent to think beyond the mainstream. Their interest is not in creating best-selling work though that is, of course a bonus. They are far more interested in the quality of the work, and approach each manuscript with the critical eye of the artist, rather than the money minded marketing man.

So does this make them niche publishers? The publishers themselves disagree on this. Some feel they are very much working in a niche, providing a service for writers who would otherwise go unpublished. Others feel that they are fighting against being considered a niche market, instead trying to get the work of their authors recognised on a larger scale. That being said, the greatest limitation for all these companies is a lack of resources to push beyond the audience they already have access to, namely those with a strong existing interest in the genre. They are, as the saying goes, preaching to the converted. This alone neatly boxes them in the niche publisher category.

In the wider scheme of things, the shape of Australian speculative fiction can perhaps be summed up by this ironic happenstance. The first Year’s Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt, was finally published in 2004[17] by Prime Books, a dedicated speculative fiction publisher from America. While it is wonderful to know the quality of work in the country is strong enough to warrant the edition, for nationalists, it must still grate that it took a foreign company to make it happen. One hopes that the work of these independent publishers will continue to not only foster the quality of work in the genre, but increasingly raise the profile of the genre to the point where this work is recognised by the wider community.

At least their work does not go unacknowledged. Garth Nix praised the work of such companies, saying, “around the world, small presses not only provide authors with essential opportunities to get into print but also often find and nurture important new writers.”[18] This is their place in the scheme of things, and it should not be disregarded.