Book Fairs, Publishers and Institutions in Germany

In 2008 associations of authors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland joined forces in a coalition for action. Together they want to inform the public about the practices of subsidy presses.

Imre Török, Federal Chairman of the Association of German Writers (VdS), receives a constant stream of enquiries from novice authors who have offered a publisher their manuscripts – and now, according to the publisher, have to pay 8,000 euros or more.

“Then we have to inform them that this practice isn’t customary but rather really foul”, says Török. The usual practice is that a writer sends a manuscript to several publishers and, if need be, re-works it until one accepts it. “Then he negotiates a fee, the manuscript is edited and proof-read and the book is put on the market”, explains Török, who is himself a writer.

Up to 40,000 euros author’s subsidy

Publishers that require payment from authors before they will publish their books reverse this procedure. In spring 2008 therefore twenty-two German, Austrian and Swiss authors associations and literary institutions joined forces in “Action Coalition for Fair Publishing” (“Fairlag” for short). Today it comprises more than fifty associations. Fairlag wants to set an example against subsidy publishers, says Tobias Kiwitt, spokesman for the Federal Association of Young Authors (BvjA).

“Subsidy publishers are those that are sometimes called ‘pseudo publishers’”, explains Török. These pseudo publishers are less concerned with real publishing than with acquiring as many authors as they can who will pay considerable sums for the publication of their books. Authors associations tell of contracts requiring payments of up to 40,000 euros. “Some of these publishers even send legal warnings and file charges against critics”, says Kiwitt.

Prominent supporters

When the idea for Fairlag was first broached, it soon turned out that the subject also met with interest in Austria and Switzerland. Török is very satisfied with the unity shown by authors in German-speaking countries: “This is pretty much the first time since the post-war years that so broad a cooperation has taken place between all important authors associations and coalitions”.

When the action coalition was founded, it published the so-called “Fairlag Declaration”, which explains the practices of subsidy publishers and warns authors against the dangers lurking in signing a contract with them. Since the coalition’s founding, says Kiwitt, it has met at least once every half year for working meetings and operated in close coordination. In addition to authors associations, numerous writers support the Fairlag Declaration. Among the twenty-five first signatories were Elfriede Jelinek, Günter Grass, Tanja Kinkel and Rafik Schami.

Tips for beginners

A huge question mark should often stand behind both the editing and the marketing at many subsidy publishers. “For this reason many bookshops are skeptical when offered books in the programs of such publishers”, says Török. Their books are hardly available through the normal book trade.

Publication with a subsidy publisher can also have further negative consequences for authors. Kitwitt fears that because of the dubious practices of such businesses many talented writers go undiscovered or are not appropriately fostered: “There are certainly good writers among those published; they need only some reasonable editing”. The Coalition counsels beginners to look closely at the contract. They should compare the possibilities offered by the market and refuse to pay enormous sums.

Operation Rico Beutlich

Members of the authors association “42er Authors”, which supports Fairlag, recently made one of the most remarkable contributions to throwing light on subsidy publishers. The authors invented the figure of the 42 year-old Rico Beutlich, a male nurse from Dresden. Beutlich is a fiction, but his novel was actually sent to six subsidy publishers in Germany and Austria.

The first part of the manuscript consisted in “ten pages of bodge”, says Michael Höfler of the 42er Authors. The remaining 832 pages were freely copied by Rico Beutlich’s inventors from available texts, mainly classics. “Every five pages we interlarded a silly heading that to some extent had something to do with the promised plot”, explains Höfler. With this action, the 42er Authors intended “to investigate whether the pseudo publishers approached had any commitment to quality”.

“Interestingly, there were a few in our group who said the cover letter, summary and sample were so stupid, dyslexic and ungrammatical that no one would be taken in by them”, says Höfler. They were wrong. Five of the six publishers lauded Beutlich’s manuscript and wanted to accept it into their program – for a price.

Books of bollocks

Imre Török of the Association of German Writers praises the action of the 42er Authors: “They’ve shown very well how such pseudo publishers often operate. Even if you send them absolute bollocks, they respond by saying they want to make a book out of. A serious publisher would never do that”.

In autumn, Fairlag too initiated an action. In an Open Letter to the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, it demanded that, among other things, subsidy publishers be excluded from both publishers associations and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. Above all, Kiwitt explains, it is important that they no longer be permitted to advertise at book fairs. It is there they do most of their business.

In order to put an end to this, Fairlag wants to continue its work of clarification and information. Török assumes that the Coalition will be, and will have to be, at work for many more years.