Case 7 - The Publishing "Ecosystem"
The act of writing, as we have seen throughout this exhibition, is a lonely and disciplined endeavour. For the writer, it means hours spent in solitude, crafting a work through draft after draft of a manuscript. The success of a written work is, thus, usually credited to the writer and their talents. Yet the Canadian publishing world is larger than just the completion of a manuscript. Rather, it is an industry. There are many individuals who play vital roles when a writer’s work is ready for the larger world. From the agents tasked to sell a writer’s work, to the publicity departments that help to generate sales, and the sellers who get the books into the hands of the reader. Moreover, the writer’s role is not necessarily finished once they hand in the manuscript: there are readings to be done and book signings to attend. In short, there are many hands involved in the CanLit community. This case explores this "ecosystem," beginning with the work of literary agents.
Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. The Fisher has a small collection letters from Stephen Leacock to W.C. Bell, better known as "Billy," who at the time was acting as Leacock’s representative with publishers. The Leacock letters in the Bell Papers reveal the relationship between writer and representative – and in this case publisher as well, as Bell was filling dual roles. Most telling among the correspondence is a letter Leacock wrote to Bell, dated 12 December 1914, and seen here. In it, Leacock discusses arrangements for royalties and rights to his various works, including Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, Leacock’s most famous work. "The future sales of Sunshine Sketches and Behind the Beyond in Canada will never be very large & I should think that the publisher would rather feel like giving me the higher per cent on these books for the sake of what might come after." Leacock, it seems, never thought much of the sales prospects of Sketches, yet it has continued to be a favourite, particularly for illustrators, including recent issues from McClelland & Stewart featuring the work of wood engraver Wesley Bates and the graphic novelist Seth.
Bella Pomer and Carol Shields. The agent Bella Pomer has been lauded for her work with various Canadian authors, most prominent among them Carol Shields. In the case of Shields's The Stone Diaries – originally titled "Monument," which Pomer admits was not the best when the original manuscript was presented to Doug Pepper of Random House. Advocacy is an important role for the agent, even after a book has been accepted and published, as evidenced in a letter, seen here, Pomer sent to Al Silverman, at Viking-Penguin, Shields’s American publisher. It addresses Pomer's concerns over the potential publication of a mass-market edition of The Stone Diaries for the European market, particularly the removal of the section of the novel that contains photographs: "That such a decision should have been taken without reference to the book’s editors, or yourself, is serious enough; that the author and agent should not have been informed or consulted, is shocking."
Arthur Hailey – Publicity and Marketing. Few would consider the Canadian-British novelist Arthur Hailey to be a key member of the CanLit community, especially if critical success is the sole barometer. Hailey, after all, is better-known for his gargantuan book sales rather than positive reviews of his work. But it is difficult to argue with success, and Hailey had plenty of it. The marketing muscle put behind Hailey’s work reflects the importance of his novels to the bottom line of his long-time publisher Doubleday, and may help to account for the success of his novels. As evidenced in his papers, donated to the Fisher in 2006, Hailey had a strong hand in crafting the publicity efforts for his books. For the novel Airport (1968), he created a guide called “Notes for Convenience of TV and Radio Interviews,” consisting of background on the author, general notes about the researching and writing of the novel, and detailed notes about the story “which the author and publisher believe may be of interest to interviewers.” Doubleday would use these notes, almost verbatim, under the cover of the publicity department. Hailey was also a keen and enthusiastic visitor to stores for book signings, often travelling to dozens of cities within a two-week period. He's seen here in a Toronto book store, signing copies of Airport for fans.
Book seller Martin Ahvenus. Martin Ahvenus set up his store, Village Books, in the summer of 1961 in what was then the bohemian section of Toronto, Gerrard Street, between Elizabeth and Bay Streets. The shop was an important hub for writers. Ahvenus – or Marty, as everybody called him – would open its doors to almost every important writer emerging in the 1960s: Milton Acorn, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Al Purdy, Michael Ondaatje, and Margaret Atwood, among others. Not only would he sell their self-published books, giving them prominent spots in the shop, but he would befriend and encourage them, along with hosting readings. The Fisher holds Ahvenus’s papers, and because he kept almost everything – correspondence, receipts, cashed cheques, along with ephemera about readings, particularly at the famous Bohemian Embassy – these items detail the important role he played in advocating for Canadian authors. His correspondence with many of them also provides insight into the lives of the writers whose books he sold. A letter from Al Purdy, for example, encapsulates a typical writer’s life. He writes of his work as a ‘Visiting Associat [sic] Prof.’ at a university: ‘feeling my dignity very much, also moaning low about the sad end of a once-promising poet who sold out for a mess of potash or greenbacks.’ He gives an account of his recent readings, which have always been an important means for a writer to make extra money and promote their work. He details recent publication successes, including Maclean’s magazine and the CBC, and his hope that the broadsides he left with Ahvenus at the store are selling. He details a familiar writer’s vice: his drinking (‘So many parties lately I feel like a sober alcoholic mourning his lost six-pack.’) As per Purdy’s custom, he writes on stationery he has picked up somewhere along his travels rather than store-bought stationery, which as he points out in this letter is ‘a point of pride.’