Independents and majors

The incorporation of the Periscopi publishing house into Grup 62, that is, Planeta, has raised a huge storm. I'd also like to say something about this. The Catalan literary market is overblown: that's nothing new. One of the dangers of Catalan literature was ending up like the Trabucaire editions: a series of relatively evolved, illustrative, and sympathetic felibres. We're overblown; we have bad bestsellers and corny historical novels, like all civilized literature. It's a success of our Renaixença.

We also have a false dichotomy between independent publishers and publishers from large groups. It's part of the anachronistic ideas surrounding literature: pure and commercial, literary and media-driven. This situation pleases many readers who take the idea of good literature as a mark of status. "I'm a periscopian," I read a reader say the other day. We periscopians—or Anglians or Altrians or whatever—are the good ones, the pure and refined, and we are above the plebs who read run-of-the-mill books. But the reality is that authors—with few exceptions—move from group publishers to independents, and from independents to majors . Which Catalan-language fiction publishers have a catalog with an unmistakable identity? Males Herbes and Labreu—the smallest—and perhaps Angle. The vast majority of books could have been published by different publishers. And, in fact, two of Periscopi's most resounding successes have gone back and forth with a publisher in the group that now houses it. Is it a matter of employee numbers? Not really. The publishers of the three major groups operate with minimal staff. Promotion? It's more or less the same everywhere. I don't quite see the specifics, beyond the (important) issue of who holds the key to the safe.

One of the dangers of Catalan literature was to end up like the Trabucaire editions

I think we've lost perspective. Pere Calders, who brushes aside most of today's writers, worked his whole life—as a publicist and as production manager for Montaner and Simón—and never considered becoming a literary professional. Much of the publishing industry in the 1960s relied on patrons and shareholders: wealthy people.

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I don't know if we're fully aware of the volume we have and how many people read. Subsidies? Of course, as long as the goal isn't the subsidy itself. It has to serve to grow the network. And all those awards for published works? Those who organize them (from booksellers to bookstores to Òmnium, which would be better off organizing more Catalan courses) should think a little. If all that money doesn't help one of the most award-winning publishers maintain its independence, perhaps they're part of a routine and don't have the effect they're said to have. We should all keep our feet on the ground more.