MANY authors both from Jamaica and the wider Caribbean bemoan local publishers unwillingness to invest in their efforts and so there are those who are increasingly forced to go the vanity publishing route.

Tony Tame, the author of The Village Curtain has after many years got his first book published after knocking on many local publishing houses doors to no avail. He had to go as far as Hawaii to get his book published by Savant Publishers. Though it is heartening that Tame’s efforts to get his work published has paid off, he finds himself in the unenviable position that sees Savant Publishers unable to provide a budget to promote his book in the Caribbean. This means that he has to endeavour to take this on himself.The Village Curtain is the fictional story of a Jamaican fishing community and their struggles to

eke out an existence. Rosemary Parkinson’s travails with her book Nyam Jamaica is indeed instructive.

Initially Macmillan (Caribbean) had expressed interest in publishing Parkinson’s cookbook however the terms proved not entirely to the author’s liking. She was offered the standard 5 per cent of sales but negotiated to increase that to about 15 per cent. To give the book a wider appeal Macmillan, suggested that the Jamaican patois be removed and suggested a more “Europeanised-Caribbean flavouring” would be the way to go. The publisher also suggested that the initial print run should be soft cover. According to Parkinson the stipulated period by which the cookbook should be published elapsed and so she decided to reclaim the rights and publish it herself with the help of her daughter, Marie-France Aqui (an editor at MACO magazine).

The self-published book has gone on to win coveted awards. In 2008, Nyam Jamaica won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Design, Best Photography and Best Easy Recipes for Jamaica. The following year, it won the Gold Award for Best Design in the World at Le Palis Royale in Paris, France.

In his endorsement of the book, former Prime Minister of Jamaica, PJ Patterson wrote: “Nyam Jamaica takes the reader on an extraordinary culinary tour, no less exciting and delightful than a leisurely trip along our highways and country roads, passing by our lovely beaches, through our charming towns and friendly villages.” Nyam Jamaica has been acclaimed as Jamaica’s best coffee table book and in the words of Jamaican artist Patrick Waldemar, ” One can smell the earth of the country in its pages.”

Both authors, Tony Tame and Rosemary Parkinson had book launches in the last few weeks at independent bookstore, Bookophilia, located on Hope Road and owned and operated By Andrea Dempster. Last month saw Tame’s long-time friend Peter Mc Connell lend his support at the book launch and Dr Susan Lowe issued a plea “for local publishers to back local writers and end this business of having to take our good fiction to foreign shores.”

In the forward of her book, Nyam Jamaica, Parkinson writes: “Nyam Jamaica is a testament that where there is a will, there is a way. Authors around the Caribbean need to be nurtured and shielded by their own. Financial institutions must guide and prepare us to publish ourselves. Children on their way to law school have to be encouraged to study international copyright law so they may warn and help us with their protection. We islanders are a wealth of information with gifts of storytelling and natural creativity that many try to abuse. This must be no more.”

Perhaps a prohibiting factor preventing local publishers taking a chance with Caribbean authors particularly first time ones, is making an adequate return on investment. The Caribbean and more so Jamaica does not enjoy a viable market with readers that have a penchant for books. Furthermore local publishers have to contend with falling literacy rates and the predominance and prevalence of cable television. All in all this means that local publishers have to bet on

sure hits to remain on

going concerns hence the propensity to print school text books and other education-based materials.

Sunday Finance took the opportunity to speak with the CEO of Great House Omni Media Michael Grant who said: ” I must say particularly in Jamaica, the buying public just doesn’t read enough to make publishing new authors viable. Publishing in Jamaica is mostly sponsorship driven which relies upon built in demand. There are authors that do turn to self publishing but that has a negative stigma and more often than not mistakes are made in the process which in effect harms the project’s credibility. Publishing is an endeavour best left to the professionals.”

Grant went on to say that in many instances rather than seek a big international publisher like say Simon& Shuster or Random House, it can be more advantageous to work with a smaller publisher who can give the book

its full attention and strategically place it in the Diaspora where a target market exists. Furthermore many of the more notable big publishers do not entertain unsolicited manuscripts.

Great House Omni Media titles sell well, Grant says with it numbering fictional and historical books that have proven hits more notably Champs 100: A Century of Jamaican High School Athletics 1910-2010.

“In Jamaica you have to sell in the region of 2,500 copies before even thinking about turning a profit. Averages in the local market indicate that sales of between 5,000 to 10,000 constitute a bestseller here in Jamaica,” said Grant.

Ian Randle is one of the most reputable publishing houses

in the Caribbean and its Managing Director, Christine Randle-Wray offered a perspicacious insight on the matter. ” It is a question of the genre. At it presently stands there are no established fiction publishers in the Caribbean. Yes, it is true that the market is small and taking on some fictional tittles is a commercial risk so as a publisher one has to be circumspect in the work you take on. It is difficult for fiction writers in the Caribbean because publishers here tend to focus on academic works and so you see many Caribbean books on humanities, arts, politics and business biographies.

“At Ian Randle Publishers we concentrate solely on non-fiction but we do get proposals to publish fiction which we refer to colleague publishers who have experience in that area. As far as fiction is concerned a publisher may struggle to sell 500 copies. After expending energy and resources on printing and marketing that can prove to make the venture an unviable one. Ian Randle produces about 36 books a year and only a handful of those are sponsored so it is not all doom and gloom for publishing in Jamaica.”

Christine Randle-Wray took issue with the contention that Jamaica is not a reading public and rather proclaimed that it is perhaps not a big book buying public.

“The modern technology means that we are reading a lot more than we did in the past. Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry, e-mails, online blogs has meant the dissemination of torrents of information which is read. This has helped to promote reading particularly among the younger generation. People said that the new digital technologies would kill traditional publishing.Well quite the contrary, it has helped it and new books are being brought to the market.”